Mansfield Town 2-2 Forest Green Rovers: Draw seals title for Rovers
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Forest Green will play in League One for the first time next season
Forest Green Rovers boss Rob Edwards said clinching the League Two title felt "surreal" after drawing with a Mansfield Town side that hung on to claim a play-off spot on a chaotic final day at the One Call Stadium.
Rovers twice came from behind to claim the point they needed to ensure they overtook Exeter at the summit, with the Grecians finishing second after being beaten by Port Vale.
On-loan Newcastle United midfielder Matty Longstaff had put the hosts ahead before the break, with Ebou Adams restoring parity just after the hour mark.
Two goals in two season-defining late minutes saw Jordan Bowery restore Mansfield's lead before Josh March hit back to snatch the point the Gloucestershire side required to be crowned fourth division champions for the first time ever.
"We've had a lot of titanic battles this year and tough games right the way through," Edwards told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
"It still is a little bit surreal. I know we've been there for a long, long time but maybe I still didn't quite believe it was going to happen.
"But we've finished on top and it's incredible."
The hard-fought, dramatically sealed draw in Nottinghamshire capped a stunning season for Edwards' side, who will play in England's third tier for the first time in their history next season.
The result means Mansfield finish seventh in the table and will face Northampton in the play-off semi-finals, starting with the home leg next Saturday.
While results elsewhere meant Nigel Clough's Mansfield missed out on automatic promotion, clinching a play-off place is a remarkable achievement for a side that was in the relegation places in October following a disastrous 12-game winless league run.
A club-record 11 successive home league wins between October and April saw the Stags surge up the table to become unlikely automatic promotion candidates.
Clough said the Stags go into the play-offs "in good heart" and "with some momentum" as they try to return to England's third tier for the first time in 19 years.
"We are still in with a chance and before kick-off we'd have taken that," he said.
"They needed a point to win the league so it couldn't have worked out better for both teams."
Matty Longstaff's goal put Mansfield 1-0 up at the break
The hosts, who at the start of the day could have finished as high as third and as low as eighth, went ahead through Longstaff who met a deflected ball from Jamie Murphy in the box before beating goalkeeper Luke McGee with his second attempt.
Rovers, among the league's most prolific sides, were a constant threat and eventually restored parity, thanks to Adams' cool finish after latching on to a through ball from Jamille Matt.
Matt sent a close-range header over the crossbar soon after and Nicky Cadden had a shot saved by Nathan Bishop as the visitors chased a winner, but it was Bowery who was next to throw a twist into the title and play-off race with a second for the Stags.
But just a minute after coming off the bench, March beat the offside trap to lift a fine finish over the home goalkeeper to seal the title-winning draw.
Ebrima Adams' goal to make it 1-1 was just his third goal of the season
Josh March came off the bench to score the decisive fourth goal of the game
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