Mitchell Henry bagged a brace and a last-gasp equaliser deep into stoppage time to earn Wanderers a share of the spoils in an entertaining draw against Accrington Stanley at Lostock.
Gethin Jones was named in the starting eleven and played the first half – making his return to action. His previous appearance in a Wanderers shirt came in the first team’s 1-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday in early October before a spell on the sidelines with a stress fracture. The Welsh defender would remarkably come off the bench in the clash with Wycombe Wanderers later the same evening.
Stanley took the lead inside nine minutes, with Jack Nolan connecting with Tom Scully’s free-kick to guide a header past Ellis Litherland. The visitors then almost doubled their advantage through Rosaire Longelo who saw a low drive come back off the post just after the quarter-hour mark.
Lamine Toure flashed a shot across goal shortly afterward, with Wanderers finding the equaliser just after the half-hour mark. Liam Isherwood failed to hold onto a low ball into the six-yard box, and Henry was in the right place at the right time to score from close range.
The visitors probably controlled most of the play in the second half and they restored their advantage shortly after the hour mark through Josh Woods who latched onto a fortuitous deflection to beat Litherland from close range.
Dylan Moonan saw a half volley from 20 yards clip the outside the box as Stanley looked to extend their advantage and put the game to bed. Olly Patrick spurned an opportunity of his own and the visitors were then ultimately made to pay for missing opportunities.
Deep into stoppage time Max Conway did brilliantly to control the ball under pressure and deliver a superb cross into the box from the left-hand side. The cross caused all sorts of problems for the Stanley back-line and Henry got in front of his man to squirm a shot past Isherwood from close range for his second of the afternoon.
Line-Up: Ellis Litherland, Gethin Jones (Danny Jones 46), Adam Beardsworth, Adam Senior, Max Conway, Joel Burgess (Sonny Sharples-Ahmed 77), Arran Pettifer, Matthew Tweedley, Mitchell Henry, Lamine Toure, Sam Olawumi.
Unused Subs: Wesley Frimpong, Abdul Kamara.
Goals: Henry (34, 90+5).