‘We know we have to be better and this acts as a wake-up call’

SHELDAN KEAY

ACCRINGTON Stanley suffered a defeat in their first League One match of the season after they were beaten at home by Gillingham.

First half goals from Brandon Inman and Josh Parker condemned the Reds to defeat at the Wham Stadium. Accrington boss John Coleman was disappointed to come up short, and admits that his players have learned lessons.

“Obviously I’m disappointed with the way we played for half an hour in the first half. They got a corner around 15 minutes in having not been near our goal and then they missed a few chances and it gave them confidence,” he said.

“We made a mistake and they punished us, and then they got their tails up. They played well so we have got to give them their credit. They swamped us in midfield and we gave the ball away and they countered us.

“They were better than us during that period and could have scored four or five against us in that spell. We had a good chance to equalise, but we didn’t take it and then they scored again.

“I have to give our lads some credit as we took the game to them in the second half and it was one way traffic, but we couldn’t find a way to break them down.

“We know we’ve got to be better and this might act as a wake up call. We were having a good preseason and were probably a bit blasé going into it.

“We’ve had our eyes wiped as my dad used to say, and we’ll learn from it. We can’t get too downbeat, though, as we’re a good side.”

The Reds had the first was met by Parker, who headed home from six yards out to put the away side into a two-goal lead at half-time.

Stanley were better in the second half as they tried to get back into the game, but they found it tough to break down the Gillingham defence.

One opportunity fell to Seamus Conneely when he got on the end of Sean McConville’s free-kick, but he couldn’t test opposition goalkeeper Thomas Holy.

McConville then thought he should have had a penalty when he appeared to be held back in the area, but the referee waved away the protests.

There were even more chances for Stanley in the closing stages, first when Ross Sykes’ powerful header was cleared off the line, before substitute Offrande Zanzala then threatened.

They couldn’t find a goal though, with Gilling- ham holding on to earn a 2-0 win and inflict an opening day defeat on Accrington.

The Reds will now try to return to winning ways when they are back in action on Saturday, making the trip to Bristol Rovers.