THE lion's share of possession, plenty of chances and a missed penalty.

Some would say Radcliffe Borough have had their chance. But it's not over until the Fat Lady sings, or in this case, with the Crown Ground so close to Holland's just down the road, the man who ate all the pies!

Stanley boss John Coleman certainly agreed with that.

UniBond Premier side Accrington went into the game without injured goalscoring ace Paul Mullin and with midfield man Paul Burns playing out of position at centre half.

But they held out in the force of some strong pressure from the UniBond First Division side, particularly in the second half and survived the last 23 minutes with ten men after Russell Payne was sent off for a handball that led to Boro's 67th minute penalty award.

Coleman though wasn't ready to start counting his chickens. Chances are rib injury victim Mullin, who has hit 14 goals so far this season, will still be out of action for Wednesday night's replay against his old club and Coleman said: "I don't think it's over by a long chalk.

"It's always dangerous to start thinking you have done the hard part of the job. You only have to look at how many chances Radcliffe created to realise it's not going to be easy for us on Wednesday.

"We were hard hit by injuries, but hopefully a couple more will be ready by then.

"I'm just pleased with the way we held on in there. We were aggrieved with the penalty decision. It's the first time Russ has been sent off. He says the ball hit him in the face, but the ref said the ball hit him twice."

On Mullin's chances of recovering, Coleman said: "He's got three days, so only time will tell.

"You always miss someone of his presence and ability up there. He's a very, very good player.

"We didn't play particularly well. We didn't get our game going and Radcliffe deserve a lot of credit for that.

"Paul Burns was playing in an alien position at centre half, but Jamie Speare, our goalkeeper, came up trumps for us again."

Former Macclesfield frontman Richard Landon missed a glorious opportunity to give the home side a first minute lead when he skied a Richard Battersby cross high over the bar from just a few yards out.

Landon, Tony Whealing and David Bean also went close, while Simon Carden put in Accrington's only effort of the first half with a low shot that went just wide of the far post five minutes before the break.

Radcliffe continued to pile on the pressure in the second half, but the turning point came with that 67th minute penalty incident.

Accrington protested long and loud after referee Kettlewell adjudged Burns had handled Bean's header. That couldn't have helped settle Mark Dempsey's nerves and when he finally did get to take the spot kick after Burns had received his marching orders, Speare did well to dive to his left and tip away Dempsey's shot.

Paul Howarth replied with a header that wasn't far over the bar in the 73rd minute, but really it was all Radcliffe right up to the end and Stanley did well to hold on for that replay at the Crown Ground.

RESULT: RADCLIFFE BOROUGH...0

ACCRINGTON STANLEY...0