Mansfield Town made it five wins from six courtesy of two goals from in-form marksmen Kyle Perry and Rob Duffy as Stags overcame struggling Eastbourne Borough with a 2-1 victory.

The game began at break neck speed and Stags set a high tempo which was sustained throughout most of the first half.

Mansfield should have had the game wrapped up by half time, and had ample amount of chances to add to their tally.  But a spirited Eastbourne made them battle hard for this latest conquest.

Stags remain in fourth position in the Blue Square Premier - eight points behind league leaders Oxford United, who could only manage a draw at promotion hopefuls York City this afternoon.

It was captain Gary Mills who had the first effort on 25 seconds, after Eastbourne failed to properly clear a Kyle Perry left wing cross.  But as the ball came out to Mills on the edge of the area, the midfield man blasted it off target.

Then at the other end Eastbourne's Dan Smith registered two shooting efforts within the space of a minute.

On four minutes, Paul Armstrong drifted in a dangerous cross from the right, but nobody could connect from inside the area.

Stags were ahead on five minutes when Gary Mills' telling right footed free kick was flicked on by Luke Jones, and Kyle Perry was waiting like a predator on the edge of the six yard box to slot home.

Mansfield, in full flow, grabbed a second seven minutes later , which ultimately proved to be the winner.

Jake Speight, who looked impressive once again in attack, robbed the ball from Darren Baker inside the area, and tenacious midfielder Stevie istead managed to latch on to the ball before laying it to Rob Duffy across the face of goal - and the Welshman did the rest by poking home from short range.

By now Stags were flourishing in confidence and it was showing.

Another goalscoring chance prevailed when defender Scott Garner pumped a long ball forward and diminutive forward Jake Speight used his strength to hold up the ball before turning to rifle a shot over the bar from 20 yards.

Two minutes later, Dan Brown hit a pot shot which ricocheted through a crowd of players and into the path of Jamie Taylor, but was denied by Alan Marriott - making himself large in the Stags' goal.

On 21 minutes, Rob Duffy slipped it through to Matt Somner who was well forward, and Somner drove a hard hit effort goalwards only to see it blocked by Eastbourne's Ben Austin.

Stags looked like scoring every time they attacked the Borough goal and Eastbourne had the bar to rely on to keep Stags from going 3-0 ahead on 25 minutes.  Paul Heckingbottom drifted in a deep free kick to the left and Rob Duffy headed it across goal to Jake Speight who in turn headed it against the woodwork.

But Borough never laid down, despite being two goals down.  Dan Smith made a good run on the right before feeding it to Andy Atkin on the edge of the six yard box.   Atkin, with his back to goal, managed to turn and force a shot away.  But Marriott was alert and got down well to make the stop.

Then at the other end Stevie Istead crossed for Rob Duffy who spectacularly struck from 15 yards, but it flew over.

It was non-stop action and it seemed only a matter of time before Stags added to their tally, but it wasn't to be.However, in the end, it didn't matter.

On 33 minutes, Rob Duffy couldn't get his shot away from the edge of the area after goalkeeper Michael Jordan had fumbled a cross.

Eastbourne had chances of their own to break the deadlock and on 37, Jamie Taylor missed a sitter from 10 yards out after the ball fell to him in the area, but he dragged his shot well wide of the mark when he should have tested Marriott.  Then moments later, Andy Atkin's effort was agonisingly close, but just flew wide.

Eastbourne began to turnup the heat and almost grabbed one back from a corner.  Dan Brown headed goalwards and it looked to be going in had it not been for the brilliance of Alan Marriott, who turne it over the bar with a one handed stop.

The same player delivered a telling ball from the left, but again, no one could get on the end of it.

In the first minute of stoppage time at the end of the first half, Gary Silk and Luke Jones had to combine to block a strong shot from Dan Brown from inside the area.

In the second period, referee Marvin Thompson failed to appear and was replaced by his senior assistant.

The start of the second period fell flat as a spectacle and failed to live up to excitement which preceded.

Both sides tightened up at the back and it resulted in far fewer goalscoring opportunities at both ends.

Eastbourne wasted a free kick on 61 minutes after Mills was adjudged to have handled only a matter of yards outside the area.  But Matt Crabb's left footer was weak - floating over the wall, and safely into the hands of Alan Marriott.

The hosts brought the game back to life on 67 when they pulled one back.Paul Armstrong took a throw in from the right towards Andy Atkin who rose above Luke Jones on the right side of the field.  His flick on headed in to the path of substitute Liam Enver-Marum, who struck over the head of Marriott and into the far corner of the goal from the acutest of angles.

It was a bizarre goal, and Enver-Marum may consider himself fortunate as it looked like he intended to cross the ball instead of shoot at goal.