REPORT: Cheltenham Town 3-0 Accrington Stanley
Cheltenham Town recorded a 3-0 win over Accrington Stanley after a fantastic second half showing at The LCI Rail Stadium.The Robins edged the first half but had nothing to show for it as the sides went in goalless at the break.
But Gary Johnson’s men found the back of the net three times in the second half thanks to goals from Danny Wright, Diego De Girolamo and Billy Waters, and Scott Brown was also sent off for Stanley.
The result sees Cheltenham move above Notts County and out of the relegation zone.
After an opening spell of really good Cheltenham pressure, it was Wright who had the first meaningful effort on goal when his powerful volley from close range was kept out by Marek Rodak.
Accrington then had a decent spell of their own when Robins keeper Scott Brown had to remain alert to keep out his namesake’s long range effort, as well as an ambitious shot by Matty Pearson.
Johnny Edwards was then inches away from giving Stanley the lead on 31 minutes when his flicked header from a free kick drifted just wide of the far post.
With 10 minutes to go until the break Cheltenham then started to control the game again, and were close to going ahead when it took a last minute tackle from a Stanley defender to keep De Girolamo from shooting when through on goal.
It stayed goalless at half time, but after the interval it was Cheltenham who picked up where they left off as good work from Carl Winchester saw Jordan Cranston’s cross headed just over by Billy Waters.
Accrington then had a good spell as Brown’s shot had to be blocked by Dan O’Shaughnessy, and Omar Beckles headed Sean McConville’s free kick just off target.
On 55 minutes, though, Cheltenham took the lead as O’Shaughnessy put in an inch-perfect cross for Wright to send a looping header over Rodak and into the back of the net.
Stanley then almost hit back immediately as Mark Hughes hit the crossbar with a header from close range, when he really should have scored.
Just after the hour mark Accrington were reduced to 10 men as Brown went in late on Waters when it looked as if he was getting away down the left hand side.
With quarter of an hour to go Cheltenham doubled their lead through De Girolamo as he smashed in a close-range indirect free kick following Beckles’ pass back.
Soon after it was 3-0 as Waters bundled the ball in following a very clever pass from Rowe, and from that point there was only one place where the three points were going.
Cheltenham Town: S Brown, E Onariase, D O’Shaughnessy, W Boyle, J Cranston, A Pike, J Rowe (J Munns, 80), C Winchester (K Storer, 80), B Waters, D De Girolamo (J Dayton, 85), D Wright (C).
Unused Subs: C Kitscha, A Downes, J Barthram, D Holman.
Accrington Stanley: M Rodak, M Pearson, M Hughes, O Beckles, J Clark (T Gornell, 77), S Brown, S McConville, J Edwards (S McCartan, 61), S Conneely (C), B Kee, J Donacien.
Unused Subs: A Chapman, A Davies, R Boco, R Sykes, H Rodgers.
Attendance: 2854 (82)