Accrington Stanley 4 Forest Green 1

PATIENCE really is a virtue. While Accrington Stanley have been on a miserable run of four league and cup defeats, manager John Coleman has often been the epitome of calm.

Instead of publicly blowing his top and demanding more from his players, the Reds boss has been a constant voice of encouragement.

And on Saturday, against a mediocre Forest Green outfit, his efforts to keep morale high at the end of a long and tiring season paid off, without even managing to reach full throttle.

It only took one goal to help Stanley turn the corner and instigate a scoreline that made the visitors look more like Forest Gump Rovers. But what a goal it was.

Ged Brannan, who has been searching for his first goal since signing in November last year, seized on a defensive mix-up between Jon Richardson and Tom Jordan just outside the area and hammered the ball past a despairing Steve Perrin.

After being so quiet in the final third for the bulk of the first half, while Jamie Speare was kept the busier of the two goalkeepers, there was a marked improvement in the Stanley players' body language.

Paul Mullin had forced Perrin into a desperate double save on the line with a powerful downwards header from Rory Prendergast's probing cross.

But the Reds went into their shell after that and allowed Alex Meechan and Ian Fitzpatrick a bit too much freedom going forward, albeit restricting them to chances from just inside and around the area.

That didn't stop them getting chances on target, and Speare made an impressive stretching save to tip over Fitzpatrick's dipping effort after he'd worked some space for himself about 16 yards out.

Brannan was unfortunate to see his square ball cannon off the referee, allowing Rovers an unexpected break but Fitzpatrick bent his shot just wide.

Meechan then made a strong angled burst from the right and drove the ball low and hard at Speare, which the Stanley stopper claimed at the second attempt before grabbing a Fitzpatrick header.

After bemoaning a shortage of lucky breaks, Coleman would have been delighted that Brannan made the most of Rovers' defensive gaffe against the run of play.

But, stupid is as stupid does, the visitors didn't learn from their mistakes and an eager Mullin fired a stooping header home from Prendergast's delivery a minutes before the break.

Mullin and Brannan showed their hunger for more goals in the opening exchanges after the break, but Forest Green still had irons in the fire as Speare punched clear under pressure from Alex Sykes then produced a magnificent save to deny the left winger from the edge of the area.

But the Stanley stopper played as big a role in his side's attacks as he did in his goalmouth to dowse Rovers' burning ambitions of a comeback.

Speare's long punt found Prendergast bursting down the left flank, whose cross for Brannan on the right of the box was met with a sweetly struck half volley. Perrin performed heroics to pluck it away from the top corner. But, from the resultant set piece, substitute Paul Cook whipped the ball in and Mullin rose well to loop a header over Perrin from close range.

Forest had all but given up running, and there was no going back when John Durnin won a one-on-one with Perrin to coolly make it 4-0 just two minutes after replacing Lutel James, albeit from a clear offside position.

It capped a miserable time for Forest Green in the North West, after being battered 4-0 by the Shrimps at Morecambe the previous week.

But they restored a semblance of pride when a tired Peter Cavanagh brought down Hugh McAuley in the area and left back Damon Searle fired in the spot kick.

Stanley ended the game strongly, with Cook having a wicked drive tipped on to the bar in the last minute.

The former Burnley midfielder could start this afternoon's game at Scarborough, after Flitcroft was withdrawn at half-time with a calf strain. And he will be looking to continue the form which masterminded a host of chances on Saturday.

Life has been like a box of chocolates for Stanley as the season draws to a close. You never know what you're going to get.

But they'll be hoping their chips aren't down at the McCain Stadium this afternoon.

And that's all I have to say about that.