The Reds are still in charge of their own destiny as, if they win their four games hand, they will be in League Two’s top seven.

Earlier in the season it was a narrow 3-1 win to Church but Saturday was a completely different affair.

The Masters of Martial Arts competitor, from Great Harwood, won three gold medals to become once again British champion in the Veterans Over 40s class.

But when the majority of his team fail to find their form and come up against a striker like Lee Hughes, it spells trouble.

For the second game running a contentious penalty decision has cost John Coleman’s men vital points in their promotion push and left them down in the dumps with one win in seven games.

Declan Penaluna celebrated his seventh birthday by coming on Winstanley’s matchday club with his friends before becoming mascot for the Coca Cola League Two match.

We are having a bad run and the chances that were going in early on in the season, now aren’t and any mistakes we are making are getting punished. It is so frustrating as every game we think we can get out of this current blip and so every game that passes is disappointing.

The Reds have dropped to 13th in the league after Darran Kempson scored an own goal to lose to struggling Torquay on Saturday.

Both teams can be credited with some good flowing football which saw the Saints getting the better of the opening exchanges.

This was certainly the case on Saturday with Reds boss John Coleman left bewildered as his side once again conceded a stoppage time goal to surrender another valuable point.

The 20-year-old was only in his second fight of his MMA life but his opponent lasted less than a minute.

The club will be holding an NVQ Level 2 course in Sport Recreation and Allied Occupations with Activity Leadership.

The Stanley players chatted to children, played football and table tennis, posed for photos and signed autographs.

Blackburn loan centre-half Johnny Flynn is on Northern Ireland international duty in San Marino as is Leicester loan striker Billy Kee so the Reds boss was keen to have cover and was hoping to snap up a Premiership teenager who has been doing well in the reserves for his club.

The 24-year-old was playing with Sligo Rovers in Ireland last season under ex-Stanley midfielder Paul Cook but then competed in the African Cup of Nations for his country, Benin, in January.

The Reds are just two points outside the play-offs with games in hand on most of the teams above them, except Notts County, and the bookies have slashed their odds to occupy a top seven spot come May.

Thank goodness that it was the manager who makes the decisions as he kept the wideman on and the 28-year-old rewarded his boss with a rare two goals and a much-needed win over ex-Premier boys Bradford after one point out of nine.

The club are the previous holders of the Hyndburn Community Club of the Year and also hold the FA Charter Standard club mark.

The Saints played some good attacking football in the first half and only good goalkeeping stopped them having more than their one-goal lead.

It was a top tournament with more than 100 competitors from all over the North West taking part in around 20 categories.

Luke Joyce and Alan Burton were the surprise guests at the final day’s presentation after the five-to-12-year-olds had been put through their paces all week at Rhyddings Business and Enterprise College.

The Reds have picked up just one point from their last nine and, following seven wins in eight league games that pushed them to the fringes of the play-off places prior to that, they have dropped down to 13th spot in League Two.

St Augustine’s came out on top as mixed teams from Years Three and Four competed and the A team will now represent Hyndburn at the Spar Lancashire Youth Games gymnastic finals which will be held at Hyndburn Sports Centre on Wednesday March 10.

Houldsworth Solicitors, who have offices in Clitheroe and Whalley, have replaced Veka as the League’s new backers.

"This game guarantees goals" were his words in the build-up to the match which the Reds needed to win for promotion points and Macc needed a victory to move further away from the bottom two.

This was as they chalked up a run of seven wins in eight league games and hovered on the fringes of the play-offs following a superb campaign where they have battled against low finances, a winding up order and small squad to defy the odds.

The Under 11s had another victory, beating Chorley Wanderers 10-2. Goalscorers were Matt Baron, Harry Jennys, Jack Clarke, Ryan Gargan, Matt Jones (two) and MOTM Dylan Thompson who scored four goals.

Former Stanley striker Craig Lindfield latched onto a long clearance and slipped clear of the Reds' defence but returning keeper Ian Dunbavin pushed his low shot onto the near post.

Coleman’s men were well beaten at Sixfields by a rampant Cobblers team who are now unbeaten in their past 11 games.

But, like in every good thriller, there is a always a twist and it was Accrington’s Jimmy Ryan who provided the element of surprise with a late wonder goal to make sure it was the Reds who had a happy ending.

The Reds boss apologised to the travelling fans for his side’s below par show in the 4-0 defeat at Northampton on Tuesday.

Stuart McCall quit after City’s defeat to Bury on Saturday and the club began interviewing this week with Peter Jackson said to be the favourite for the hotseat.

Brandon Barski scored all three of Greyhound’s goals, one from the penalty spot. Declan Hewitt was MOTM for some great football and constant pressure up front.

The 29-yearold was in goal for Everton against Leeds Carnegie at Spotland in the women’s showpiece.

The 25-year-old was in the Blue Square Premier League with Wrexham when Coleman snapped him up in the summer and finally got him to sign a permanent deal after two other loan spells at the Crown Ground.

Monday’s transfer deadline passed without anyone making a new bid for the 14-goal striker after Grimsby’s £100,000 offer was turned down earlier this month.

James Hey and Ian Longson, who have both been trained by Bisping in the past, have transformed the East Lancashire Predator Club from a minimalistic gym to one of the leading MMA clubs in the country in little over six months.

After tax problems, player embargoes and three seasons battling relegation in League Two, it’s a shock to some that the Reds are up among the promotion chasers with a great chance of making the top seven come May.

Kempson looked shell shocked after his two yellow cards in the FA Cup and couldn’t avoid the effect of his red card with all the national media recording it.

Woodcock has been starring for his side Wellington Firebirds in New Zealand and is averaging 80 with the bat.

The annual event, which starts and finishes at Fearns High School in Rawtenstall, had a bumper entry this year and fine weather meant it was a pleasant run for most of the competitors who did also have to avoid patches of ice.

Stanley are in 11th place - four points off the top seven but with three or even four games in hand on most of the clubs above them after their historic FA Cup run to the fourth round.

The Reds are limited to just 20 registered players while they owe the Professional Footballers Association £50,000 but they hope they can pay off the debt early next month and so the play-off chasing club can add loan players to the squad, if necessary.

Larnach opened the scoring in the first half as Rishton enjoyed a good battle with Darwen. But United got on top in the second half with another three for MOTM Larnach and one for Oliver Jones.