Mike Sheron was disappointed with a first round exit in the Lancashire Senior Cup and felt it was down to a failure to make the most of their positive start.

Luke Brennan had Rovers, winners of the last two Senior Cups, ahead inside two minutes after being fed by Leighton Clarkson.

The Liverpool loanee was one of two new signings included in the starting line-up, along with Tayo Edun who came through an hour at left wing-back.

Dan Butterworth was also among those given a run-out and he had the chance to double Rovers’ lead from the spot, only to his 27th minute penalty come back off the post after Brennan had been fouled.

That proved costly, Stanley levelling through a fine long-range effort from Tommy Leigh, before Tom Scully converted a penalty on the stroke of half time.

Leigh got his second, and Stanley’s third, on the hour, as Rovers struggled to find a way back into the game as they exited at the first round.

“Considering we’re the holders of the competition, I felt we had a great start and that we were going to go on, play on the front foot and take the opportunities to progress in the competition,” Sheron said.

“Football doesn’t allow you to do that at times. We had plenty of one-on-one situations where I felt we could have increased our lead and then had a penalty that we should have taken.

“That was where the tables turned and credit has to be given to Accrington for that.

“They got in our faces, got after us and the first goal was a great strike from their man.

“We were a bit too passive in the second half and didn’t produce the quality that we had in the team on the day.”

Aynsley Pears got his first outing of the season in goal, while Edun lined up in a defence that included captain for the day Hayden Carter.

It was a strong line-up from Rovers, with Sheron seeing some positive signs, just not enough in the final third to worry Stanley.

He added: “It was great to see Tayo Edun providing a threat down the left side, Dan Butterworth got in behind and we got into some good areas in the first half.

“But it’s about taking opportunities and I don’t think we did that when the chances were there for us.

“I didn’t think we really dominated with the ball in the second half.”