Mansfield Town 1 

Forest Green Rovers 2

A dramatic injury-time winner from Conal Platt – his second goal of a famous night at Field Mill – booked Forest Green’s place in the second round of the FA Cup.

Platt’s free-kick five minutes before half-time would have graced any game, as would the sumptuous football served up by Rovers during the opening period.

But their  shellshocked hosts somehow kept themselves in the tie, and they looked the likelier winners when Kyle Perry levelled in the 71st minute.

Not so, as Platt pounced at the death to set up a huge West Country derby at Bath City on the weekend of November 28.

Rovers sprang a surprise by lining up in 4-2-3-1 formation, with David Brown and Paul Stonehouse as deep-lying midfielders.

They were cut open within 15 seconds, Jake Speight racing onto Ryan Williams’ pass and dragging his shot wide.

It proved to be a false alarm. Dave Hockaday’s men settled down nicely and tested home keeper Alan Marriott in the seventh minute through Danny Powell’s shot.

A superb pass by Brown put Stonehouse clear three minutes later, but the skipper failed to connect properly with his effort and it trickled past the post.

Both sides had goals chalked off for offside through Speight and Powell respectively, the latter an extremely tight call that prompted fury in the away dugout.

So there was a sense of justice when Platt curled home gloriously from 25 yards, and it would not have flattered Rovers had they been two or three goals to the good at the break.

They so nearly were, as first Powell waltzed into the area and was crowded out and then Rigg brought a flying save from Marriott.

Marriott continued to be the busier keeper early in the second half, fielding low shots from Jonathan Smith, Brown and Rigg.

Mansfield drew level when Louis Briscoe’s cross was headed in by  Perry.

Then Burton had to react smartly to keep out headers from Scott Garner and Gary Mills.

Rigg’s tame shot into the side-netting at the other end summed up Rovers’ sagging mood, and Burton was required again to save from Briscoe at the near post.

It proved a crucial intervention, as in the 91st minute Mansfield failed to deal with Rigg’s low cross and a ricochet off Marriott fell for Platt to stab over the line.