Harrogate Railway

2-3

Mansfield Town

Davidson 60, 83

Jelleyman 37, Boulding 50, 76

The FA Cup, sponsored by E.ON
Second Round Proper
1.10pm, Sunday 2 December 2007
Station View, Harrogate
Winning clubs receive £24,000
Click here for Second Round fixtures
Live on BBC1

Harrogate Railway's FA Cup dream came off the rails at Station View after League Two Mansfield recorded a 3-2 victory in their second round clash.

Danny Davidson's impressive brace had given the hosts real hope of forcing a replay after falling behind their higher ranked opponents.

But Railway were unable to build up a head of steam in the final stages as their Cup dream was left to crash and burn in full view of the television cameras.

Gareth Jelleyman's fortuitous strike gave the visitors the lead, before former Aston Villa man Michael Boulding doubled their advantage six minutes after the break.

And despite Davidson's powerful thumping header reigniting the hope of a famous Cup upset, Boulding's second of the game looked to have put pay to any hopes the Northern Premier Division side may have had of making it into the Third Round.

However, Davidson's 84th minute strike gave Harrogate another sniff of glory and the striker came close to grabbing a dramatic equaliser late on, only for Carl Muggleton to save his curling effort.

Railway started off like an express train and could have taken the lead within the first three minutes after Scott Byrne's free-kick smashed against the crossbar.

And the home side continued full steam ahead as Mansfield struggled to adapt to the boggy conditions and the constant downpour.

However, despite failing to produce some of their more fluent football, it was Mansfield that went into the break ahead thanks to a rather fortunate strike from Jelleyman, who diverted a clearance past goalkeeper John Mclaughlin.

Mansfield improved after the break and Michael Boulding wasted little time in adding a second as Billy Dearden's side took an iron grip on proceedings.

Boulding ran onto a flicked header by brother Rory, before sidestepping a challenge and slotting the ball past Mclaughlin from close range.

With Railway running out of steam, Vince Brockie threw on substitute Danny Davidson and within 60 seconds it appeared an inspired piece of management.

Davidson was fouled by Lee Bell and from the resulting free-kick, the substitute rose highest to power home Byron Littlefair's cross and give his side a lifeline.

That goal woke the home fans from their slumber, but no sooner had they begun to dream of securing a replay at Field Mill, Michael Boulding touched home a Simon Brown cross to restore Mansfield's lead.

That goal appeared to have finally broken Railway's resistance, but inspired by substitute Davidson, Railway roused themselves for one final push.

And with the clock ticking down, Davidson, a banker by trade, smashed home from close-range with six minutes of normal time remaining to set up a nerve jangling finale.

Harrogate huffed and puffed in the final few minutes in an effort to find what would have been a deserved equaliser - but Mansfield somehow managed to hang on to book themselves a place in the Third Round of the competition.