[choirboy]

IMHO Stanley deserved the win and three points today in spite of seemingly playing against twelve men!
Stanley started well playing with control and some good possession. Stanley deservedly went in front with a super ‘throwback’ special free kick goal from Sean Mac! On the balance of play I thought that Stanley were worth a two goal lead at half time.
It all hinged on the referee’s dubious decision to book Quirk for apparently wasting time taking a throw in. This meant that Seb was playing with jeopardy from then on. Early substitutions by Harrogate brought them into the game a bit more but Stanley seemed to have got through that threat when Quirk was given a second yellow for a raised foot in a fifty fifty tackle. That was probably just about justified but of course the ref then brandished the red card. From the resulting free kick Harrogate equalized and we all feared the worst.
However, Stanley were looking really positive for the three points. Led on by the amazingly fit Sean Whalley the reds were certainly going for it! A free kick was awarded on the right but thirty yards from the goal. I was right in line with Jack Nolan’s view of the goal from my usual place in the Clayton End. His left footed shot was played wide of the wall and aided by the breeze it curled beautifully into the net at the far post!
It was a justifiable and worthy winner of the match. Coley’s substitutions were spot on today. Jack Nolan, Josh Woods and Matt Lowe brought fresh impetus and pace resulting in a grandstand finish.
The Stanley faithful finished the match ‘Loud and Very Proud’ of our team’s performance today!
However, there was a cloud on the victory as Sean MacConville had gone down on close to ninety minutes with what looked like a serious injury. I hope that it is not as bad as it looked.
A good three points in defiance of some poor refereeing finds Stanley in fourth place tonight. Pre season we would all have taken that I am sure!
ON STANLEY ON
KEEP THE FAITH