Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough delighted as clinical finishing equals club record win, but warns no one should get carried away

Stags had never beaten Harrogate at home and the visitors were in-form with six games unbeaten and in the play-off spots.

But Clough's men tore them to shreds to equal the club's record score against Rotherham United in 1932, netting five without reply by half-time on an astonishing night of drama.

It moved Stags to within a point of leaders Stockport County and Clough said: “I think most teams in the league would have struggled to cope with us tonight.

“It is such a bizarre scoreline to score nine – and I think we deserved to score nine.

“It might sound silly, but the only thing that stopped us scoring more was the professionalism of the opposition as they kept going.

“For a team to go 6-0 down away from and score two goals says an awful lot about their character as well.

“We have threatened to get big totals this season and we have scored four on the road three times. So we have got it in us.

“But tonight was an exhibition of first winning the ball and then hurting the opposition and finishing it.”

He continued: “We've had games this season when we have had 25-26 shots and ended up with one goal or maybe two at the most.

“Tonight we were extremely clinical in our finishing. I don't think their goalie had a chance with any of them all night.