THERE was an air of expectancy around Accrington on Saturday afternoon. The fans, players, management team and anyone else inside the Wham Stadium knew the equation: Three points equals promotion.

While Stanley couldn't solve the puzzle against a lively Exeter City side in an enthralling contest, they get a second chance when Yeovil come to town on Tuesday.

Again, a win will send the Reds into League One. A draw or defeat will be enough if the Grecians fail to beat bottom of the table Chesterfield at home.

If it doesn't happen in midweek it is surely only a matter of time before Stanley crown this magnificent, sensational season with a top three finish.

And it will be nothing less than the players, supporters and manager John Coleman deserve.

The Reds have been almost unbeatable since Christmas, losing just once in their last 17 games, and you didn't get the sense they would suffer a second defeat of the year on Saturday.

Exeter came into the game with promotion hopes of their own, sitting fourth in the table, and they played like it.

The Grecians were neat and tidy in possession and had a lively pairing of Matt Jay and Jayden Stockley up front who posed the Reds backline problems,

It was that combination that brought the first goal. Jay did well on the right of the box to fire in a shot which Stanley keeper Aaron Chapman beat away. But the ball fell to Stockley and he finished smartly into the roof of the net to break the deadlock after 21 minutes.

That strike came after Stanley had enjoyed the best of the opening quarter without really testing Christy Pym in the visiting goal.

The closest they came was a scuffed Seamus Conneely shot which was hacked clear from inside his own six yard box by Stockley.

The Reds had enjoyed greater territory but the Exeter goal prompted a change in momentum and Stanley were forced to dig in.

They had Chapman to thank for keeping the deficit to one when he brilliantly tipped over a volley from the lively Jay.

Paul Tisdale's men suddenly had the game by the scruff of the neck but, as so often this season, Stanley displayed resilience and a clinical edge when it really mattered to haul themselves level.

A long ball forward gave Kayden Jackson something to chase and the striker pulled the pass down expertly before lashing a fierce strike which flew past Pym at his near post.

The crowd erupted and suddenly the promotion party was back on.

Jackson's strike partner Billy Kee fired over with his first real sight of goal as Stanley finished the half on the front foot.

They started the second period in much the same vain as they sought the crucial second goal.

Kee saw a low effort drift wide before Jordan Clark went down under Kane Wilson's challenge but referee Oliver Langford waved away the penalty appeals.

Clark and Jackson were beginning to find space and the latter twisted and turned Pierce Sweeney to get a cross in which was blocked behind for a corner before Clark fired over from 30 yards.

Exeter survived the onslaught and then came desperately close to finding a second themselves only for Chapman to splendidly deny Stockley's deflected effort with a strong hand.

The game was now being played at a raucous pace with Jackson the architect of Stanley's best play, the striker saw a shot deflected into the side netting before a backheeled nutmeg on the unfortunate Sweeney allowed Sean McConville to float a dangerous cross in that looked destined for Clark only for Exeter to flick it away.

Again Exeter rode the storm and retaliated. The lively Jay brought another stop out of Chapman before Hiram Boateng shot wide.

The Reds were then forced into a change when the ill Janoi Donacien was replaced by Ben Richards-Everton, the first Stanley substitution since the draw with Barnet in mid February.

The Grecians made a double change of their own as the play calmed for the first time since the break.

But, with so much at stake, and a 3,000-strong crowd in fine voice, the pace soon lifted and it was the Reds who were looking the men most likely.

Callum Johnson teed up Clark but he fired over before Jackson and Johnson himself forced late saves out of Pym.

Clark again went close as the game ticked into four minutes of added time but a succession of Stanley corners couldn't bring the breakthrough.

Indeed, it was Exeter who came closest to a late winner as Stanley survived a handball appeal and a goalmouth scramble in the final seconds.

In the end it was a point apiece.

The Reds move closer to their promotion target and when they do get over the line it will be a promotion party worth waiting for.