John Sheridan took charge of his first Town home match as Accrington Stanley came to the County Ground, following the magnificent second-half display against Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.
An own goal from Joe Fryer and goals from Colby Bishop and Dion Charles secured the win for Accrington on what was the first of three home games in a row for town.
First-Half:
Town started off in the early minutes on the front foot with a Jonny Smith effort from 20-yards out but Stanley keeper Toby Savin was equal to it, palming away from danger.
On six minutes, Stanley took the lead when Akin Odimayo passed back to Joe Fryer but the Town keeper slipped and the ball trickled in to the net.
Three minutes later Town had a glorious opportunity to score when Matt Smith, as he so often does, played a dangerous pass through the Stanley defence to Jonny Smith but the winger couldn’t wrap his foot around it enough to get us back on level terms.
The game was relatively even for the next fifteen minutes with neither side creating much going forward, but Stanley doubled their lead on twenty-five minutes when Colby Bishop’s effort bounced over Fryer and Jonathan Grounds couldn’t do enough to stop it going in the net.
The new Gaffer made his first change with just under ten minutes left in the half with Rob Hunt being replaced with Mathieu Baudry.
Things got worse for Town seven minutes before the break when Joey Pritchard squared it to Dion Charles who tapped into an empty net.
Second-Half:
Town were not short of chances in the second period and opportunities fell to Hope and Pitman.
The first of which a lofted ball by Odimayo deep into the Accrington box with Hope not able to find the target.
Five minutes later, Stanley had the chance to make it four when Russell was slipped through, only for Fryer to smother his shot and stop the effort.
Matt Smith and Pitman combined in a nice link-up with the latter feeding through to Hope, but Savin was there again to stop Town from getting back into it.
Despite said chances, it was a disappointing display from front to back with Town facing fellow League One strugglers Bristol Rovers and high fliers Lincoln at the County Ground in the next week.