Belle Vue's last FA Cup tie

Doncaster Rovers 2-0 Mansfield Town
FA Cup Second Round
Tuesday 12th December 2006

Had it not been for Brian Stock's last-ditch injury-time equaliser at Field Mill ten days earlier, this game would never have happened.

The midfielder, on loan from Preston North End, struck just seconds before the final whistle to force a largely undeserved Second Round replay and consequentially give supporters one more chance to visit Belle Vue and witness what would be the last ever FA Cup tie at the old ground.

As things materialised, it actually turned out to be the penultimate game at Belle Vue (and the last midweek clash under the floodlights) because the following weekend's League One fixture against Yeovil Town was postponed due to bad weather.

Naturally, with a move to the newly-constructed Keepmoat Stadium looming in the New Year, these were strange times for everyone - including those on the pitch who were still getting used to the philosophies put forward by newly-appointed manager Sean O'Driscoll.

Both results and performances up to this point in his tenure had been quite haphazard though encouraging signs were starting to become apparent. His team went into this clash on the back of successive away wins at Brentford and Northampton Town, hadn't conceded at home since Chris Porter's equaliser for Oldham Athletic over two months earlier, and were steadfastly working their way up the League One table - sitting just a few points outside of the play-off positions.

Therefore, with Mansfield hardly pulling up any trees in the division below, Rovers were expected to win to progress to Round Three and the reward if doing so would be an encounter with an established Premier League outfit in the shape of Sam Allardyce's Bolton Wanderers.

In the end, the replay was hardly a classic but the majority of the 5,338 crowd left Belle Vue with smiles on their faces as Doncaster simply dispatched what was put infront of them with Mark McCammon firing home the opener on 23 minutes before Paul Heffernan bagged a second goal - his third in as many games - not long after the half-time interval.

The Stags, it has to be said, didn't offer much and were very underwhelming. They caused young Rovers 'keeper Ben Smith few problems, looked a shadow of the team which actually gave a good account of themselves at Field Mill in the original tie, and it hardly came as a shock when they parted company with boss Peter Shirtliff just seven days later.

A few years further down the line I'd witness another FA Cup Second Round replay involving Mansfield Town on '12th December' but that's a story for a different time...

All photos by Dan Westwell.