STANLEY boss John Coleman hailed his side’s defensive display following a 1-0 win against Lincoln.

Colby Bishop got the decisive goal, slotting home from close range 10 minutes into the second half.

The Reds had conceded 20 goals in their previous five games, and Coleman was delighted with the clean sheet.

“When you’ve conceded as many as we have the clean sheet is the holy grail,” said the Stanley boss.

“Teams were scoring an average of four a game against us before today, so it’s massive for us.

"Of course, you need a little a bit of luck along the way, but the harder you work the more luck you get and we deserved it today.

“Everybody played well in what were very difficult conditions and we actually did better against the wind.”

The game was delayed by 15 minutes due to poor conditions on the M62 that held up visiting supporters, who were still entering the ground a further 20 minutes after kick-off.

And Coleman was quick to praise them afterwards.

“Our fans deserve a lot of credit for the way they galvanised our team after the journey they’ve had,” he said.

“I apologised to them after our performance in midweek, but I hope we’ve paid them back now.”