Accrington Stanley 1 Bury 2

After seeing his side unjustly end up on the wrong end of the scoreline against Lancashire rivals Bury, his mood was like the weather - gloomy.

As the fog rolled in and out of the Fraser Eagle Stadium on a particularly cold East Lancashire day, luck was definitely not on Stanley’s side.

The officials started with a white ball, changed to an orange ball and then reverted back to the white ball again.

But no matter what ball they used, Stanley just didn’t get the bounce of it.

Luck is a word that is probably overused in football, but it’s a factor that no manager can do without.

Not only should Stanley have had enough chances to have been out of sight in the first half, they were unlucky that the Shakers weren’t reduced to 10 men on two occasions with Efe Sodje the guilty party both times.

I hope he put his good luck to use with a dabble on the lottery.

But the Shakers made the most of the few chances that came their way while Stanley were left to wonder what might have been.

Coleman made two changes to the side that drew at Chesterfield with debutant Gregg Blundell, who cancelled a romantic weekend with his girlfriend in Paris to turn out for Stanley, and John Miles replacing Andy Procter and the departed Terry Gornell.

And Blundell, on a month’s loan from Darlington, almost made himself an instant Stanley hero after only 95 seconds when he sprung the Shakers’ offside trap and latched onto Chris King’s through-ball.

But the left-footed striker’s right-footed shot ended up closer to the corner than the goal.

That set the trend for the opening 20 minutes with both sides creating chances but never really stretching either keeper.

Michael Jones had Bury’s first effort on goal, which flew high into the Coppice Terrace on five minutes.

Then, three minutes later, Miles’ shot was easily saved by Wayne Brown.

On 10 minutes, a sweet move almost ended in the opener.

Rostyn Griffiths’ ball into Blundell was beautifully headed into the path of Jimmy Ryan but his instant half-volley whizzed just over the bar.

Stanley continued to boss the opening exchanges with Paul Mullin going close on occasions, most notably when he got in the way of Ryan’s drive from distance but was able to turn and fire a shot in from 14 yards - unfortunately straight at Brown.

But the longer the scoreline stayed blank, the more you worried that the Reds were going to pay for their tardiness in front of goal.

And they duly did.

Andy Bishop fired a shot across the bows when he got in behind the Reds’ backline but his lob over the advancing Kenny Arthur went over.

But the Shakers were ahead 10 minutes before the break when Bishop miscontrolled a ball into the box and was forced out wide.

The Shakers striker rescued the situation beautifully with a great cross to the back stick where Jones was left totally unmarked to head home.

And just three minutes later, Stanley had a mountain to climb when Glynn Hurst’s neat flick found the run of Brian Barry-Murphy and he slotted the ball home to send the large following support into raptures.

But the final couple of minutes of the half were action-packed resulting in a penalty and a sending off, but the person who got their marching orders wasn’t the correct one.

Stanley boss Coleman was apoplectic after seeing Blundell flattened by Brown as the Reds striker threatened to embarrass the onrushing Shakers keeper who had ventured out of his area.

Neither man got a nick on the ball, which is as well for Brown who clattered the Stanley hitman and left him in a winded heap.

Coleman was less than happy and was sent to the stands, which in reality was about five feet to his left and over a little wall, for his protestations.

And the sequence of events on the stroke of half-time will have done little to quell his sense of injustice.

In first-half stoppage time, Blundell picked Sodje’s pocket on the edge of the box but as he attempted to steal in on goal, the bandana-wearing Shakers defender upended him.

Referee Lee Probert pointed to the spot and should have directed Sodje back to the dressing room for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

But the Gloucestershire official bottled the big decision and flashed a yellow card at the Nigerian defender.

And John Mullin made an equally bad mess of the penalty, placing the ball far too close to Brown, who made his second penalty save in a week.

The 2-0 scoreline was a joyous sight for the Shakers fans. But that was about all you could see as the thick fog descended on the Fraser Eagle Stadium, reducing visibility down to just a few yards.

In the mist, Stanley continued to carve out the better chances and Paul Mullin had a header cleared off the line by Ben Futcher seven minutes after the restart as the luck continued to desert Stanley.

Then Griffiths tried his luck from distance, only to find Brown’s ample frame in way.

Coleman shuffled his pack on 66 minutes, sending on Jamie Clarke and Craig Mahon, making his debut on loan from Wigan, for the final quarter of the game.

And the young guns added a spark into Stanley’s attack.

With 11 minutes left, Stanley got a break, and so did Sodje - again.

Paul Mullin looked a good bet to get on the end of a ball into the box, until the Shakers defender bundled him over.

Again, Mr Probert pointed to the spot but somehow saw fit to spare Sodje an early bath.

Clarke grabbed the ball and showed immense self-belief to smash his penalty straight down the middle to give Stanley a lifeline.

Sensing an onslaught, Shakers boss Alan Knill changed his side’s shape - bringing on Ryan Cresswell to bolster the visitors’ defence.

And his introduction was vital as he made a timely clearance very late on.

The final whistle was greeted by a roar from the Shakers supporters and dense mist by Mother Nature.

Stanley can feel suitably aggrieved at losing the game, but it will no doubt serve to reinforce one of Coleman’s mantras.

As golf legend Gary Player once said: “The harder you work, the luckier you get.”