"WE'VE lost the belief that we can go and win a game."

That was Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman's damning synopsis as his side were knocked out of a second national cup competition in the space of four days.

The bewildered boss was struggling to comprehend how Stanley had allowed their grip on the game to slacken after taking the lead against a side reduced to 10 men on 40 minutes.

They had shown the character to bounce back from an unfortunate penalty midway through the opening period to draw level through Lee McEvilly before half-time.

Two minutes after the break, Ian Craney pounced to fire Stanley in front, and from then they could easily have moved into cruise control.

Instead, they stalled as substitute Adam Griffin grabbed an equaliser and set up the winner within minutes of his introduction, denying their Conference opponents a place in the LDV Vans Trophy Northern Section quarter-final.

However, there was enough on show to convince Coleman that his side's fortunes could soon take a turn for the better.

Throughout the line-up, there was more passion, commitment and desire, and for the Stanley chief, that will be more important than anything as he looks ahead to the rest of the Conference campaign.

When Oldham took the lead it was against the run of play and there was more than a stroke of luck involved.

Dean Holden ran into team-mate Jermaine Johnson inside the area, then Steve Flitcroft collided with the striker, bundling him over, and the referee awarded a penalty which Appleby tucked underneath the diving Carl Ikeme.

The match descended into further chaos on 37 minutes when Chris Butler slid in to challenge Kevin Betsy, but his momentum took both players into the dug-out, knocking over Oldham manager Brian Talbot.

Tempers flared on the touchline, with at least half a dozen players from either side getting involved.

After consulting his linesman, the referee booked Butler for the initial challenge, then sent off Betsy for retaliating, while striker Johnson was also booked for his part in the fracas.

But the drama didn't end there.

Once the game resumed three minutes later, it took Stanley just two minutes to get back on level terms.

The Reds won a corner on the left, Pogliacomi flapped at it and McEvilly gladly picked up the loose offerings to stab the ball home.

Injury-hit Oldham were keen not to let Stanley get a foothold on proceedings, but their gameplan came unstuck two minutes into the second half.

McEvilly sprinted into the box and held the ball up for Craney to run on to and finish.

Roles were reversed moments later when Flitcroft picked out Craney with a peach of a crossfield pass. The midfielder waited for McEvilly's run down the left before teeing the ball up for him to shoot, but central midfielder David Lee denied him with a timely block.

In desperation to avoid being the victims of another Stanley scalp, Oldham pressed. But Ikeme only had a couple of saves to make as the defence held firm, covering when necessary, and being brave in all manner of challenges.

That was until the 76th minute, when Adam Griffin earned the super-sub tag.

Just a minute after coming off the bench, the full back capitalised on a great move down the right to head in the equaliser.

Holden was allowed to sweep the ball into the six-yard box and Griffin was on hand, unmarked, to nod past Ikeme.

While Stanley were undergoing defensive adjustments following an injury to Butler, Griffin turned provider eight minutes from time as he found Holden with his cross from the left and the unmarked Oldham skipper had no trouble in guiding his header home.