Gaffer hails Reds’ ‘big performances’
JOHN Coleman focused on his team’s fine performance rather than contentious refereeing decisions as his side secured a point against promotion-chasing Sunderland.
For the second week running the Reds finished the game with ten men, earning a 1-1 draw against the Black Cats just as they’d done against MK Dons seven days earlier when Liam Coyle was dismissed.
This time it was Ross Sykes who was sent off, leaving Stanley chasing the game for the last 15 minutes.
But a Mitch Clark equaliser on 84 minutes ensured justice was done.
“I thought we were the better team in the first half,” said Coleman. “They’ve ended up making a change and scored - it was a fluke, it’s taken a massive deflection and that’s the only way Toby (Savin) was going to be beaten on the day.
“That was a bit of a sucker punch for us and we lost our way a little bit, we struggled for ten or 15 minutes but then got back into the game, back on top and made a couple of chances.
“We didn’t really get the rub of the green with decisions and then after the sending off we’ve tried to be as positive as we can and we did attack more than last week.
“I’ve got no complaints about the second booking, it clearly was a booking as he’s stopped a good opportunity.
“But the first one, he’s complained about a decision that is blatantly our corner! If you’d have booked everybody who had complained about a decision on the day there’d have been no players on the pitch – so you can’t just pick one willy nilly, which he did. He runs the risk then, for himself, of having to send him off. So I don’t think that was good game management and I’m sure his coaches will advise him of that.
“There were a couple of decisions where we felt we should have been given free kicks on the edge of the box, which we didn’t get. But I don’t want to talk about referees, I want to talk about our performance.
“You wouldn’t think they were the big club, the way we took the game to them in the first half. Apart from one chance early on, we kept them quite quiet and made some good chances ourselves, played some good football.
“Sunderland are a good side and they have a great chance of getting promotion. But we’ve matched them all the way and I think it would have been harsh had we lost the game.”
Coleman said he was delighted for goalscorer Clark and said there were strong performances all over the field.
“I’m pleased for Mitch, he’s got his head down since he got back in the team and it wasn’t an easy chance. People think it’s an open goal, but it comes square to him on a bobbly pitch and you know you have to hit it first time, so a lot of things can go wrong there. It was a great finish and a lovely celebration!
“There were some really big performances out there – our lads worked themselves into the ground. There wasn’t a bad performance in the team.
“I felt we could have won the game – and I know we could easily have lost it. At this time of the year when the pitches turn it can be the flip of a coin, you need that bit of luck, the bounce of a ball or a decision here or there. We’ve been on the end of a couple of decisions that haven’t gone our way but we haven’t let it get us down, where in the past maybe we have. We’re a little more resilient now.”
Stanley travel to Ipswich Town this weekend.
‘We matched them all the way and it would have been harsh had we lost’