CONFERENCE: Stanley claim late win on Sky

Paul Mullin struck both goals on Monday night as Accrington Stanley recorded a 2-1 over Hereford United at the Interlink Express Stadium to move back up to sixth in the Nationwide Conference.

The match, attended by nearly 1500 fans, was the third live game to be televised by Sky in the last week, and Mullin was the star of the show, scoring after just 42 seconds when The Bulls failed to clear Mike Flynn's long throw into the area.

Stanley keeper Danny Alcock made two good saves to deny Hereford as they pressed for an equalizer, but the visitors drew level in the 28th minute through David Brown, who finished well from Graham Hyde's pass.

It seemed the points would be shared until Mullin stabbed home the winner three minutes from time after Jonathan Gould could only parry Ian Craney's shot.

Afterwards, Hereford boss Graham Turner, September's Nationwide Conference Manager of the Month, admitted his players must be more clinical in front of goal.

"In patches we played as well as we have done for a while, and we should not have lost," Turner said.

"We have to fine-tune one or two things - the final ball in was poor - but there's a lot of promise in the side."

The Bulls were among the pre-season promotion favourites, and their manager conceded: "It's been a relatively poor start, but we are fifth in the table, however, we can't afford to be throwing away too many more points from good displays."

Meanwhile, Stanley boss John Coleman is looking for a replacement for goalkeeper John Kennedy, who broke his leg last week.

Stand-in Danny Alcock deputised ably against Hereford, but Coleman stated: "Danny did well but it would be stupid of me to go with just one keeper so I am making enquiries.

"But the win is a massive boost for us. The lads were beginning to doubt whether they would ever win again."