Mansfield Town had to settle for a point against Wycombe Wanderers as a tight affair on an extremely wet evening at One Call Stadium ended 0-0.
Both sides had their respective goalkeepers to thank for keeping the scoreline goal-less in the first half. Wycombe custodian Scott Brown clawed an effort from striker Lee Angol out of the top corner after the Stags' striker latched onto a cut-back from midfielder Calum Butcher. Then, at the other end, Conrad Logan had to be at full stretch to pull off an incredible save from Wycombe defender Dan Scarr's header.
Mansfield will feel that they had the better of the attacking play in the second half without forcing Brown into a meaningful save, whilst striker Craig Mackail-Smith had two half chances for the visitors.
Manager Steve Evans named an unchanged side for the first time this season following Saturday's emphatic 4-1 win over Grimsby. The bench was also unchanged.
The Stags started the brighter of the two sides and had the first sight on goal. An early foul on Angol by centre-half Dan Scarr lead to a free-kick in a promising position. The ball was curled in by winger Alex MacDonald but Wycombe got a good head on it to clear the danger.
Former Peterborough United forward Angol was in the thick of things moments later as he nearly fired the Stags ahead. Good play down the right led to midfielder Calum Butcher pulling the back for Angol, but his high shot was palmed away acrobatically by Brown.
Wycombe failed to clear the resulting corner but managed to get the ball away eventually after right-back Rhys Bennett headed a chance into Brown's grateful hands.
Dan Scarr's header was easily held by Conrad Logan in what was only a half-chance for the visitors as they began to find their feet in the game.
Mansfield continued their positive start and good inter-play on the edge of the box by Angol, striker Kane Hemmings and winger Alex MacDonald ended in the latter seeing a shot deflected out for a corner.
Wycombe were struggling to deal with Angol and his floated ball from the right was inches away from the head of Kane Hemmings to deny what would have been a certain goal.
Mansfield were well on top in the opening stages but were given a reminder of Wycombe's capabilities on 17 minutes. Forward Ebere Eze wriggled into some room on the edge of the area and he curled a left-footed shot just wide of Logan's far post.
Wycombe were growing into the game and Eze was involved in their next big chance. His good footwork in the corner drew a foul from midfielder Joel Byrom near the byline. Dan Scarr climbed highest to meet the free-kick and he produced a bullet header that looked destined for the back of the net before Logan stretched out an arm to his right whilst he was moving to his left to claw the ball away brilliantly.
Mansfield had Logan's heroics to thank once again on 24 minutes. Chairboys' midfielder Marcus Bean's shot from 20 yards was parried out by the former Hibernian 'keeper but Bean was quickest to the rebound and he drilled another deflected effort at Logan before Mansfield's 'keeper was forced to throw his body on the line to deny midfielder Luke O'Nien from point-blank range.
As the torrential rain continued to fall at One Call Stadium, so did the Wycombe pressure. Striker Craig Mackail-Smith was next to try his luck for Wycombe. He brought down centre-half Anthony Stewart's flick on inside the area but failed to properly get the ball out of his feet, only looping the ball over the bar under pressure.
Wycombe were enjoying the opportunity to get the ball in from set pieces and once again they nearly opened the scoring from a dead ball opportunity.
Left-back Joe Jacobson whipped in the ball from the left and O'Nien flicked a header just wide of the goal.
There was a momentary lapse in play just on the half hour mark as referee Rob Lewis went down with an injury that would prematurely end his evening and was replaced by assistant Ian Smedley.
Play got back underway and Eze was once again the danger man for the visitors as he cut inside from the left and smashed a shot straight at Logan.
Angol was feeling the full force of the Wycombe defence and he was brought down on the edge of the Chairboys' area with five minutes left of the first half.
The position favoured the left foot of full-back Johnny Hunt but his effort sailed over the bar.
Oxford United loanee Kane Hemmings had a late chance to fire the Stags into the lead in stoppage time, but he snatched at the ball as it came to him inside the area and skewed his shot away from goal.
Gaffer Steve Evans felt the need to shuffle his pack at the interval with widemen Paul Anderson and Will Atkinson being introduced in place of Alex MacDonald and Jacob Mellis, and Mansfield nearly got off to the perfect start.
Hemmings ran to the front post and flicked a Hunt cross into the side netting with the second half less than a minute old.
Striker Hemmings then drove a free-kick low into the wall after another Wycombe foul on Angol just outside the box.
Right-back Rhys Bennett then went agonisingly close to heading home Hemmings' teasing cross from the left before the ball was played back into danger and Wycombe were able to clear from a goalmouth scramble.
Striker Craig Mackail-Smith nearly showed what's made him one of the most prolific strikers in the English Football League in recent years when he did well to spin defender David Mirfin on the edge of the box, but the Stags' man recovered well to block Mackail-Smith's shot.
Chairboys' midfielder Luke O'Nien was next in the referee's notebook after he sent Rhys Bennett sprawling just inside the Mansfield half.
As both sides struggled in the driving rain, Stewart found himself in space 35 yards out but his speculative effort was never testing Logan as it flew high and wide.
Midfielder Calum Butcher's yellow card early in the second half may have been in Steve Evans' mind when he substituted him for winger Alfie Potter, who was almost immediately sent crashing to the ground by a flailing arm from Chairboys' captain Joe Jacobson. Stags wanted the left-back to see red, but stand-in referee Ian Smedley showed him a yellow card instead.
With fifteen minutes left on the clock, nothing was giving and both sides were struggling to produce that moment of quality that could decide the game.
Two Stags' substitutes nearly combined to devastating effect with ten minutes remaining. Potter did well to get clear on the right wing and he slid a ball across the face of goal with Anderson agonisingly close to turning the ball home from underneath the bar.
Despite the best efforts of both sides, that proved to be the last of the goalmouth action as they both had to settle for a point each on a difficult evening in the pouring Mansfield rain.
STAGS' XI: Logan, Bennett, Pearce ©, Mirfin, Hunt, MacDonald (Anderson 46), Byrom, Mellis (Atkinson 46), Butcher (Potter 61), Hemmings, Angol
SUBS NOT USED: Olejnik (GK), Diamond, Rose, Spencer
WYCOMBE XI: Brown, Harriman, Stewart, Scarr, Jacobson ©,Bean, Gape, O'Nien (Bloomfield 74), Eze, Umerah (Southwell 83), Mackail-Smith (Cowan-Hall 68)
SUBS NOT USED: Richardson (GK), Jombati, El-Abd, Freeman
ATTENDANCE: 2,938 (154 away)
REFEREE: Robert Lewis (replaced by Ian Smedley after 35 minutes)
