ANOTHER week and another Scott Boden winner to earn Newport County AFC another vital three points.

The Exiles top scorer fired in his 13th goal of the season and his fifth in four games to settle a tight encounter against Mansfield Town on the Rodney Parade beach.

Mark Jones and his ground staff had been forced to pile 40 tons of sand onto the battle scarred pitch and that made life difficult for both sides.

The game looked set to end goalless before Boden popped up to win it four minutes from time and lift the Exiles eight points above the bottom two with two games in hand.

Warren Feeney made two changes to the side that drew 1-1 at Exeter City last week with Andrew Hughes and Scott Barrow replacing Janoi Donacien and Alex Rodman.

New loan signing Jake Gosling, who arrived from Bristol Rovers on Friday, did not receive international clearance in time to be involved.

The beach-like playing surface made passing football difficult and the first half was by no means a classic.

County could easily have been ahead inside the opening 10 minutes as Scott Boden squared for his strike partner Conor Wilkinson, whose snap shot was superbly stopped by Stags stopper Scott Shearer at close range.

John-Christophe Ayina, starting on the right flank in the absence of Rodman, whipped in a dangerous cross that Lee Collins headed away from Boden at the far post.

At the other end Chris Clements thought he should have had a penalty when he tumbled after slight contact in the box but referee Gavin Ward was not interested.

County captain Mark Byrne tried his luck from distance but his curled effort ended up just the wrong side of Shearer’s left-hand post.

Mansfield striker Matt Green then went even closer to breaking the deadlock against his former side.

He took advantage of a sloppy Medy Elito pass on the edge of the area, took aim and beat Joe Day with a powerful low shot that cannoned back off the post and away to safety.

That was the closest either side came in the opening 45 minutes, although the Exiles felt they too could have had a penalty when Wilkinson’s cross looked to hit Collins’ hand in first half stoppage time.

Visiting defender Ryan Tafazolli headed in soon after the restart but his goal was ruled out by the offside flag.

At the other end Elito’s low drive was blocked on the line by Collins and right-back Danny Holmes fired a shot high and wide on a rare venture forward.

That man Clements surged through the middle again and found space but his drive from the edge of the box was always rising and cleared Day’s bar by a foot.

Substitute Yan Klukowski was into the thick of the action immediately as he was inches away from converting Ayina’s cross shot on the line.

And Mansfield sub Adi Yussuf also went close but his header was just wide of Day’s far post.

Just as it looked like both sides would have to settle for a point the ball broke to Boden inside the box in what looked to be an offside position and he turned and fired past Shearer to seal another win for Feeney’s men.

County: Day; Davies, Hughes, Jones, Holmes; Barrow (Klukowski, 66), Elito, Byrne, Ayina; Boden, Wilkinson (Morgan, 82)

Subs not used: Green, Donacien, Owen-Evans, Parselle, Meechan

Booked: Klukowski, Byrne, Boden

Referee: Gavin Ward

Attendance: 2,361 (172 Mansfield)

Argus star man: Darren Jones