John Coleman vows to save Accrington after Fleetwood defeat

Posted Sunday, April 16, 2023 by PA

John Coleman says he will fight all the way to save Accrington from relegation after their 5-2 defeat to Fleetwood.

Jack Marriott celebrated a hat-trick, scoring in the ninth and 35th minute before slotting home the final goal in added time.

The Cod Army led 2-0 at half-time and, at the end of the first half, Stanley had Liam Coyle sent off for a high tackle.

Promise Omochere made it 3-0 on 57 minutes before Accrington fought back with a Michael Nottingham 65th-minute header and Tommy Leigh’s fierce blast on 81 minutes taking it to 3-2.

But Phoenix Patterson made the game safe on 90 minutes before Marriott finished it off to send Stanley down to 23rd in the Sky Bet League One table.

“This is one of the lowest I have felt in football,” said long-serving manager Coleman. “I am deeply disappointed but we still have a fighting chance and there are points to be won.

“We showed a great deal of character to go from 3-0 down to make it 3-2 but the first half was not good enough, we did not defend like we can and that’s been the case all season.

“I got a few brickbats by the supporters coming off and they are entitled to their opinion but I can assure them that no one is hurting more than me.

“I certainly won’t throw in the towel in football, this club is my life.

“There is no point sulking, we have got to be the bald Accrington we usually are and play like we did in the 25 minutes when we had 10 men and had them on the ropes. We have got to put it right.”

Fleetwood assistant head coach Steven Whittaker said: “Overall the performance was very good. We were a threat all day on the counter-attack and we looked sharp, we just lacked a bit of composure in the final third as we could have scored a few more.

“We were on the back of two losses, we knew they were fighting for their lives and we knew we had to start on the front foot which we did. We lost a bit of composure in the second half, we were a bit shaky and lost our way a little bit, but then we settled it late on. We were ruthless to finish the game off.

“Jack Marriott and Jayden Stockley have both been great since we signed them in January, they bounce off each other and they have both done well since they came here.

“We want to finish the season on a high so it’s good to get back to winning ways and we want to go into the summer on a positive.”