Accrington Press reports on game

Simply to give reasonable balance, we post the report of Saturday's game as published by This is Accrington.

JOHN Coleman admitted that he had never seen referee Mike Mullarkey before. And after the Devon-based official single-handedly ruined Accrington Stanley's chances of equalling the Conference record for a winning run, he's unlikely to ever want to set eyes on him again.

The Reds boss tried his best to stay positive despite Nicky Nicolau snatching a dramatic late equaliser in the fourth of an astonishing SIX minutes of injury time.

He raised his arms and applauded the 283 supporters who had travelled from Accrington to cheer on the runaway leaders.

But it was a brave face that he put on, and with his head bowed he walked backed towards the tunnel, puffing his cheeks out in complete despair at the injustice he had witnessed, and suffered, for which he found his feelings virtually impossible to hide.

His main concern wasn't so much with Danny Ventre's red card, although that was harsh to say the least as the full back never moved his arms away from his body as Nicolau whacked a shot against him. Nor was it really with the amount of stoppage time.

"Nothing would have surprised me today," he said.

What troubled him most was the fact that his side failed to be awarded a free kick for the final half-hour, while Hereford were getting innocuous decisions in their favour at the drop of a hat.

And that made it increasingly difficult for 10-man Stanley to defend a lead which had been given to them by former Bull David Brown's superb finish and Tamika Mkandawire's own goal, but cut via the penalty that Ventre conceded.

For the final 18 minutes, Hereford threw everything at the leaders, but the understrength troops held out, until the fourth official held up his electronic board to reveal they would have an extra six minutes to hang on.

Andy Todd got in the way of an Andrew Ferrell drive from the edge of the box.

But when Andy Williams flicked the ball over the Stanley defence for the onrushing Nicolau, the left winger clipped it past goalkeeper Rob Elliot and into the bottom left hand corner.

It was a devastating blow to the Reds. So much so that the players later admitted it felt akin to a defeat.

They must remember, though, that while the winning record may have gone by the wayside, they still have plenty to brag about.

For starters, there were dozens of positives from their play ahead of the final nine games, from which they still have the capacity to reach 104 points for the season.

Coleman commented after the Aldershot game that his side's recent away games had followed a pattern one of having to weather an early storm. And that trend continued at Edgar Street.

Hereford weren't overly blessed with chances, but with Stanley struggling to retain possession they had their fair share of of defending to do.

Robbie King squandered the Bulls' best chance as he ballooned over from inside the box on nine minutes.

But Stanley got a foothold on the game from the 20th minute onwards.

Romuald Boco conjured a great chance as he turned on the edge of the box and had his left-foot shot deflected narrowly round the post.

Stanley sustained the pressure with Gary Roberts having a couple of half-chances before they survived a scare as Williams beat the offside trap but King couldn't finish.

Boco went close again after wrong-footing Ferrell but shot straight into the keeper's arms.

It was left to Hereford old boy Brown to make the breakthrough, in impressive fashion.

Todd chested the ball down on the right and crossed to the near post for Brown to control well and hook on the volley over his left shoulder and into the top of the opposite corner.

Hereford had a goal ruled out for Mkandawire's foul on Elliot as they reacted before the break.

A mix-up between Robbie Williams and Michael Welch early in the second half gave Andy Williams a chance but the ball was scrambled clear after Elliot dived at his feet.

The Reds recovered and a Bulls' blunder paved the way for them to double their lead five minutes later.

There was no doubt Ian Craney was going for goal from the corner flag as he hammered it towards the near post. It missed ricocheting off Brown, but when Mkandawire steered it beyond his own goalkeeper as he stuck out his right leg.

Hereford, meanwhile, had never really looked like scoring as the Reds defended resolutely. That was, until, the referee intervened.

With the Reds down to 10 men, Elliot was close to shutting their opponents out as he brilliantly parried Rob Purdie's spot kick. But Stuart Fleetwood was quick to follow up and convert the rebound.

Boco headed off the line from Dean Beckwith's header moments later. As the clock ticked down Elliot denied Andy Williams then Ferrell's low right-footed drive.

Stanley were stunned to see six minutes of added time signalled, while 4,000-plus Hereford fans roared their team on for a final push.

They got what they had urged for as Nicolau finally got the better of Elliot.

Substitute Steve Jagielka might have swung the game back in Stanley's favour in the final minute but was matched for pace by Purdie and he missed the chance to go for goal, or square for fellow substitute Andy Mangan.

Seven points from three consecutive away fixtures is a return that not only extends their unbeaten league run to 19 games but also keeps their advantage over second placed Hereford at 16 points.

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