THE broad smile, punch of the air and heartfelt embrace with his converging team-mates said it all.

After a wait of 14 games, Louis Briscoe didn't half enjoy opening his account for Mansfield – and why not?

The winger-cum-forward, who turned 21 last week, has already demonstrated in his brief time at Field Mill he is a player of real promise. But his luck has certainly been out in front of goal despite going close on several occasions, not least in recent games against Torquay and Wrexham.

To his credit, Briscoe has not let his goal drought get him down and continued to be a threat.

Even so, the relief when he took Daryl Clare's deft pass in his stride in the 22nd minute to blast under the advancing Lance Cronin was tangible.

The evening had started with a cause for personal celebration for manager David Holdsworth, who signed a contract to keep him at Mansfield until the summer of 2013.

Yet even the boss' delight was eclipsed by that of Briscoe who was still sporting a grin as he emerged from the dressing room to collect his man of the match award.

Stags fans will hope the breakthrough will be the start of something special for the man who came from UniBond Premier Ilkeston Town.

Because, if he continues to play in the same vein as he did against Ebbsfleet, then the Stags are going to have one heck of a player on their hands.

Of course, he will have off days like any young player; he is still rough around the edges.

Once polished, though, he could be a real diamond for Mansfield – and a real headache for Blue Square Premier defences.

Briscoe was one of three changes to the Stags starting line-up that had put in their worst performance under Holdsworth at Wrexham on Saturday.

Out went Paul Mayo, Jonathan D'Laryea and Nathan Arnold and in, alongside the former Port Vale man, came Ollie Hotchkiss and Daryl Clare.

That saw a switch from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2, with Curtis Woodhouse moving to left-back and taking over the captain's armband.

From the start, all eyes were on Hotchkiss and Clare – and both impressed.

The Leeds teenager showed he has an eye for a pass, spreading the ball out to the flanks effectively while also trying to find holes through the middle of the Ebbsfleet defence.

He provided a noticeable balance with the combative Matt Somner, a balance that some argue is lacking when D'Laryea and Somner play together.

Clare, meanwhile, demonstrated he is both skilful and streetwise and likely to be a hard man to mark when fully fit. After all, he's already causing problems now.

The striker went close to scoring on two occasions, once in each half, but he made his expected mark with a canny assist for Briscoe's opener.

Gianluca Havern was another player out to impress in the continued absence of Gary Silk and Scott Gardner and he was much-improved from the display at Wrexham.

In fact, so was the whole team, which was exactly what Holdsworth had called for.

Mansfield returned to their thrifty best that has seen them concede just once – against Torquay – in eight home games under his charge.

Ebbsfleet had won their previous three games 1-0 and travelled north with the intention of playing good football, which ensured the game was a pleasing spectacle.

But they lacked the punch to go with their approach play and only once was Alan Marriott truly tested. He made a fine reflex save to deny Giuseppe Sole at close quarters after Mansfield had failed to clear a corner late in the first half.

In contrast, the Stags could have added any number of goals and Briscoe could have had an even more memorable night by scoring a hat-trick.

However, in the end, the hosts had to settle for just one more less than 90 seconds after the restart when Rob Duffy headed in off the left-hand post from a terrific, deep Ryan Williams centre.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment from a Stags point of view was the poor gate – the second lowest of the season.

The board will hope that is down to end-of-season syndrome and Champions League football being on terrestrial television.

Briscoe, though, would not have been too worried about that as his head hit the pillow last night.

He'd have been dreaming of his maiden Mansfield goal – and those he hopes are still to come.