ACCRINGTON Stanley were unable to make their mark on Conference strugglers Forest Green Rovers, despite a rousing second-half at The Lawn.

John Coleman's team of battlers turned the match on its head after the interval, putting Forest Green under constant pressure to claw their way back into the game.

Rory Prendergast's scything cross in the 57th minute saw Lutel James and Paul Mullin put the Rovers defence under immense pressure, with Steve Jenkins poking the ball into his own net.

The goal knocked Rovers for six and they could not regain the impetus and shape that had served them well in the opening 45 minutes.

Stanley sought to capitalise, Andy Proctor making use of the vast space he was afforded to send a shot inches wide of Perrin's post and Prendergast blasting a point-blank drive at the Rovers keeper.

But by then the damage had been done.

Poor defending enabled Steve Cowe and Gary Owers to score with two classy finishes and Stanley were chasing the game from the 12th minute.

Former Aston Villa winger Cowe, in his first start this season, relished the room he was given playing behind the front two of Neil Grayson and on-loan Wolves striker Jimmi-Lee Jones.

Stanley failed to clamp down on Cowe and he cruised on to Grayson's flick-on to smash the ball out of Jon Kennedy's reach.

Yet the goal did little to settle either side and the game tossed and turned with both sets of players trying to break out of their nightmarish start to the campaign.

Coleman clearly could not bear what he was seeing from his defence as they missed header after header from Forest Green's looping balls over the top and replaced Stephen Halford with Jonathan Smith a mere 15 minutes in.

The change in tactics steadied Stanley's ship for a spell, but they had very little in attack to worry Steve Perrin aside from Lutel James unrewarded persistence.

Playmaker Prendergast rarely found a way through before the interval, although his incisive cross late in the first period gave some indication of the threat that was to translate itself into a goal after the break.

By the time it came, however, Rovers had stretched their lead with Owers nipping around Prendergast to complete a one-two with Steve Jones down the right flank, before curling his shot through a gap in the box five minutes before half-time.

But the two beacons of light Forest Green had sparked in the first half were extinguished by Stanley's approach to the restart.

There was fire in their bellies and they moved up several gears, catching Rovers on the back foot.

Stephen Hollis was the first to go close, clipping the upright with a ferocious drive three minutes after the restart off Paul Cook's free-kick.

James and Mullin continued to look bright after the own-goal had pulled the visitors back into the game, but Forest Green manager Colin Addison's decision to send on Matthew Russell and on-loan Bristol Rovers forward Dave Gilroy for Cowe and Jimmi-Lee Jones evened the contest out again.

Coleman sent Andy Gouck for Cook to give Stanley a lift and they charged into the final 14 minutes with aplomb.

But they could not break down Rovers' barriers and their cause was not helped when referee Paul Melin rejected Prendergast's penalty appeal, instead booking the winger for diving deep into a nervy six minutes of injury-time.