Match report by David Elliott at Blundell Park

A LAST-gasp Barry Conlon goal rescued a point for 10-man Grimsby Town and halted a five-game losing streak.

On the night before Hallowe'en, it had looked like becoming a horror show as the Mariners twice fell behind to Accrington Stanley and saw on-loan Oliver Lancashire sent off.

Stanley took the lead through an early goal from Gary King and the men from Lancashire dominated the opening stages of the game, before Adrian Forbes pounced to level matters for Town on 13 minutes.

After that, it became a midfield battle, with chances few and far between at either end, until midway through the second half, when Phil Edwards converted a penalty for the visitors after Lancashire was shown a straight red card for handball on the line.

From then on, it looked like Stanley would continue a winning streak against the men from Blundell Park that had seen them take all three points from the last five encounters between the two sides.

But, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, substitute Conlon popped up to head in from a free kick and claim a share of the spoils.

One change was made to the Town side that lost at Bournemouth in their last league game, with Nick Hegarty coming in for Jammal Shahin on the left side of midfield.

Conlon returned to the squad after his four-game suspension but he was only given a place on the bench for Neil Woods' first home match in caretaker charge.

Nick Colgan remained in goal, with Bradley Wood, Paul Linwood, Oliver Lancashire and Joe Widdowson in defence.

Peter Bore started on the right wing and the midfield also included Danny Boshell, Peter Sweeney and Hegarty, while the preferred combination in attack was Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro and Adrian Forbes.

Joining Conlon amongst the Grimsby substitutes were Leigh Overton, Jamie Clarke, Michael Leary, Shahin, Mark Gray and Danny North.

Accrington made the trip east for what could still prove to be their last ever league game, although John Coleman's side had not let the club's financial situation affect matters on the pitch, as they had recorded a fine away victory at Rochdale last time out.

Stanley's stars were set to include teenager Bobby Grant, who had eight goals to his name so far this season before kick-off.He was joined in attack by Michael Symes, who struck the winner the last time the two sides met at Blundell Park.

Accrington had the first chance of the evening three minutes in, when Jimmy Ryan was given space to make progress down the right.His cross was picked up by Gary King but he fired over the bar.

The next time the visitors attacked, they made their early pressure count by taking the lead.Andy Proctor's through-ball saw KING run from deep to beat the Mariners' offside trap and slot underneath Colgan from inside the penalty area.

Stanley had made all of the early running, with most of the opening 10 minutes being played inside the Grimsby half.

The first chance for the hosts to make an impression in front of goal came when Widdowson was fouled to the left of the 18-yard line but Sweeney's resulting free kick was headed away from danger.

Forbes was tripped by Tom Lees in a similar position on 12 minutes, with the Stanley defender booked for the foul.This time, Sweeney's free kick was headed against the bar by Akpa Akpro and after the visitors failed to clear, FORBES was there to slam the ball home from close range and level the scores.

Goalscorer King was yellow-carded for a late challenge on Colgan, with Sweeney also booked for dissent in the aftermath of the foul.

Forbes set off on a determined run down the left soon afterwards, turning his man just inside the Stanley half and powering forward down the touchline, only to be stopped in his tracks when it was adjudged that he had taken the ball over the line, with a Stanley throw-in awarded.

Town almost had a fortuitous second goal when Hegarty chased down what appeared to be a lost cause on the left but keeper Ian Dunbavin's clearance rebounded off the returning winger and the ball was sent spinning back towards the goal.The keeper's blushes were spared when it bounced narrowly wide, however.

Another good chance came when Forbes burst forward again on 27 minutes and was fouled on the edge of the penalty area by centre-back Phil Edwards.Sweeney's free kick was poor though, causing no problems for Dunbavin as it sailed over the bar.

Boshell was the next to see yellow, for a foul on Dean Winnard on the halfway line, before Sweeney went down under a challenge by Symes soon afterwards.

Patient build-up play by the visitors led to them winning a corner on 37 minutes.Forbes was back to emphatically clear from the flag-kick for a throw-in, which led to Edwards shooting well wide of Colgan's goal.

Linwood brought down Grant in a central position and 25 yards out two minutes later.Ryan's shot was deflected wide for another corner, which was headed away by Forbes.

Akpa Akpro forced a save out of Dunbavin when he hit a drive from 25 yards on the right but the Stanley stopper was equal to it, diving to his left to claim the ball.

Town attacked again moments later, with Bore getting the ball in a good position close to the visitors' penalty area.He passed back to Boshell and the move threatened to break down but Wood got forward to take the ball on, only to see his cross blocked.

The young right-back then followed through on Dunbavin, who remained down and required treatment before being passed fit to continue.

Four added minutes were signalled by the fourth official at the end of the half, with Town continuing to attack as they went in search of a half-time lead.

Akpa Akpro was fouled by Darren Kempson on the right and from Sweeney's free kick, Forbes sent a glancing header narrowly wide from 12 yards.

So the scores remained level going into the break, with the Mariners just about shading the game over the course of the half.Stanley had started the stronger but Forbes' goal had given the hosts something to build on for the rest of the match.

No substitutions were made ahead of the restart and less than a minute into the second half, Luke Joyce was booked for a foul on Akpa Akpro.Sweeney's free kick from 25 yards hit the Stanley wall.

Sean McConville replaced King as Accrington boss Coleman made the first change of the night shortly before the hour.

A potential chance was lost when Akpa Akpro's control let him down as he looked to advance towards the Stanley penalty area on 58 minutes, with Edwards stepping in to clear.

The pendulum was to swing in Accrington's favour on 66 minutes, as the Mariners were reduced to 10 men and went behind on the scoresheet for a second time.

After a Stanley corner was not cleared by Town, a shot from close range was handled on the line by Lancashire.He was shown the red card and after Mr Webb pointed to the spot for a penalty, EDWARDS stepped up to convert from 12 yards and restore the visitors' advantage.

Akpa Akpro was the next name to go into the referee's notebook, shortly after Woods had made a double substitution, sending on Barry Conlon in place of the hard-working Forbes and Michael Leary for Hegarty.

Accrington were now looking to use the extra space that had been left after Lancashire's dismissal, with Grant given the room to swing over a cross from the left on 76 minutes that was headed wide by Symes.

Town forced two corners in quick succession soon afterwards, with few problems caused for the away defence from either of them.A throw-in then led to Conlon stabbing a shot from 10 yards that was comfortably stopped by Dunbavin.

A flag-kick at the other end came after a challenge by Wood on Joyce but Grant's low delivery was cleared.

Danny North was sent on for the last nine minutes of the game, in place of Akpa Akpro, as Woods looked to freshen his attack up in a bid to rescue a positive result from the game.

Town had struggled to make an impact after the blow of going down to 10 men, with Dunbavin still relatively untroubled as the game entered its closing stages.

Five minutes of added time were signalled after a delay for referee Mr Webb to receive treatment on the pitch after he was hit by the ball.

Town were pushing forward in search of that elusive second equaliser as some of the 4,000-plus home supporters began to head for the exits.

A long ball forward by Wood found North in an offside position before Boshell was penalised for a foul on Proctor on the halfway line.

It looked like the game was up for the Mariners but with seconds remaining, they had their second goal.

In what looked to be the last throw of the dice, Wood sent a free kick from inside his own half long into the Stanley area and CONLON met it with a header that looped over Dunbavin and into the net.

The late leveller cheered the home fans and gave Woods and his men something to build on ahead of next week's FA Cup tie against Bath City.

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