Recent history has seen Mansfield Town fair pretty well against North East opposition in the FA Cup. This season they replicated the magnificent feat of last by doing the double over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, a 1-0 win at the same stage of the competition, the first round proper, for two years running, this time courtesy of an early Rhys Oates goal after last season\u2019s heroics were thanks largely to George Lapslie\u2019s historical winner.<\/p>\n
Having dealt with Sunderland, Mansfield knocked out another League One side as they beat Doncaster Rovers at the Keepmoat 3-2 in December to set up yet another tie against opposition from up the A1. This time in the form of Middlesbrough, flying high in the Championship, underneath former Notts County defender Chris Wilder who replaced Neil Warnock as Manager at the Riverside in November.<\/p>\n
January 26th<\/sup> 2008 was the last time Mansfield played Boro, back then in round four of the cup, at Field Mill in front of over 6,000 spectators, a Lee Dong Gook goal after 17 minutes gave the then Premier League side an all important advantage before a late Jake Buxton own goal sent Stags crashing out of the competition, before relegation to the Conference later that year.<\/p>\n That was the last time Mansfield reached round four and this year\u2019s prize fund for knocking out Boro would be a whopping \u00a382,000 and potential tie against yet another top draw club.<\/p>\n