John Coleman was bemoaning his side’s finishing after Stanley lost 1-0 to fellow promotion contenders Northampton Town.

Striker Marc Richards proved once again to be Stanley’s bogeyman scoring in the 62nd minute to give the Cobblers the three points. It was a fifth goal for Richards in four meetings with the Reds.

But Stanley had already hit the bar after 20 seconds through Sean McConville – and Northampton keeper Adam Smith was Man of the Match for denying the Reds.

“It was a carbon copy of the Plymouth game,” said Coleman, which was another 1-0 loss to the Reds despite Stanley dominating.

“We didn’t just deserve to draw, we deserved to win today as we created chance after chance and we were better than them in all departments except finishing – and they  have a player like Marc Richards who can put the ball in the net.

“Their keeper was Man of the Match, like at Plymouth,  which says it all and they have three points and we end up with nothing.

“It’s fine margins but we can either sulk or stick our chests out and go again and I know what we will do.

“I was pleased with our appetite and there was no lack of effort, and we showed intent from the off, hitting the bar after 20 seconds. We were on the front foot but you don’t get points for looking pleasing – you have to score more goals than the opposition.

“The only consolation is that, after Plymouth, we went on an unbelievable away run and hopefully we can do that again.”

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