HOW Mansfield failed to beat Barrow was undoubtedly the question on home supporters' lips as they filed out of Field Mill.

A big chunk of the home crowd pinned the blame on referee Jez Simpson.

He was certainly the scapegoat after the Stags were unable to polish off the Cumbrians after an excellent second half performance.

True, there was no doubt the Lancashire official has enjoyed better days and did not get everything right – often to Mansfield's detriment.

But regardless of that, the Stags could and should have still won the game. And the underlying reason they didn't make it successive home wins in five days was a combination of bad luck, bad finishing and inspired keeping.

In a purple patch midway through a rip-roaring second half, they had chance after chance to claim an unassailable lead and put the game to bed.

The fact they failed left Mansfield vulnerable to a later counter – as it proved to their cost. Coming as it did in the third minute of stoppage time, Barrow's leveller was a bitter pill to swallow – and made a draw seem like a defeat.

Nevertheless, the result was still enough to mean the Stags have now gone nine games unbeaten on home turf since David Holdsworth joined the club.

The strangest thing about the game was the contrast in entertainment levels between the two 45 minutes.

The first was entirely forgettable, with neither goalkeeper having a shot to save.

Fighting for their lives at the wrong end of the Blue Square Premier, the Bluebirds probably had slightly the better of things, but could not make it count.

From Mansfield it was a disappointing showing coming on the back of their impressive display against Ebbsfleet.

But with Holdsworth's half-time words of wisdom in their ears, the Stags suddenly cranked it up a couple of gears after the restart.

The marked improvement was kick-started by a moment of brilliance from left-winger Ryan Williams who claimed the goal he had been so desperate to record since returning to the club after a decade away.

Picking the ball up on the left flank, he cut inside onto his right foot an unleashed an angled drive from 25 yards that fizzed into the top right-hand corner.

Such a fantastic strike looked as if it might cause the wheels to come off Barrow. Instead, the visitors were given a helping hand back into the game, quite literally, by Scott Garner.

Just like the week previously at Wrexham, a penalty was awarded against the central defender for handling in the box. There was no doubt where the ball had struck him after Lee McEvilly missed his flick on, it was just a question of intent.

Andy Bond stepped up to send Alan Marriott the wrong way from the penalty spot.

But the hosts showed a healthy appetite for that challenge as they set about their opponents with purpose.

Just before the hour mark, Louis Briscoe outpaced the Barrow rearguard and crashed a low drive against the inside of the left-hand post before Williams, under pressure, scuffed the rebound. O'Connor, who played as well as he has done for Mansfield under Holdsworth after replacing groin injury victim Rob Duffy, was then denied by keeper Tim Deasy. Clare was next to go close as he struck the bar after going clear and Deasy then recovered to thwart O'Connor's header from the follow up.

But the Barrow custodian's best save came shortly after when he got down to block Williams close-range header after O'Connor had got away down the right to set up the opportunity.

There was a feeling Mansfield might have missed the boat until, suddenly, they were back in front with 11 minutes left.

Clare got a flick to a long free-kick forward and O'Connor made an intelligent run in behind to smash the ball in from eight yards.

That lead was no more than the Stags deserved for their flurry of attacks but it was not a match-winning one.

Mansfield looked capable of coping with all that Barrow had to throw at them until Ollie Hotchkiss – who struggled to replicate his form of the Ebbsfleet game – was adjudged to have committed a foul right on the edge of his own box.

Marriott was caught too far over to his left and Darren Sheridan struck the free-kick towards the opposite corner.

The home keeper made a save, tipping the ball onto the bar, but he could not hold it as he might have done had he been closer in the first place and substitute Nick Rogan headed in the rebound.

In ugly scenes that followed, Marriott was dismissed for reacting to provocation by Paul Jones, who, already booked, should also have been given his marching orders.

After such a sour ending, it was perhaps a good job a play-off place was not at stake.

matthew.halfpenny@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk