IT WOULDN’T be Accrington Stanley if they didn’t do it the hard way and the Reds face a battle to reach Wembley after suffering a late setback for the second week in a row.

John Coleman’s side looked set to secure a valuable draw in the first leg of their play-off semi-final at AFC Wimbledon on Saturday night, only for Tom Beere to snatch victory for the home side and give the Dons a 1-0 advantage.

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It was another cruel blow for Stanley, who had shown impressive mental strength and resilience to bounce back from the tears after Stevenage, when they within minutes of securing automatic promotion until Bristol Rovers’ late goal meant their failure to beat Boro saw them drop from second to fourth.

After taking their time to get into the game at Kingsmeadow they were the better side for large periods in London.

The woodwork had denied them three times against Stevenage and it was the same story on Saturday, with Tarique Fosu’s shot hitting the post in the second half.

The Reds must be sick of the sight of Kingsmeadow this season. It was here in the league they saw Billy Kee’s ‘goal’ ruled out when referee Trevor Kettle blew for half time as the ball was on it’s way into the net night, and now they suffered the heartbreak of conceding a late goal.

Stanley now need to rally again before Wednesday’s second leg as they bid to reach Wembley for the first time in their history.

Lancashire Telegraph:

The first opening fell to the Dons on five minutes as Lyle Taylor latched on to a long ball and drilled a low half-volley just wide of Ross Etheridge’s far post.

Stanley’s first sight of goal came after a neat turn from Josh Windass in the centre of the pitch, but his low shot from distance went harmlessly wide.

It was the home side who had started brighter though and they came close again when Tom Elliott headed Callum Kennedy’s left-wing free-kick narrowly wide before Kennedy had a go himself, but his arrowed drive was always going wide.

Stanley were beginning to edge their way into the game midway through the half, on a pitch that wasn’t conducive to their passing game, and a neat move ended with Windass clipping a cross into Kee, but he couldn’t get the required connection on his header and it drifted wide.

After half an hour Kee was fouled on the edge of the area while in the act of shooting, but Windass curled his free-kick over.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Fosu almost made an impact six minutes after coming off the bench. Seamus Conneely had played his right-wing free-kick into Kee, who took it back out to the right before crossing for Fosu, and he controlled the ball and got a low shot away from six yards only for Kelle Roos to go down low to his right and touch the ball onto the post.

Stanley had controlled the game since the Dons’ quick start but they came back into the game with a quarter of an hour to go with substitute Adebayo Akinfenwa having a toe-poked shot deflected over before Jake Reeves sent a shot from the edge of area across goal and wide.

The Reds were back on the front foot quickly enough as Kee’s low shot from distance skimmed wide of the far post.

Stanley survived a huge handball appeal against Mark Hughes with five minutes remaining after Kennedy’s free-kick had been flicked on by a Dons head, and on 88 minutes the home side came even closer as Akinfenwa controlled the ball on his chest before lashing a half-volley from 15-yards against the inside of the post.

And it was heartbreak again for the Reds deep into added time as substitute Beere found the bottom corner of the net after the ball had broken to him following a spot of pinball in the area, with Stanley furious they hadn’t been given a free-kick for a dive in the build-up.

The Reds twice came close to responding in the dying seconds. Terry Gornell’s header looked to have set up fellow substitute Shay McCartan, but his effort was saved one-handed by Roos, before Davies glanced a header from Adam Buxton’s free-kick into the side-netting in the final action of the game.