John Coleman admitted he now only wants to look upwards – and Saturday’s victory certainly went some way to doing this.
The Reds were looking over their shoulders after an indifferent start to their campaign following last season’s play-off challenge.
But back-to-back home wins and a four game unbeaten league run means the Reds have opened up a 10-point gap from second-bottom Dagenham and now Coleman hopes the real Accrington Stanley are beginning to show themselves.
Craig Lindfield at last celebrated his first league goal for the Reds this year while the Stanley chief put on sub Padraig Amond and, 10 minutes after coming on, he had two in the bag to make him the Reds’ top scorer with four goals so far in this campaign.
It was certainly a welcome result and a welcome clean sheet after 16 games without one and the fans have been waiting for the Reds to turn a corner this season – and hopefully they now have.
Not that Coleman is getting carried away but he has been urging his side to show some consistency and string some results together and, with two wins and two draws in those last four League Two games, they are finally doing that.
"We only had to get out of October – I always call it Black October," said Coleman as he says he has never had a good 10th month in his managerial career.
"And now we have got to take each game as it comes and every game we play and we have got to try and seize the opportunity to get three points.
"Draws can drag you down and that’s what we have got to get out of.
"We want to win as many games as we can, get to that magic 50 points mark and at the moment we are 27 points short and we have a lot of games and points to play for.
"If we can get to Christmas and get a few more points on the board, then you can start to look upwards and challenge upwards."
Stanley were more of an attacking threat and carved out chances against the struggling Daggers – something they haven’t done enough of this season.
Lindfield and Blackburn loanee Micah Evans were guilty of not finding the target when put through in good positions early on while Daggers’ keeper Chris Lewington tipped over a 20-yard strike from influential Luke Joyce.
Freefalling
The freefalling Daggers meanwhile hadn’t threatened but visiting boss John Still admitted he was more than happy at half-time that his side, on a seven-game losing streak in the league prior to Saturday, had held firm.
It looked like it could be another of those games where the Reds were made to pay for missed chances but thankfully at last Stanley found their shooting boots for their biggest win of the season.
Evans played in a cross from the right on 57 minutes and Lindfield swept the ball home for his first league goal since 2009.
You could see the relief on his face as he himself looks to turn a corner and start firing in the goals with more regularity to fulfil the promise of his early career, which started at Liverpool and saw him in the England Under-19 squad.
Once that goal went in, it was hoped that the Reds would get a couple more quickly and then the fans could sit back and enjoy a comfortable home win.
But Stanley never make things easy and Coleman admitted that only luck saved his side as the Daggers upped their game.
Michael Spillane’s free header wasn’t far off while West Ham’s Cristian Montano, who had scored at the Crown Ground for then loan club Swindon earlier this season, rounded Ian Dunbavin and set up Abu Ogogo who had almost an empty goal to shoot at but Joyce got back to clear his effort off the line.
Jon Nurse followed up and had his shot blocked as the Reds weathered a Daggers’ attacking storm.
Coleman had to make changes and the introduction of Amond and Charlie Barnett helped to make the game safe for Stanley.
In two quickfire minutes the Irishman had stooped to head home Barnett’s cross on 82 minutes and then the ball bounced to him 15 yards out and he walloped it home to become the first Stanley player to score two goals in a match this season.
Coleman admitted the scoreline was harsh on long-term rivals Dagenham where there is respect for manager Still who has had many battles with Stanley since he took charge in 2004 and has taken the Daggers from non league to League One last season.
"I am pleased with the result, not overly pleased with what I have seen," said Coleman.
"I feel for John Still, he is a great manager and I have bemoaned our luck this season and he is certainly having no luck.
" When we needed our luck, we got it on Saturday and got a huge slice of it as they had some really good chances at 1-0 and, had they equalised, they would have got their tails up and you could possibly only see one winner.
"But we rode our luck and then when you throw a couple of subs on and they link up for a goal it is satisfying but I think 3-0 flattered us.
"It’s pleasing to get three as it doesn’t look as embarrassing in our goals for column now.
"We are still way short of where we want to be and we want to keep plugging away."
And hopefully moving up the table.
