The Reds were ruing their luck as sixth-placed Southend ground out a narrow win on Easter Monday.
For much of the contest, Stanley held their own against a side that now looks destined for the play-offs.
But Southend struck the decisive blow in the 64th minute after a bizarre episode which angered the Accy players.
Referee Steven Rushton stopped play after home striker Barry Corr injured his head in a challenge with Stanley keeper Marcus Bettinelli.
Southend were in possession, yet rather than allowing Stanley to give the ball back, left-back Ben Coker insisted on restarting play with a contested drop ball.
Luke Joyce actually won it but 10 seconds later the ball hit the Stanley net.
Joyce’s touch went back to Jacob Murphy, who played it into Kevan Hurst on the edge of the Stanley box. His lay-off allowed Will Atkinson to find Corr in the left side of the box, and although Bettinelli got a hand to his shot, he couldn’t stop it going inside the far post.
After claiming a late equaliser in their previous two games, the Reds were unable to fight back again, but they remained four points above the drop zone with two games left.
“I’m not sure about the drop-ball decision,” said Stanley manager James Beattie.
“We agreed to play the ball back but the referee thought otherwise.
“But that’s gone now, the game is over and we need to focus on our remaining games.”
Beattie took the opportunity to shuffle his pack, again making four changes with Kal Naismith among those recalled following his penalty equaliser against Mansfield.
Glorious sunshine and a hard surface made it difficult for either side to play a passing game so chances were few and far between at Roots Hall.
Murphy got to the byline down Southend’s left wing and his low cross was parried to safety by Bettinelli, while Stanley centre-half Tom Aldred headed well wide from a Will Hatfield corner.
Southend went close from a corner of their own, with Corr’s header cleared off the line by James Gray before Ryan Leonard hit a long-range effort over.
Leonard then headed wide on the stroke of half-time from John White’s right-wing cross.
Shortly after the break, Naismith headed wide from Michael Liddle’s deep cross but Corr broke the deadlock just after the hour mark.
Coker curled a free-kick just wide as the Shrimpers sought to double their lead before Corr dragged a shot wide in the 83rd minute.
Yet the Reds almost repeated their late heroics a minute later as Piero Mingoia’s deep cross from the right found Shay McCartan but the Stanley substitute’s volley was turned round the post by keeper Daniel Bentley.
And as the Reds continued to push forward, the hosts launched a counter-attack in stoppage time and Bettinelli saved low to his right to deny Loza.
“It’s disappointing because our goalkeeper only had one save to make and the only other time he touched the ball was to pick it out of the net,” Beattie added. “But the lads were tremendous. We frustrated Southend in the first half and quietened the crowd.”
STANLEY: Bettinelli, Buxton, Winnard, Aldred, Liddle, Mingoia (Webber 85), Joyce, Murphy, Naismith (Odejayi 66), Hatfield, Gray (McCartan 77). Subs: Atkinson, Bowerman, Hunt, Windass.
