Accrington Stanley 2 Stalybridge Celtic 0

ACCRINGTON Stanley recorded their second consecutive home win and with Chorley drawing, moved to within two points of the Magpies with two games remaining.

Both Stanley goals came early on, with the first on four minutes, a superb move which saw Billy O'Callaghan play the ball out to Ged Walsh whose pinpoint left wing cross found Paul Heavey, who headed in his seventh goal since joining the Reds.

Two minutes later, a free kick by Aidan Warder was headed out to Steve Baines who struck a first time shot from 20 yards through a crowd of players and into the net.

Leading scorer O'Callaghan almost added a third goal on 14 minutes when he latched on to a long kick by Stanley keeper Jamie Speare and hit a 25-yard shot which Celtic goalkeeper Mark Statham did well to save.

Celtic should have pulled a goal back on 34 minutes when Tony Sullivan's header was parried by Speare and Derek Ward fired over the crossbar.

There was a flashpoint two minutes later when Stanley's Paul Lynch was booked for a late tackle on Ward, who was then booked for retaliation.

Stanley's best effort of the second half was a long range shot by Lynch on 64 minutes which was saved by Statham.

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