THE look on John Coleman's face wouldn't have told you that Stanley had secured their first win in six matches.

The Reds chief was furious with his side for what he slammed as an "abysmal" last 25 minutes and promised that there would be changes if his UniBond Premier League leaders continued to under-achieve.

Coleman could not believe his side had not given him a more comfortable night as they squandered a 2-0 lead and were then left hanging on at the end as struggling Gateshead pressed for the equaliser.

"It is unacceptable," blasted Coleman. "We went 2-0 up and we should have got eight or nine.

"Then we gave a sloppy goal away and that has been the same story for the last few weeks.

"We were hanging on against a side that, with no disrespect to them, shouldn't be living with us.

"They should have been dead and buried and the last 25 minutes were abysmal.

"If we carry on turning in performances like that then there will be some players leaving the club and new ones coming in.

"But we won't panic although we have got to improve by 100 per cent and, with the weekend off, we will be working hard."

Stanley dominated the possession in the first half with striker Tony Black and left winger Dean Calcutt proving a real handful for the North East side creating some half chances in the early stages.

Black had a fierce shot saved by Adam Dowell but the Gateshead keeper was rooted to the spot when Peter Cavanagh's low free-kick skimmed past the wall and low into the corner of his net on 33 minutes.

Mike Marsh then had a shot which was deflected over while defender Steve Halford headed inches off-target before the Reds made it two four minutes after the opener.

A Cavanagh corner whistled along the goalline past Dowell and Mark Sertori was there to bundle over his first goal since he came to the Crown Ground in the summer.

However, a lack of concentration let Gateshead back into it a minute before the break when Willie Moat's effort was saved by Speare but it came out to Rob Jones who hooked it into the net from 12 yards out.

This gave Gateshead a lifeline and they grew in confidence in the second half after Stanley wasted several gilt edged chances.

Gateshead came close as they appealed strongly when Speare scooped Neil Shotton's 77th minute shot out of the goal, the Tynesiders claiming it had gone over the line.

ACCRINGTON...2 GATESHEAD...1