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With six balls still left in the hat there was still the prospect of a mouthwatering local derby with Chesterfield, home or away, or a tie with lowly minnows Alvechurch.

Once it was down to two balls, the only hope was to avoid a second long haul up to Barrow, having played there two Saturdays ago.

But it didn’t go Mansfield’s way and now Stags need to repeat their hard-fought 1-0 Cumbrian success of 8th October.

Walsall skipper Peter Clarke tries to slow down Mansfield's Lucas Akins by foul means on Saturday. Photo by Chris Holloway/The Bigger Picture.media

Bizarrely, the last two seasons have seen Mansfield drawn away at Sunderland – and both times the visitors have won. A First Round trip to the Stadium of Light at least offered something of a taste of the legendary magic of the competition.

But the spartan surroundings of one of your furthest League Two rivals holds far less appeal, though it is still a winnable one for Nigel Clough’s men.

Sometimes you have to lift yourself and get through disappointing ties like this before you can taste Old Trafford or Anfield in Round Three. And £41,000 in the bank for the winners is definitely not to be sniffed at.

Stags produced another hard-earned victory against battling Walsall on Saturday, thanks to a perfect cross by Lucas Akins and a great header by Will Swan.

Akins continues to be a bit of a frustrating enigma. He is a player with a great pedigree who has been there and done it at a higher level than Stags and is well known to boss Nigel Clough from their time together at Burton.

He is not the most graceful player, nor is his first touch always perfect. And when things are not going well he is the first one a section of fans cry out to be substituted.

But he can hold the ball up well and is big, strong, awkward, experienced and unpredictable, which Clough knows well, and just the player to make something happen out of nothing – as he did on Saturday.

He had no right to beat his man in that tight space and put over what Swan described as an inch-perfect cross, but he did.

Stags are seven games unbeaten and Akins has more than played his part.

LOMAS ON STAGS: Big anti-climax as Mansfield are sent back to Barrow in FA Cup First Round draw