Accrington Stanley came from a goal down at half-time to beat under par Town 2-1 at the Wham Stadium. Macauley Bonne gave the Blues the lead in the 38th minute with his eighth goal of the season but the home side netted through Colby Bishop and Harry Pell on 50 and 79 to deservedly claim the points.
Macauley Bonne’s eighth goal of the season has given the Blues a 1-0 half-time lead over Accrington Stanley at the Wham Stadium.
Town boss Paul Cook named the same team which thrashed Doncaster 6-0 on Tuesday, while Kyle Edwards and Toto Nsiala returned to the 18 after injury.
On a slippery pitch following morning rain, Stanley saw most of the ball in the early minutes but on five Bersant Celina threaded a ball through for Bonne but Accrington keeper Toby Savin was out quickly to clear.
The home side continued to have most of the possession but on nine Bonne chased a ball down the middle which Savin sent straight up in the air as he sought to clear. The striker got his head on the ball as the keeper tried to punch clear but it looped well over. At the other end, home skipper Sean McConville blazed well over from outside the box.
On 15, following the Blues’ first real spell of possession of the afternoon, Wes Burns intercepted an under-hit Stanley pass midway inside their half and fed Bonne to his right but the Zimbabwean international’s shot was blocked behind for a corner.
Chances had been non-existent at both ends but on 26 Evans played a ball through for Bonne which skipped off the surface through to Savin. On a drier pitch the striker would have reached it before the keeper.
The game continued in the same pattern with both sides having spells on the ball but without finding a way into the final third.
However, in the 38th minute, the Blues went ahead via the only serious chance of the first half.
Scott Fraser intercepted a David Morgan pass down the Accrington right and tried to find Bonne. The ball was stabbed back to the former MK Dons man by Michael Nottingham and the Scot turned it into Celina, who played into the path of Bonne on the left of the area and the on-loan QPR man confidently stroked past the advancing Savin to claim his eighth goal of the season.
The striker from Chantry wasn’t too far away from his ninth in the 40th minute when he was allowed to take down a long kick from Vaclav Hladky but his first touch took it just too far away from him and Savin was able to gather.
Bonne attempted to replicate his last-gasp goal against Sheffield Wednesday as the Stanley striker prepared to kick but Savin spotted him and the two shared laugh.
Neither side threatened again before a busy if not overly entertaining half was brought to a close.
Bonne’s well-crafted and confidently finished goal had been the only real chance during a half in which both sides had struggled to show the guile to find a way through the opposition.
The Blues weren’t far away from doubling their lead a minute after the restart. With rain again falling steadily, Morsy found Fraser on the left with a superb cross-field ball and the Scot crossed to Bonne at the near post but the striker met it at the same time as Savin, who was able to force it behind for a corner.
However, in the 50th minute, Stanley equalised. Following a throw on the right, a cross from Yeboah Amankwah was flocked on through a crowd of players by former Colchester man Pell and Bishop hit a shot on the turn across Hladky and into the corner of the net.
The Blues found themselves under some pressure as the hour mark approached, Janoi Donacien blocking brilliantly from Pell on the edge of the box before Nottingham shot over from 25 yards.
Town had been unable to play much football and had threatened little since half-time and it was little surprise when manager Cook, a former Accrington player and manager, made changes with Celina, who had been quiet since creating Town’s goal, and Fraser swapped for Rekeem Harper and Edwards.
But it was the home side who would create the next opportunity, Bishop turning and hitting a shot which Hladky was forced to turn over the bar. As Stanley prepared to take the corner, the Czech keeper and Pell clashed and referee Martin Coy spoke to them but kept his cards in his pocket.
Accrington continued to take the game to Town, as they had for much of the half with the Blues unable to get the ball down and string passes together, and in the 71st minute Lee Evans got in the way of a Pell shot from the edge of the area.
Moments later, Donacien was hit full in the face by a cross and required treatment before the corner was taken and then after Sam Sherring had headed wide from the flag-kick.
Stanley had been on top since the break and in the 79th minute they went in front. McConville sent over a cross from the right and Pell got in front of Donacien - perhaps feeling the effects of the blow to the head - to volley past Hladky from a couple of yards inside the penalty area. On the balance of the second half, Town could hardly complain.
Having conceded their second goal, and having made little headway prior to that, Town switched Evans for James Norwood.
The Blues huffed and puffed in the closing stages as they looked for an equaliser, Burns hitting an 88th-minute shot from a very tight angle high and wide with Savin out of his goal.
The game briefly boiled over soon afterwards after Town claimed Bonne had been fouled then Morsy made a strong challenge on an Accrington player. A confrontation involving members of both teams followed with Norwood and Conneely both booked.
Town were unable to threaten again before the end and once again left the Wham Stadium, which has become something of a bogey ground in recent seasons, having been defeated.
Cook’s men got their noses in front in a first half in which there had been little between the sides but after the break struggled to make headway against a physical and determined Accrington team, who were worthy of their victory.
Aside from Bonne’s clinically taken goal, Town didn’t manage a shot on target, while at the other end the defensive frailties which appeared to becoming a thing of the past were again in evidence.
The Blues looked to have taken a big step forward with the 6-0 home win against Doncaster but today’s defeat to Accrington - the type of opponent they have struggled against ever since their relegation to League One - is a stumble in the other direction.
Town are next in action on Tuesday in the Papa John’s Trophy at Gillingham and then in League One at home to Shrewsbury next Saturday.
Accrington: Savin, Sherring, Hamilton, Butcher, Pell, Bishop, McConville, Nottingham, Conneely (c), Morgan, Amankwah. Unused: Trafford, O'Sullivan, Leigh, Mansell, Nolan, Clark, Malcolm.
Town: Hladky, Donacien, Edmundson, Burgess, Penney, Evans (Norwood 80), Morsy (c), Burns, Celina (Harper 64), Fraser (Edwards 64), Bonne. Unused: Holy, Nsiala, Aluko, Chaplin. Referee: Martin Coy (Durham). Att: 2,600 (Town: 846).