Chad Mansfield Town player ratings against Northampton Town

Letting commanding positions slip had been Stags’ Achille’s heel so far this season but, after going ahead on five minutes on Saturday, they never looked back.

Chad sports editor John Lomas gave Danny Rose his man of the match accolade just ahead of loanee Timi Elsnik – here are his individual player markings.

Bobby Olejnik – 7.

Once again the keeper had a largely quiet afternoon with his imperious defence in commanding form in front of him and helping him to another clean sheet. But he made a crucial save when called upon just before the break and his handling was excellent.

Krystian Pearce - 7

The big centre half was again excellent.

Ryan Sweeney – 7

Another fine game from the relatively inexperienced Stoke loanee as he grows into his role.

Matt Preston – 7

Fine defending and almost came up with a goal as well as a great reaction saved denied his powerful close range header in first half stoppage time.

CJ Hamilton – 8

A constant menace going forward from wing back and, later in the game, on the right of midfield, he chipped in with a goal and also set up Rose for another.

Neal Bishop – 7

Industrious as ever, Bishop played a vital role in the heart of midfield and also had a header saved.

Otis Khan – 6

Worked hard but his set pieces were of mixed quality, apart from a superb long range free kick that forced a good save just after the break.

Timi Elsnik – 8

A magnificent League Two debut for the club. His breathtaking solo run from box to box for the opening goal on five minutes will long live in the memory. He looks confident and powerful and a great addition to the squad. At times he perhaps tried too hard with one or two passes that didn’t come off, but he looked desperate to impress and certainly did so.

Mal Benning – 7

Forced a save with a free kick and worked hard down the left all afternoon.

Tyler Walker – 6

The striker worked hard and unselfishly all game but only looked like scoring once from a Pearce nod-down, the keeper making the save.

Danny Rose – 9

This was Danny Rose back to his very best as he scored twice and made the other two in a superb performance. It looks like the trauma of his failed summer move is now firmly behind him and hopefully he can agree with the manager to come off the transfer list and concentrate on trying to replicate Saturday’s performance every week.

Of the subs, Atkinson (7) came on for the last 16 minutes and was heavily involved. His superb work in keeping the ball for what seemed an eternity before releasing Rose to set up Hamilton was vital in Stags’ third goal.

Craig Davies (6) and Calum Butcher (6) came on too late to make any real impact on the game.

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