Mansfield Town survived a second-half Exeter City onslaught to take all three points with a narrow 1-0 League Two victory at St James' Park.
The visitors almost took a lead inside the first 10 minutes when Ollie Palmer rounded Artur Krysiak, but his shot from a difficult angle was cleared off the line.
Lee Stevenson then sent a low shot narrowly wide, while at the other end Jordan Moore-Taylor headed just off-target and Alan Gow sent a shot inches over the bar.
Gow then went close once more as Exeter looked for an opener, but a minute before the break the away side took the lead when Palmer nodded the ball into the path of Stevenson, who kept his composure to finish.
Matt Rhead almost doubled Mansfield's advantage, but his goalbound header was hooked off the line by an alert Matt Grimes.
The home side came close to levelling in the second half when Grimes squared for Tom Nicholls, but Alan Marriott tipped the forward's shot onto the post from close range.
Mansfield defended stoutly in the second period to restrict the hosts to largely half-chances, but with the last kick of the game, Exeter came within inches of snatching a point as Gow's shot smashed against the post and bounced clear.
Kristian Johnson
