Accrington Stanley laid down a milestone of their own as their trip to Cheltenham Town brought about back-to-back wins for the first time this season as John Coleman’s men won in a tight finish.

An unchanged Reds side were quick out of the blocks, with Jimmy Ryan attempting an audacious chip straight from the centre at a blustery Whaddon Road.

His effort dropped wide of the post, but it was a statement of intent right from the off.

The opening exchanges were very cagey, with neither side creating clear chances and both goalkeepers required for nothing more than catching practice.

Eight minutes in the Reds had a scare when former Burnley loan man Keith Lowe rose unchallenged in the box to head a corner over the top, but largely the action was at the other end of the pitch.

Stanley’s best early openings fell to centre back Kevin Long, who twice stayed forward from set pieces midway through the 45 and twice had presentable chances to score.

His first effort was a snap shot blocked by a defender, before he was picked out by a Sean McConville free kick at the back post but couldn’t steer his header on target.

Coleman’s side enjoyed their best spell after the half hour mark and made it count by taking the lead.

The Robins were warned on 34 minutes when McConville danced his way to the byline down the right before drilling in a low cross for Andy Procter. The captain drove it on goal, but JJ Melligan had got in front of goalkeeper Scott Brown to clear the ball away to safety.

Five further minutes had elapsed when McConville was at it again, latching on to Ryan’s pass down the right after the midfielder had broken from the centre circle.

This time Stanley’s number eleven guided his low delivery to the edge of the six-yard-box where Terry Gornell made no mistake, stabbing the ball through Brown’s legs for his eighth of the season.

Cheltenham were only kept out of the play-off places by goal difference ahead of kick off, but were being allowed no time on the ball by a tenacious Stanley and could only muster a low Marlon Pack free kick straight at Ian Dunbavin in reply.

When the half time whistle came Coleman must have wished for his side to kick on in the second half and extend their advantage, but in truth little happened after the restart.

With the wind now against them the Reds undoubtedly had more defending to do, but with Long and Phil Edwards looking resolute the Robins continued to be frustrated.

In fact Ray Putterill had a decent chance as Stanley broke away just before the hour mark, shooting after Gornell had flicked the ball into his path only to see a defender get between him and the goal and deflect the ball away.

The home crowd were getting frustrated, venting their anger at referee Mick Russell and their players, who were failing to test Dunbavin at all.

That was credit to Stanley’s pressing and solid defending, though they suffered a blow when Long limped off.

There were only 10 minutes remaining when Cheltenham conjured their first real shot of the second half when Pack fired wide, but such a poor performance was lifted by an uncharacteristically good equaliser three minutes later.

Top scorer Wes Thomas had been kept very quiet for the whole game, but was allowed to play a one two with Josh Low before spinning Hessey and firing low into the bottom right corner to make it 1-1.

The story was now all too familiar, Stanley falling at the last hurdle when victory had looked certain.

Only this time it was different.

In the last minute of normal time Gornell found himself near the right corner flag and back heeled the ball to Ryan.

The midfielder attempted to cross, but the ball looped up off an opponent towards the edge of the box.

Underneath it was sub Leam Richardson, scorer of a solitary goal in just shy of 150 appearances for the club.

The 31-year-old didn’t let that bother him, heading the ball down, letting it bounce and letting fly with his left foot.

A deflection may have helped his cause, but the ball flashed beyond Brown, into the net and gave Stanley all three points.

Richardson was elated as he raced away to the joyous Stanley fans.

A year ago he had considered giving up on the game altogether due to a string of injury setbacks.

It was an unfamiliar feeling for him and an all too rare one for his team too.

Stanley had pipped their opponents at the post rather than losing it late themselves.