Coleman ready to go back to basics

The Reds chief admitted he felt "sick in his stomach" after his side's performance against rock bottom Northwich Victoria, prompting him to demand extra shooting sessions.

Earlier in the week he had said fixtures with Northwich were the type of games they should be winning. Indeed Reds supporters would have been forgiven for seeing Saturday's game as something of a practice match.

Vics had lost nine of their last 10 games so the points were surely in the bag before the game even kicked off? Sadly not.

Coleman looked dumbfounded after seeing Stanley throw away yet more valuable points in their third consecutive league outing.

They did start comfortably, boosted by the return of central defender Steve Halford. And in the first 25 minutes they restricted the visitors to only one real chance at goal, albeit a good one as Steven Nicholas struck the angle with a rasping drive.

But again they were left to rue missed chances as spells of weak defending gave the Vics momentum.

Rory Prendergast was denied by goalkeeper Andy Woods' legs after latching on to Paul Cook's sublime crossfield pass, Steve Flitcroft dragged a shot wide from the edge of the box then Paul Mullin had a tame effort stopped.

But Chris Thompson, who had looked a threat every time Northwich got forward, welcomed the chance to burst into the box and had two shots blocked, first by Jon Kennedy, then by Halford.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to define which team was fighting for a play-off spot and which was battling relegation, but Stanley still looked the most likely to break the deadlock.

At the same time, though, there was a degree of inevitability when Northwich took the lead, such is Stanley's current run of misfortune.

Nicholas whipped the ball in from the left, Thompson was totally unmarked about eight yards out and beat a rooted Kennedy with a weak header, barely needing to lift his feet off the floor.

Their spirits raised, Steve Garvey tried a speculative shot from 40 yards, which Kennedy managed to grab at the second attempt.

Stanley pressed, with Lutel James and Halford in particular doing their bit to make sure their team-mates' heads didn't drop.

Supporters hoped the second half wouldn't be as bad as what they had witnessed in the first. And they were optimistic when they were awarded a penalty just before the hour.

Coleman was forced into an untimely change following injury to Steve Hollis. On-loan striker Lee McEvilly replaced him to make the Reds a stronger threat going forward, while Cook dropped deeper, and it was McEvilly who was brought down on the edge of the box to earn the spot-kick.

James coolly stepped up to power the ball down the middle.

Prendergast then nodded Stanley in front after playing head tennis with Mullin and James in the 18-yard box four minutes later.

Suddenly, they were brimming with confidence and looked like they could run away with the game.

However, they were frustrated when James was blatantly bundled over in the penalty area but the referee, who had a poor game overall, refused to award a second spot kick.

Mullin struggled to hit the target with a couple of chances and James forced a good save from Woods from the edge of the box.

But as Stanley concentrated more in attack, they lost their way at the back and central midfielder Garvey was allowed to charge forward, Kennedy tried to close him down but went to ground early and Garvey slotted the ball into an empty net.

Stanley's sense of urgency intensified when McEvilly beat at least three token challenges on his angled run into the box, slipped the ball to James but his drive was stopped by Woods.

Coleman swapped Cook for Dean Calcutt to leave three at the back as he went for the jugular, but the Reds lacked conviction in front of goal and had to share a point with Northwich for the second time this season.

ACCRINGTON STANLEY 2

James (pen) 60, Prendergast 64

NORTHWICH VICTORIA 2

Thompson 33, Garvey 77

Interlink Express Stadium Att: 1420