24/12/2007 - Grimsby Town 1 Mansfield Town 0
There are few who doubt that teenage striker Rory Boulding has a promising career in front of him.
But the 19-year-old learned a harsh lesson at Blundell Park in an incident which cost Mansfield another three points.
With the Stags having seen off an early Mariners surge, they had got as far as the hour mark looking fairly comfortable at the back.
But then the youngster gave the ball away close to the right touchline midway inside his own half and Grimsby pounced.
Nick Hegarty, who had dispossessed him, got a pinpoint cross in at the second attempt and Gary Jones dived to head home on the near post.
The look on the younger Boulding's face as the ball flew in told of his immense disappointment and he was still stewing when he made way for John McAliskey minutes later.
Players of his ilk are only going to learn by making such mistakes - as the likes of Alex John-Baptiste and Jake Buxton, who both came up through the ranks, will surely testify.
But Mansfield have not got time for that - lying at the bottom of the table.
They need players who are going to produce the goods in the next few weeks, not the next few years, if they are to climb away from danger.
They need to find a way to start finding the net again regularly, especially on the road, after failing to test Grimsby keeper Phil Barnes all afternoon.
And they need to get moving quickly because they are now four points adrift with what is, on paper, a run of difficult games over the festive season.
Once again, the Stags were not totally outclassed in north-east Lincolnshire and, like in so many other away games this season, it was a single goal margin that they went down by.
In a poor game, Grimsby flew out of the traps, but after a 15-minute spell where they fashioned three decent openings, they created nothing before and after their second-half winner.
The Stags had three half-chances of their own. First, Rory Boulding nodded over the bar after Buxton had headed down Matt Hamshaw's first-half corner.
Then, in the second period, Michael Boulding raced through the middle after Hamshaw's through pass and nicked the ball past Barnes, who collided with the Mansfield player.
The Stags' top scorer was convinced it was a penalty but referee Michael Oliver had other ideas.
As time began to run out for Mansfield, Simon Brown turned instinctively after gathering Gareth Jelleyman's smart pass and curled a shot narrowly wide of the right-hand post from just outside the box.
In the whole 90 minutes, though, that was as close as the visitors came.
Worryingly for the Stags, only Boulding senior is netting with any regularity and the midfield have been particularly woeful in that department.
Between them, Stephen Dawson, Lee Bell, Matt Hamshaw and Jonathan D'Laryea have scored one goal all season.
It is tough to come up with a definitive reason why Mansfield struggle so much on the road - they are the only side in League Two without an away win after ten attempts.
In some matches they have looked good going forward, not taken their chances and then been punished. In others they have looked poor.
Even boss Billy Dearden admitted after the game he is almost at a loss as to what to try next away from Field Mill.
For the club's fans, the situation is one of increasing concern. As far as Football League safety goes, it is as serious as it has ever been.
Mansfield have been at the bottom in other seasons, notably just after Peter Shirtliff took over from Carlton Palmer.
But that was in October, not December, and the Mansfield players have stressed if they are still bottom going into the new year, then the club is in real trouble.
As they made for the exit gates, some of the Mansfield following that was just shy of 300 were beginning to wonder if a change of manager might now be a way forward.
The bare facts certainly do not stack up well for Dearden in 2007-2008, with just three victories and 11 defeats in 18 League Two matches.
But with the off-the field situation continually blighting the manager's plans, it is little wonder the Stags are holding up the rest.
It is hard to see how another boss would do much better in the long-term with the squad and finance at their disposal. You suspect even new England boss Fabio Capello would find life tough.
And the attribute Dearden can point to more than any other is experience. He has been in relegation battles before and can at least draw on those days gone by as he plots Mansfield's course through the Christmas period and into 2008.
As the Stags boss quite rightly pointed out after the game, Mansfield have pulled themselves off the bottom before - and he feels they can do it again.
But that means getting a run of positive results and winning those January home games in hand.
What is always a big game at local rivals Chesterfield now takes on massive importance for Mansfield this Saturday. Another defeat and the trapdoor to non-league football will be starting to creak ominously open.
A victory and there might just be a sliver of hope for the Stags yet.
matt.halfpenny@nottighameveningpost.co.uk