A superb strike from defender Joe Toole wasn’t quite enough to get Wanderers off to a winning start in the Central League Cup as Stanley grabbed an equaliser with virtually the last kick off the game.
Toole thumped home a far-post volley from an early corner as the young Whites looked to put their first points on the board in Group C.
After protecting the lead with a resolute defensive performance Andy Taylor’s side were within seconds of following up their opening league win with another victory and a second successive clean sheet.
But from the final meaningful play in the third minute of stoppage time, Stanley swung a free-kick into the box and Lewis Rhodes got the final touch in a goalmouth scramble to deny the Whites maximum return for their efforts.
"I said to the players at the end of the game I'm disappointed for you," said B Team Boss Taylor.
"Probably on reflection a draw was a fair result as Accrington had some good moments in the game, as well as us, but always when the circumstances are like that and you're hanging on for so long, and defending your box well for so long, to concede from the last kick of the game in that moment is always disappointing.
"But I've told them not to be too disappointed with themselves as I thought the performance levels were really good. I was happy with how we stayed in the game and how we defended our box. They were strong and put us under a lot of pressure and for the most part we stuck to the task really well.
"This is what it's all about. They had some league and first-team experience and we knew it was going to be a good test. These are the experiences we need for these young players."
Having put five goals past Notts County in their first competitive game of the campaign, Wanderers were without any first-team players on this occasion but gave a debut to new arrival Mark Isong.
The former Shelbourne teenager showed a couple of nice touches in a first half which saw the Whites go ahead after just 13 minutes when Toole peeled off to find space to convert an excellent first-time volley after Harrison Fleury helped the ball back in after a corner had been half-cleared.
Stanley – boasting a fair degree of first-team experience – had hit a post through Josh Woods and carved out a couple of other sights of goal for Jimmy Knowles and the experienced Ash Hunter.
But Wanderers did well in winning possession to launch a number of dangerous counter-attacks with the lively Dubem Eze twice going close at the end of penetrating runs.
James Westwood also saw a free-kick touched over the top by former Wanderers’ loanee Billy Crellin.
But it was Wanderers’ keeper Jack Dallimore who was then the busier after the break as he made a number of decent saves as he looked to deny the Reds’ an equaliser and get the Whites over the line.
His best was a superb tip-over from a Josh Woods’ header five minutes after the break before turning a Hunter effort round the post and dealing with almost everything else that came his way.
Wanderers were guilty of giving the ball away too often to build up any pressure of their own or make the most of a number of promising positions on the break.
But substitute Ben Andreucci was close to adding a second goal in stoppage time on his return from injury with a close-range header brilliantly saved by Crellin.
And that saved proved vital as Stanley had time for one more effort and finally found a way through Wanderers' defence to give both sides a point to start their campaigns.
Wanderers: Dallimore; Toole, Hogan, Weston (Rice 85); Smith (Grayson 56); Halford, Sharples-Ahmed (Irwin 85), Westwood; Fleury (Leigh 56), Isong (Andreucci 68), Eze.
Accrington Stanley: Crellin; Wilkinson, Aljofree, Rhodes, Smith; Martin (Popoola 63), B Woods; J Woods (Hanson 84), Henderson, Hunter; Knowles (Trickett HT). Substitutes: Rogerson, Tunstal.
Pictures: Ben Livingstone