The Stags had plenty of defending to do before they sealed the victory. The young central defensive pair of Jake Buxton and Alex Baptiste played with the cool aplomb of veterans and the longer the game went on, the more they gained in stature and authority.
County had brought back their former striker Mark Stallard on-loan from Barnsley to seek to cure to their chronic goalscoring problem and although he linked up well and carried a threat he did not contribute a single shot on target.
Neither Stallard nor strike partner Gavin Gordon should be too fiercely criticised because the hard-working midfield lacked the creativity to prise open Mansfield's rearguard.
The contest was settled in Mansfield's favour - enabling them to complete the double - with a preventable first minute goal.
Adam Rundle fired a free-kick to the back post where Richie Barker out-muscled young defender Kelvin Wilson and deceived badly-placed goalkeeper Saul Deeney with a fine header.
The Stags nearly doubled their lead ten minutes before half-time when a thrilling run by Derek Asamoah finished with him curling a shot just over the angle.
Three minutes later Mansfield keeper Kevin Pilkington made his only serious save of the afternoon when he kept out Matthew Gill's close-range effort.
The second half was better from Notts' point of view although they were never convincing as they sank to a third successive league defeat.