REPORT: Accrington Stanley

Four second-half goals shared equally give County an encouraging point on the road...

Manager John Sheridan was forced to change his starting eleven for the first time in four outings, with midfielder Tommy O'Sullivan missing the clash due to being called-up to the  Wales U21's squad.

The hosts registered their first shot on target within sixty seconds, with Matt Crooks firing a low-shot that was held comfortably by Joe Day. 

Alex Rodman replaced Cardiff loanee Tommy O'Sullivan and he had County's first half-chance within the opening ten minutes - carving out space to fire an effort from twenty-five yards that was watched over the crossbar by Jason Mooney.

Defender Janoi Donacien was forced off on the twenty-minute mark and was replaced by Yan Klukowski, as County switched to a 4-4-2 formation.

On the half-hour mark wide-man Medy Elito had the best chance of the first-half for the Exiles, ending a winding run with a driven shot that bounced narrowly past the right-hand post. 

Accrington responded three minutes later with by far the best chance of the first period. After a neat series of passes, Josh Windass released Piero Mingoia and the midfielder fired a shot from just outside the area that crashed onto the post.

In the closing stages of the first-half Accrington 'keeper Jason Mooney looked to use the horrific weather conditions to his advantage, firing an audacious long-range effort towards goal that Joe Day was able to catch comfortably.

The second period started with the rain lashing down at the Wham Stadium, with the poor playing conditions not getting any better.

The Exiles opened the scoring when substitute Yan Klukowski was able to guide a pinpoint Jazzi Barnum-Bobb cross into the top corner, nine minutes into the second-half.

County were only able to hold the lead for four minutes, after some initial last-gasp defending by Scot Bennett to clear the ball off the line, Billy Kee was in the right place to pounce on the clearance and pass the ball into the empty net.

County restored their lead when goalscorer Yan Klukowski turned provider - playing a dangerous curled cross into the area that found substitute Scott Boden, who fired his first-time effort into the roof of the net.

The Exiles lead lasted seven minutes, when a long-range effort by Seamus Conneely crashed back off the post and feel kindly to Sean McConville, who was able to tap the rebound into the net.

In the final five minutes County almost mustered one last opportunity to travel home with all three points, when a chipped cross by Alex Rodman was spilled by Jason Mooney, but the 'keeper was able to gather the ball at his second attempt.

Away Attendance: 106




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