A midweek crowd of 145 saw Matt Chatfield's side bow out of the Buildbase FA Vase at the hands of Notts rivals Newark Flowserve.
Skipper Phil Buxton earned the Bulls an early lead after a bright start, but the visitors grew into the game quickly and deservedly won the third round tie to end AFC's dreams of a trip to Wembley this season.
Floodlight failure almost forced a second postponement of the fixture after a frozen pitch caused the original fixture to be pushed back from Saturday, but the tie eventually went ahead when electrical problems were finally fixed.
After a quiet first five minutes, Bulls captain Phil Buxton fired his side ahead in style as he half-volleyed Brandon Webster's ball from the left perfectly into the far top corner of Joe Searson-Smithard's net.
It seemed top-scorer Ross Duggan had doubled the Bulls' lead only ten minutes later when he cut past Searson-Smithard and tucked home, but the striker was flagged for offside.
The resultant free-kick then saw Flowserve draw level, as Jamie Lloyd tucked into the bottom corner from inside the penalty area.
The first half saw few chances come and go after the leveller, with Nicky Darker's long-range effort floating just wide the only notable chance for the Bulls before the break, whilst Jordan Annable did well to get in the way of a Sam Agar effort on the edge of his area.
With virtually the first real chance of the second period, target man Ben Hutchinson nodded the Highwaymen into the lead for the first time, as he converted a precise corner kick at Dylan Parkin's back post.
With 25 minutes left on the clock, Parkin kept his side in the contest when he was forced to expertly turn Daniel Meadows' low drive around his post, before parrying the midfielder's stinging half-volley wide only five minutes later.
The visitors' place in the third round was sealed seven minutes from time, as Meadows finally and deservedly added himself to the score sheet when he converted from close range.
The Bulls then rallied late on and Ross Duggan was unlucky not to reach Jack Warner's well-delivered cross from the right in what appeared to be the final chance for Matt Chatfield's side.
Meadows then had the ball in the net in injury time, but only to see it cancelled out for offside, only seconds before referee Gareth Davis confirmed the Highwaymen's deserved place in the fourth round.
AFC look on to Saturday as they hope to climb up the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division table away at Grimsby Borough.
MATCH DETAILS
Final score | AFC Mansfield 1-3 Newark Flowserve
Scorers | Buxton (6') - Lloyd (16'), Hutchinson (55'), Meadows (83')
Bulls XI | Parkin (GK), Mears (Harrison 61'), Slone, Darker (Russon 57'), Annable, Hough, Walker, Buxton (C), Duggan, Warner, Webster
Unused subs | McMillan, Stancliffe (GK), Warhurst (GK)
Yellow cards | Warner (87')
Newark Flowserve XI | Searon-Smithard, White, Phillip , Potts (C), Robinson, Lloyd, Meadows, Dixon (Beckett 90'), Hutchinson (Russell 90'+3), King (Pollard 61'), Agar
Unused subs | Piliero, Burrow
Yellow cards |
Attendance | 145
Man of the Match |