Stanley and Robins share spoils

James Beattie and Marlon Pack scored two goals apiece as Accrington and Cheltenham drew 2-2 at the Store First Stadium.

Relegation-threatened Stanley battled hard against promotion-chasing Cheltenham but could not get the win they craved to ease some of the pressure at the bottom. The Robins went ahead against the run of play. Stanley striker James Gray had twice been denied by Robins 'keeper Scott Brown while he headed another decent effort over. And on their first real attack after 32 minutes, referee Andy D'Urso awarded the visitors a disputed penalty after what he saw as a trip by defender Mark Hughes on Jason Taylor, Pack making no mistake from the spot. However it did not rock Stanley and a Lawrie Wilson corner was headed home by Beattie five minutes before the break. It was more of the same after the restart as former Middlesbrough striker Gray continued to cause the Cheltenham defence problems. Rommy Boco fired an effort just wide before Hughes had a header cleared off the line but the ball came out to Beattie 15 yards out and he absolutely belted home on 64 minutes. However, six minutes later a free-kick by Darren Carter from the left wing was only half cleared and the ball looped up for Pack to head home and make it 2-2. Stanley still looked the more likely to grab it at the end but the Robins defence threw their bodies in front of everything to go away with a point.