IT is a measure of how far Mansfield have come in the three months since David Holdsworth took over as manager that they were disappointed not to beat promotion-chasing Torquay.

Where visiting teams once saw the opportunity to plunder three easy points at Field Mill, they now know their task is going to be anything but easy.

It is no coincidence that since their change of boss, the Stags have gone seven games unbeaten on home turf – a major factor in them pulling clear of the drop zone. On paper, this match was the toughest of those fixtures, the one Holdsworth was using as a guide to see how far his side had come in a short space of time.

And the truth was his team compared pretty well – a source of great encouragement to all Mansfield fans ahead of next season. Had the third-placed Gulls been in town earlier in the campaign then a draw would have almost invariably been seen as a good result.

But while the scoreline ended up that way, it was not by design as both sides went all out for victory from first whistle until last. When Mansfield went in front in the first half, they seemed well placed to claim a significant scalp and close out victory.

That they didn't was down to them conceding the first goal in 603 minutes of football at home under Holdsworth when the visitors claimed their equaliser.

At Christmas and before, the Stags always looked prone to conceding goals at any time and from any source. So the fact the end of March has come – and yielded six clean sheets in a row – before an opposition side has netted at Field Mill, shows just how well a new-look back line has defended.

The fact is, Torquay will go on to reach the end-of-season play-offs and have the right kind of credentials to mount a strong challenge to get back in the Football League. Yet on this occasion, they did not look any better than a Mansfield side, who were clearly stung by their defeat at relegation-threatened Grays Athletic the week before.

From the kick-off, the Stags had the bit between their teeth. There was a sense of urgency that seemed to have been lacking in the latter stages down in Essex.

With Matt Somner out suspended and Curtis Woodhouse unavailable because of boxing commitments, Holdsworth drafted Neil MacKenzie into central midfield while deadline-day loan signing Ollie Hotchkiss from Leeds had to be content with a place on the bench.

The only other change to the starting line-up saw Louis Briscoe brought back up front alongside Rob Duffy, with Mark Stallard dropping to the bench.

In the opening stages there was only one team in it. Mansfield poured players forward and peppered the Torquay goal with shots. The disappointing thing for them was that they failed to test keeper Scott Bevan as a string of efforts flew off target, including a header that dropped just wide from Briscoe.

That almost cost the Stags dear as Blair Sturrock nearly put Torquay in front out of the blue but for Alan Marriott finger-tipping his dipping shot from distance over the bar. Nevertheless, there was no doubting that the hosts deserved their 36th-minute lead, secured by Rob Duffy's sixth goal for Mansfield.

He tapped home from close range after Briscoe had shown the awareness to square the ball to him rather than shoot when his effort would have been blocked.

It followed a curling shot from MacKenzie that Bevan had dived full length to just to prevent finding the back of the net in the first place. Mansfield almost doubled their advantage immediately when Adie Moses' header was clawed over the bar by the visiting keeper.

However, Torquay should have scored on the stroke of half-time when Chris Todd headed straight at Marriott and the same player headed just over soon after the restart. And as the second period unfolded, it became clear that the wind was having a strong influence as the Gulls came right back into it.

Enjoying more possession and pinning Mansfield back, Torquay were certainly much more of an attacking threat.

But their leveller came out of the blue. Chris Hargreaves played the ball through for Blair Sturrock, who lobbed it over the advancing Marriott with 64 minutes played.

In hindsight it was an error from the Stags goalkeeper to commit himself unsuccessfully, but how many times since he arrived at the club as he saved the team?

Indeed, after that rare mistake the former Lincoln shot-stopper redeemed himself by spectacularly tipping over a Tim Sills header.

In a refreshing finale of an entertaining encounter in which neither side was happy to settle for a point, Ryan Williams could well have sealed victory for Mansfield when he drilled just over the top from substitute Daryl Clare's neat flick.

It was Clare's senior home debut and he showed enough in the near 30 minutes he spent on the pitch that if he can get fully fit he can be a major asset next season.

In the end, though, a draw was a fair result on the overall balance of play with both sides having spells in the ascendancy.

The only hope for Mansfield is that next year these kind of matches mean something in the context of a promotion drive.