Last-gasp hero Will Hatfield admitted the bench celebrated Stanley’s opening goal like they had won the World Cup – it meant that much.

It had been over seven hours and not a goal had been scored in Paul Cook’s short reign when Padraig Amond poked the ball home on the stroke of half-time.

And sub Hatfield seized a rare chance for himself by scoring an equaliser two minutes from time to make sure Cook also picked up the first point of his four-game stint in charge against Port Vale on Saturday.

"When Podge scored we did celebrate on the bench like we had won the World Cup, it was such a big relief," said Hatfield.

"It has been hanging over our head that we hadn’t scored under the new gaffer so it meant a lot. And it was great for me to get the equaliser – it was my first league goal.

"I got the ball on the edge of the box, I knew I needed to get it under control and hit it and it was a great feeling when it went in.

"For me it was all about just getting on the pitch and hoping to make an impression, which is what the gaffer told me to try and do.

"You have just got to try and take your chances and it was unbelieable to score. It felt like a win."

Hatfield is hoping this can launch him onto the Reds’ stage after a hit-and-miss start to his Crown Ground career.

He came on loan under John Coleman from Leeds United but couldn’t make a big impression. He was released from United and Leam Richardson signed him up in his spell as interim manager.

He hadn’t even been getting in the squads but, due to the five-player loan rule and injuries, he got his chance on Saturday – and took it. "Now I have just got to carry on working hard and hopefully challenge for a starting place," he said.

Cook desperately needed something from the clash but again was down with the bare bones of a squad with Dean Winnard, Bryan Hughes, Ian Craney and Sean Hessey all sitting injured in the stands – with loanee Michael Smith (knee) injured in the warm-up.

Mind you, if Stanley think they have got problems then they are nothing compared to Port Vale’s.

They only had four subs as top striker Marc Richards had been sick in the morning and his replacement Kingsley James had gone home to Sheffield – and they couldn’t afford to pay his travelling expenses to get him to the Crown Ground.

Vale are going through it at the moment facing the threat of administration and a points deduction with the players not paid last month.

It was somewhat ironic they they were visiting at a time when the Reds team from 1962 – when Stanley resigned from the Football League due to financial problems – were watching.

Vale boss Micky Adams admitted he doesn’t know how his players are keeping their professional attitude with what is going on behind the scenes but, at the moment, they are close to the play-offs with a seven game unbeaten run after Saturday.

And he paid tribute to the Stanley staff: "They gave our players complimentary tickets for their families – they didn’t have to but it was a nice gesture."

And the gifts kept coming off Stanley with loan keeper Lee Nicholls – impressive in his first game at Swindon – failing to connect properly with a Louis Dodds header and the ball ballooned up six yards from his punch and fell nicely for John McCombe to back flick it home.

It has got to the stage where you fear the worst when the Reds concede an early goal but, towards the end of the half, they started to get into the game.

Amond had already had a header tipped over by keeper Stuart Tomlinson and, from the corner, the ball came out to Danny Coid whose shot was deflected around the box. Luke Joyce pounced and was denied by Tomlinson but the ball fell nicely for Amond to poke home.

He ran straight over to Cook to celebrate as a big sigh of relief went around that the goal had finally come.

It could have gone either way after the break – Stanley had two handball appeals in the area while defender Toto Nsiala had already been booked for one challenge and a rash tackle could have been another – but the referee Rob Lewis was lenient.

However the visitors made one chance count when Chris Shuker fired home from the edge of the area 11 minutes after the restart.

The introduction of Micah Evans and Kurtis Guthrie had the Reds throwing everyone forward and it finally paid off two minutes from time when Hatfield pounced to stop the Reds slipping to a fifth straight loss.

"It felt like a win," admitted Cook. "We were terrific.

"Young Lee Nicholls has come in and made a couple of mistakes for the goals but we live with that – it hasn’t cost us. He is a young lad and he will learn.

"You have to give special mentions to people sometimes and Toto Nsiala has had a little bit of criticism and he was awesome.

"And I’m delighted for Will. He has been good since I have come in, he hasn’t been getting games but he has worked hard and he got his rewards.

"I was delighted to take a point. We just wanted to get up and running. "