ACCRINGTON Stanley demolished AFC Bournemouth with three goals in the first 20 minutes at the Fraser Eagle Stadium this afternoon.
Stanley made three changes from the side that lost 1-0 in their FA Cup first-round replay at Tranmere on Thursday, bringing in Terry Gornell and Leam Richardson as well as handing a first Reds start to Kallum Higginbotham - on loan from Rochdale.
John Coleman’s side were ahead in the League Two encounter after just two minutes and 27 seconds when Gornell slid in Paul Mullin and the striker raced clear and beat advancing goalkeeper Shwan Jalal with ease.
Gornell then doubled the advantage in the 13th minute, collecting a flick-on from Paul Mullin and hitting a 20-yard shot on the turn that appeared to take a slight deflection off a defender and dip over Jalal into the net.
And Stanley fans could hardly believe their eyes when their side went 3-0 up in the 20th minute, with Rostyn Griffiths spectacularly striking a sweet half-volley into the right-hand side of the net from fully 25 yards after Bournemouth had only half cleared a cross.
The game was virtually over from that point onwards, although Kenny Arthur was called upon to produce a fine reflex save to tip Jeff Goulding’s effort over the bar in the closing stages.
Stanley’s victory keeps them in 16th place but leaves Bournemouth – deducted 17 points at the start of the season – 12 points adrift of safety with only Luton below them in the table.
Stanley (4-4-2): Kenny Arthur; Leam Richardson, Phil Edwards, Kieran Charnock, Chris King; Kallum Higginbotham (Jimmy Ryan 81), Andy Procter, John Mullin, Rostyn Griffiths; Paul Mullin, Terry Gornell (Jamie Clarke 85). Subs not used: Jamie Speare, Colin Murdock, John Miles.
Bournemouth (3-5-2): Shwan Jalal; Scott Guyett, Shaun Cooper, Jason Pearce; Joel Ward, Marvyn Bartley (Danny Hollands 54), Darren Anderton (Mark Molesley 65), Sammy Igoe, Warren Cummings; Michael Symes, Brett Pitman (Jeff Goulding 54). Subs not used: Ryan Pryce, Josh McQuoid.
Referee: Clive Oliver (Northumberland).
Attendance: 1,152.
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