Midfielder George Maris labelled today’s well-fought win at Newport as ‘the perfect away day’.
Stags battled to a 1-0 victory thanks to Maris’ left-footed strike five minutes into the second-half.
At the other end, Mansfield extinguished any threat to keep out a spirited Newport side.
“I think it’s a perfect away day for us,” said George.
“We did what we had to do first-half. We didn’t played that great but we came out in the second-half, got the goal and defended brilliantly for the rest of it.
“We knew we had to be better [in the second-half]. It was a great chance for us to stay top of the league today, that was our aim.
“Credit to the defensive lads, they kept it tight at the back.
“I never felt like they [Newport] were going to score with how well we were playing defensively.
“We had a few chances where I felt we should have scored but I never felt in trouble at the back and the lads were brilliant back there. I thought Brunty and Flinty won everything. Willo [George Williams] and Baily are solid at what they do.”
On his decisive strike, he said: ““That’s what I’ve been wanting to do; chip in with some goals. I probably should have scored the second [opportunity] when I cut inside, but one goal was enough today.”
The midfielder believes Stags showed a different side of their game to earn the points today: “It shows we have different qualities. I know we’ve won games by a lot of goals recently but to win one-nil is even better for us. We’ve shown qualities that we can grind results out away from home. We’re not always going to win by three or four so these are the ones [wins] that you need to pick up going into the last stages of the season.”
With 12 games left to play, he added: “We just need to carry on doing what we have been doing. I think we’ve been brilliant in recent weeks. It’s a busy month. We just have to keep grinding results out, keep picking the points up and see where it can take us.”
