Skip to content

Accrington character pleases boss

Image: John Coelman: Players should take all the plaudits

John Coleman saluted the "great character" of Accrington after they surrendered a two-goal lead, before beating Portsmouth 3-2.

Accrington manager John Coleman saluted the "great character" of his side after they surrendered a two-goal lead, before snatching a 3-2 triumph at Portsmouth. Rob Atkinson fired the visitors ahead after 11 minutes, before a stunning John O'Sullivan strike from the edge of the Pompey box doubled Stanley's advantage after 16 minutes. But Marcus Bean pulled one back for the Blues with a superb curled effort from 20 yards a minute later and Craig Westcarr lobbed Accrington keeper Jack Rose to put Pompey back on level terms after 31 minutes. Accrington should have made it three after 38 minutes, when Matt Fish felled O'Sullivan in the Blues box. But a poor penalty from Luke Joyce was comfortably saved by Pompey shot-stopper Paul Jones low to his right. The Blues controlled the second half, but Accrington snatched the points courtesy of a Piero Mingoia effort 12 minutes from time. Coleman paid tribute to his men for overcoming the blow of letting their first-half advantage slip. He said: "The goals we conceded were disappointing to let them back into game, but I think the lads showed great character. "I spoke to them in the dressing room about it and we've seen it several times since (assistant manager) Jimmy (Bell) and I have been back. Hopefully it will continue. "With no disrespect to them, other Accrington teams would have gone under in front of a big crowd after letting a two-goal lead slip. We wouldn't have gone again. So it was a testament to the players and they're the ones who should take all the plaudits. "We knew it was going to be difficult coming here. But we've got the belief in the players that they can compete and pass the ball as well as anybody. "It shows how far we've come because we'd have been disappointed if we lost today. If someone had said that we'd have been disappointed to lose at Portsmouth 10 years ago, they'd have been carried away by someone in a white coat!" Portsmouth boss Andy Awford was delighted with his side's first-half fightback, but was gutted to see their defensive frailties cost them again. He said: "Defensively, we gave ourselves a mountain to climb in the first half. But we didn't half climb it! "In recent performances, the players have shown character. They showed it again in the first half, which was really sloppy from us after going 2-0 down in the first 20 minutes. "We conceded a harsh penalty I felt. I felt Fish played the ball. I haven't seen it back and I'm only going off a biased view probably. But I felt we got our just rewards with Paul making a good save. "Then we thought it was going to be our day, but we made an error for the third goal. The defending as a unit was not good enough."

Around Sky