Goals in each half from Richie Barker and Simon Brown consigned Cheltenham Town to their fourth successive home defeat.
The match was a well-contested but even-tempered affair until deep into injury time when Cheltenham's Gary Bradshaw and Gareth Jelleyman of Mansfield were sent off.
It was a stop-start first half spoiled by a strong and swirling wind, although Mansfield's brand of counter-attacking football seemed better suited to the conditions.
They had the game's first chance when a cross from wide on the left by Adam Rundle was met by Gus Uhlenbeek but Cheltenham goalkeeper Shane Higgs got down to make a smart save.
And they took the lead with 29 minutes gone when Cheltenham midfielder Adam Connolly was pressurised into losing the ball close to the half-way line. Simon Brown burst clear for Mansfield and supplied Rundle down the left. His cross to the far post was smashed in at close range by leading scorer Richie Barker.
The home side suffered a further blow when Northern Ireland international Grant McCann limped off with a leg injury shortly after the goal. McCann had appeared Cheltenham's best hope of providing a spark from midfield in the opening half hour.
Both Barker and Cheltenham's Damian Spencer went close with headers in the minutes leading up to half-time but the home side's best chance of the match came straight after the break.
Kayode Odejayi raced onto a long ball from JJ Melligan but his low shot hit the base of a post and rolled away.
Mansfield continued to defend doggedly and sealed the points when a Brown latched onto a huge clearance from Kevin Pressman before lobbing a shot over Higgs to make it 2-0.
From Cheltenham's point of view it was a poor second half performance with Pressman not called upon to save a shot.