In what is seen to be one of the most expensive sporting bets this year, Mansfield owner John Radford has bought team manager Paul Cox an Aston Martin after Mansfield won 8-1 against Barrow.

After the non-league team won 5-0 against Dartford last weekend, Mr Radford decided to raise the stakes promising the manager one of the world’s most expensive cars in return for Mansfield scoring five in the first half of the Blue Square Premier game against Barrow. Even though the Stags had won in the game against Dartford, Mr Radford’s bet looked the promising winner as this was the team’s first time hitting five in a match all season.

However, the game against Barrow seemed to swing in Mr Cox’s favour, as goals from Lee Stevenson, two from Matt Green and one from Colin Daniel meant Mansfield was 4-1 after half an hour into the game. This was quickly followed by Adam Murray scoring a goal before the break to win the bet for Mr Cox as Mansfield led the game 5-1.

Mr Radford, who was returning from a trip to Ireland and missed the first half of the game, rushed to meet with Mr Cox and reiterate his promise to buy the manager an Aston Martin DB9. The impact of winning the bet was visible not just for the lucky manager but for the entire team as Mansfield went on to win 8-1.

Mr Cox, still apprehensive about receiving one of the world’s finest sports cars, said: “As for the car, I’m not sure if it is wind-up. Maybe I’ll get into the car park and it will be a bicycle with some stabilisers on it.”

However, Mr Radford delivered on his promise when an Aston Martin DB9 arrived at the One Stadium on Saturday night – complete with the personalised number plate MT51 COX.