Mansfield Town 1 : 1 Hartlepool United FC - Pools earn point in fiery clash

A splendid second half fightback earned bottom club Hartlepool a 1-1 draw at Mansfield in a fiery Boxing Day contest that also saw three red cards.

Junior Brown's first goal for Mansfield put them in charge after only 10 minutes but United were deservedly level through Michael Duckworth 12 minutes after the restart.

The Stags ended the day with 10 men for the second successive match after Ryan Tafazolli picked up a second yellow in the 72nd minute.

United lost Marlon Harewood with three minutes to go for a straight red for a clash with Jamie McGuire before Michael Woods followed him in added time for a second yellow for a clash with the same player.

Mansfield controlled much of the first half and should have gone in with more than a one-goal lead .

Hartlepool thought they should have had a penalty in the 10th minute when Michael Duckworth went down, but instead Stags broke upfield and Junior Brown's strong run and one-two with Vadaine Oliver saw Brown get into the box and slide a low finish under Scott Flinders.

In stoppage time Rhead met Clements' corner with a firm, on-target header that Darren Holden had to kick off the line.

In the 52nd minute Pools were level as Marlon Harewood chested the ball into the path of Duckworth, who saw his finish take a big deflection to leave Dimitar Evtimov helpless.

Three minutes later Matt Rhead thought he had restored Stags' lead as his header hit a defender on the line, hit the underside of the bar and came down, but the officials decided it had not crossed the goal line.

Tafazolli's dismissal 18 minutes from time then lifted Hartlepool hopes as he picked up a second yellow for a silly foul on Duckworth.

But that advantage was lost when Harewood was sent off three minutes from time after clashing with McGuire, who was booked.

McGuire's attempt to take a quick free kick in time added on saw Woods get in the way and then bowl him over to see red and end a bruising second half.