Chris Wilder relieved as Middlesbrough pinch late FA Cup winner
Middlesbrough manager Chris Wilder was a relieved man as his side scraped into the fourth round with a stoppage-time goal to win 3-2 after a terrific tie at League Two Mansfield.
Championship side Boro were 2-0 up inside 14 minutes but Stags roared back to level after the break only for John-Joe O’Toole to put through his own goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
“I have to give an enormous amount of credit to Mansfield Town – the manager, the players and the supporters,” said Wilder.
“It’s a difficult one for them when they go 2-0 down but their team rallied and I knew, without sounding clever, this was going to be a really difficult afternoon for us. So it proved to be.
“The result is the main thing and we’ve come through a really tough tie that epitomised what the FA Cup is all about.
“We were up against a manager (Nigel Clough) who has got history with cup upsets, a team on a fabulous run, a vocal home support, and a team that has nothing to lose against a team that has everything to lose.”
Uche Ikpeazu gave Boro a fourth-minute lead with a brilliant solo effort and debutant Caolan Boyd-Munce turned in a low Lee Peltier cross after 14 minutes.
Stags dominated the second half and Oli Hawkins headed home with 67 minutes gone.
Danny Johnson had an effort ruled out for offside before Rhys Oates broke clear to level after 85 minutes. But, at the death, O’Toole turned a low cross from Isaiah Jones past his goalkeeper.
Mansfield: Bishop, Hewitt, O’Toole, Hawkins; McLaughlin (Lapslie 61), Maris, Clarke (Johnson 61); Stirk (Law 72), Quinn, Bowery, Oates. Unused substitutes: Nartey, Charsley, Burke, Ward, Stech, Turner.
Middlesbrough: Lumley, Peltier, Wood-Gordon, Bamba; Gibson (Crooks 58), McNair, Howson, Boyd-Munce (Tavernier 58); Kokolo (Jones 77), Ikpeazu (Anfernee Dijksteel 78); Coburn (Hernandez 62). Unused substitutes: Malley, Daniels, Sykes.
Referee: K Stroud (Hampshire).