Ah, that's a shame.

Northampton counter really well before Mansfield half close the door.

The ball comes back to Sam Hoskins and he backheels it through for Louis Appere.

The Stags had stepped up just in time though and he's rightly flagged offside.

Good stuff from the away side.

They show good patience to move the ball around and fashion an opening.

Louis Appere eventually gets his head down and beats his man down the right and wins a corner.

Jon Guthrie heads the deep set piece down but only to home goalkeeper Nathan Bishop.

Jon D'Laryea
Former Mansfield Town midfielder on BBC Radio Nottingham

Mansfield have made a great start, got the goal they want and managed the game well so far. It's important they see that through to half-time now.

Image source, Getty Images

Shaun McWilliams is in the book for the away side for a pretty poor challenge on goalscorer Rhys Oates on the halfway line.

Booking the right call for me.

Derek Mansell: As a West Ham supporter of a certain age, I don't have fond memories of either of these two. Mansfield dumped us out of the FA Cup 3-0 in 1969, and in Northampton's only season in the top tier (1965-6), we could only manage a draw and a defeat against them!

Fair play to Derek there for holding grudges for well in excess of 50 years...

Don't forget you can get in touch with us using #bbcefl on twitter. We'd love to hear from you.

Northampton were really starting to get on top of this before that Rhys Oates goal.

This isn't the first setback they've had recently of course and there's a long way to go in this to get back in it.

The Stags have won 14 of their past 17 home games though.

Jon D'Laryea
Former Mansfield Town midfielder on BBC Radio Nottingham

The only finish he could have had was through the the goalkeeper's legs, the keeper closed the angle and it's a great finish

Can Mansfield keep up the momentum?

The Cobblers go close for the first time as Louis Appere forces a good save from Nathan Bishop in the home goal with a crisp strike on a bouncing ball from 20 yards out.

Ooooh, good stuff from the home side.

They pinch the ball back on the halfway line and pile forward.

Stephen McLaughlin hits a low cross across the face of goal that Rhys Oates can't quite convert.

Good start from the Stags.

Jon D'Laryea
Former Mansfield Town midfielder on BBC Radio Nottingham

It's important Mansfield put goalkeeper Jon Maxted under pressure. He's not played a lot of football this season, so definitely put him under pressure with balls in.

Image source, Rex Features

We'd love to hear from you this evening.

Who do you think takes this one this tonight? If you're a Swindon or Port Vale fan which of these would you rather face in the final at Wembley, should your own team make it of course?

Get in touch using #bbcefl on Twitter.

Northampton get us under way in today's final match.

Hopefully it's as dramatic as the two that went before it.

Image source, Rex Features

Mansfield have bounced back after a 14-match winless run in all competitions between 14 August and 30 October.

They recovered in style, with a club-record run of 11 successive victories at home catapulting them up the table.

Back-to-back defeats over the Easter period ended hopes of pulling off a miraculous automatic promotion but they go into the play-offs with two wins and two draws in their final four.

"There will be a nervousness around the place, but I think they will go into it with a degree of optimism," boss Nigel Clough told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"I don't think it does any harm to be four unbeaten and scoring a few goals in the last four games. All those sort of things have got to help."

Image source, Rex Features

As mentioned before (if you're just joining us I have NO idea where you've been), the circumstances surrounding Northampton being in the play-offs this evening were fairly crazy.

Chairman Kelvin Thomas has spoken with the EFL about the side that Scunthorpe fielded in the 7-0 defeat at Bristol Rovers.

Scunthorpe had seven teenagers in their side, including 17-year-old goalkeeper Owen Foster and debutant Oliver Lobley.

But there were only three changes from their previous game against Hartlepool, a number which falls well within EFL guidelines.

Boss Jon Brady is hopeful that the setback can help to create a siege mentality for his charges.

"We're not wasting a minute on anything else but focusing on the task ahead," he told BBC Radio Northampton.

"We've had a lot of setbacks throughout this season and fought back from them - there's the goal that was never a goal against Forest Green, things like that, and us having Covid for 21 days.

"A lot of people had written us off for the play-offs, let alone push for automatic promotion, and we're at our best when we're being pushed to our limit, backs against the wall and no-one believes in us."

Liverpool have beaten Chelsea 6-5 on penalties in the FA Cup final after the match ended goalless.

Reaction to that is here.

Mansfield go with the same team who started the draw with champions Forest Green on the final day of the regular season.

Northampton are forced into two changes from the team that beat Barrow 3-1 last week. Goalkeeper Liam Roberts is suspended and Josh Eppiah has a knock so Jonny Maxted and Idris Kanu come in.

Yes, I know the FA Cup final has gone to a penalty shootout.

You can follow the unfolding drama of that here.

Image source, Rex Features

Saturday, 7 May 2022 is a date that will live long in the memories of Northampton fans for all the wrong reasons.

The Cobblers visited Barrow knowing that a win over the Cumbrian side would be enough for promotion as long as Bristol Rovers didn't better their result by five clear goals.

Northampton raced into a three-goal lead and looked set to enjoy a comfortable day to seal an immediate return to League One.

However, the home side pulled one back and then the unthinkable happened down in the West Country.

Joey Barton's men scored goal, after goal, after goal to crush relegated Scunthorpe 7-0 and take third spot on goals scored, with both teams having an identical goal difference.

So, one week on, it's the play-offs for Jon Brady's men and a stern test against Nigel Clough's Mansfield.

Here we go.