JOHN Coleman hit the milestone of 500 league and cup games in charge at Stanley with barely a whimper as they lost to Aldershot on Saturday.
But his 501st clash in charge of the Reds will certainly be one to remember as Stanley came close to pulling off one of their biggest-ever shocks on Tuesday night.
Wolves, aiming for Premiership football next season and with an awesome stadium and a multi-million pound team, were in trouble with manager Mick McCarthy throwing on over £2m worth of strikers in the second half.
And they proved to be the deciding factor in extra-time as the Championship side made it to the Carling Cup second round - although the Reds couldn’t be too down-hearted.
Stanley were superb all over the park, with keeper Kenny Arthur pulling of a string of wonder saves; the defence throwing their bodies at everything; Leam Richardson was all over the park while Paul Mullin and Ian Craney got off the mark with goals they will remember for the rest of their careers.
It was just a shame that the League Two side had to lose out with relieved McCarthy impressed by the Reds.
"At the end of day, all that matters to us is that we are through and I think we deserved to win the game.
"It would have been nice to do it in normal time but Accrington came here and did exactly what I thought they would and made it difficult for us.
"We have got the prize of the next round but they will take the plaudits for the way they played and the way they went about it.
"They had a very good goalkeeper. I would not say we wasted chances as he seemed to be everywhere.
"I must admit, when they scored the second I did believe that it might not be our day.
"He (Ian Craney) finished well and then memories came back of last season when we got knocked out by Morecambe in extra-time.
"But we got the winner and that’s all the matters now."
The win might be all that mattered to Wolves but the performance was also important to Stanley after their below-par show in the League Two opener.
Colin Murdock and Andy Procter both fell foul of late fitness tests which must have been agonising with the perfect stage at Molineux waiting for the Reds. But Robbie Williams and John Mullin both came in and slotted into the side.
And it was the Reds who had the first real chance on four minutes with Craney looping a free header over.
From then on, however, it was full attack-mode from the Midlands club.
They had a Chris Iwelomu goal disallowed for a foul by the striker on five minutes before Arthur produced the first of his athletic saves, keeping out defender Neill Collins’ header.
The stopper then pushed out a Dave Edwards 30-yard blast while Phil Edwards deflected Richard Stearman’s close range effort over the bar.
Wolves were passing the ball around well without finding a way through with Stanley chasing the game.
But the Reds finally enjoyed their own spell of possession and from this came the opener on 40 minutes.
Jamie Clarke unleashed a fierce shot from the edge of the area which canoned off the crossbar and bounced out for Paul Mullin to head home his first goal of the season.
"He won’t score many goals with his head from the edge of the area," joked boss John Coleman.
The small band of travelling fans behind the goal jumped around with elation and there was the belief that a shock could be on the cards.
McCarthy had to act after the break and on came £1.5m signing Slyvan Ebanks-Blake, obviously a crowd favourite, and £600,000 Andy Keogh.
And they did make a difference.
Arthur was again at his best to deny Iwelumo and then he dived to keep out Ebanks-Blake’s free header.
Next, the stopper two-handedly pushed away David Edwards’ effort as it was an all-out assault on the Reds goal.
It did seem a goal was coming but as the clock ran down there was always hope.
However, 17 minutes from time after good work from Keogh, Iwelumo managed to finally get the better of Arthur with a header over him into the net.
The relief from the Wolves fans was tangible but McCarthy then urged his side to settle it in normal time with Cavanagh making a last ditch tackle and Arthur denying ex-Rover Michael Gray.
However, sub Jimmy Ryan could have written himself into Stanley’s history books when, with seconds of normal time left, he burst through unmarked but tried to catch keeper Wayne Hennessy off his line but chipped over the bar as well.
So extra-time loomed - what neither side wanted with big league campaigns ahead. Arthur carried on his form between the sticks - one handedly denying Collins while Ebanks-Blake headed over the bar from a yard out.
"When he did that I thought it might be our day," said Coleman.
But it wasn’t to be as Wolves took their next chance - an Iwelumo bullet header from Mark Davies’ corner which whizzed into the back of the net on 102 minutes.
"You don’t stop them," remarked one Wolves fan.
But if the home side thought they could rest - forget it. Two minutes later, Cavanagh fed Craney and he held off the attentions of the defender and coolly slotted home. His delight was there for all to see as the midfielder raced to the Stanley bench to celebrate.
But unfortunately it proved short-lived as Stanley’s hearts were finally broken minutes later. Quick footwork from Davies in the area led to him sliding the ball past Arthur for what was the winner.
Stanley had one more effort - Phil Edwards appealed for a penalty as he evaded three tackles in the area before ending on the floor - but referee John Moss wasn’t having any of it.
And there was still time for one last drama which dampened the night for the Reds when Robbie Williams got a second yellow card for a last-ditch tackle on Stearman. The whistle blew straight after.
"It was one of those things," said Coleman."By the letter of the law, he had to go but time was up when it happened.
"Rocky played well but tired towards the end and that’s the possible reason he got sent off. It is a blow as we will lose him and you would sooner lose the game 4-2 at that stage than lose a man.
"But it was a great atmosphere and we got the ball down and tried to play and got respect from Wolves for that."
