RETURNING hero Ian Craney’s thrilling first Stanley goal for nearly a year has put him in the mood to haunt derby rivals Morecambe on their own patch once again.
The resilient star, returning from a hamstring knock that threatened to wreck his three-month loan spell from Swansea, crafted a trademark free kick to put the Reds in front in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Barnet.
Stanley visit Morecambe on Tuesday night following tomorrow’s home match with Notts County, and Sammy McIlroy’s Shrimps will be wary of Craney’s scoring touch - the midfielder has netted on both his two previous visits to Christie Park.
The most explosive Bonfire Night fireworks may have to wait 24 hours as the former non-league giants reconvene their series of floodlit midweek sparklers - after a 12-month hiatus.
The Reds have won three of the clubs’ last four league meetings, though they lost by the odd goal in five on their last visit to Morecambe in their promotion season two years ago, with Michael Twiss grabbing a crucial brace. Twiss though will miss Tuesday’s match after being given a controversial straight red card in the 1-1 draw with Rochdale, a decision which has seen Shrimps’ boss McIlroy charged with improper conduct following his protests.
Craney said: “I’ve scored the last two times I’ve been there and I just need to keep the run going.
“It's always a cracking atmosphere so hopefully we can win on Saturday and take that into the Morecambe game."
Morecambe have confounded many with their solid league start, which has left them sitting just two places and the same number of points behind Stanley in the relatively calm waters of mid-table. They also managed a memorable 3-1 Carling Cup upset at Championship side Wolves.
And Craney, 25, who, despite his goal, admitted to feeling a bit "sluggish" following his injury lay-off, believes Morecambe's early-season form demonstrates the strength of the Conference.
He said: "If you look at most of the teams that come up from the Conference, the division gets all the the praise it deserves. The standard is quite high."
The Liverpudlian, who played more than 100 games in his first spell at Stanley before moving on in January, is due to return to the Liberty Stadium in the new year, but admits it feels like he has never been away.
"Obviously I've been away for a season but when I came back I could see straight away the quality has definitely improved," he said. "Maybe it's players developing and thinking that the league isn't as big as everybody was making out. The more you play in the league the better you probably get."
Skipper Peter Cavanagh admits he wasn't anticipating the Shrimps' strong start to the campaign.
Cavanagh said: "They've started the league campaign really well. I've been surprised - I thought they might struggle but they've kept the majority of the squad together. There's a decent rivalry there, and hopefully there will be a nice atmosphere. We missed those games last season with us coming up. Most of the times we have played them it seems to be on a Tuesday night under floodlights - which I like. We'd like to think we will put them in their place - there was a bit of that against Dagenham."
The game also pits Reds boss John Coleman against his former club, but the manager will be keen to keep Stanley's minds on the job in hand as first they take on struggling Notts County at the FES tomorrow. Last season the Magpies did the double on the Reds, but after a tough start to the season the club parted with manager Steve Thompson. Lady luck has so far shone on his replacement Ian McParland who won his first game in charge against Wrexham, thanks to a last-minute goal.
Stanley chairman Eric Whalley has remembered a famous night in the club's recent history, following the pairing of the Reds with League One outfit Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup first round draw. In November 2003 Andy Gouck scored an injury-time winner at the same stage to stun the old Division Three outfit in front of the TV cameras. Stanley eventually bowed out in the third round to Colchester United.
Whalley said: "The win over Huddersfield three years ago was great for Accrington Stanley, we were a part-time club in our first year in the Conference, and the revenue that we brought in from the match together with the games against Bournemouth and Colchester gave us the resources to make the step up to being a full time professional club and ultimately led to us making the return to the Football League."
He continued: "Over 2,500 in the stadium that day were from Accrington and the atmosphere was magnificent, hopefully this is a great opportunity for the people of the town to come along again and cheer us on."
Huddersfield visit the FES on Saturday 10 November, 3pm kick off.
