The travelling 60 Stanley fans were apparently given a free pastie at Exeter –  but the Reds remain starved of a win after a disappointing late loss on Friday.

After doing so well to contain the promotion-chasing Grecians for 79 minutes, the home side then gobbled up two chances as the visiting faithful munched into their free pies.

And it means the Reds are now desperately hungry for a win after one victory in 14 League Two games leaves them in the thick of the relegation battle.

Boss Leam Richardson was not hiding away from the huge challenge he faces in keeping the Reds in the Football League – with the lowest wage bill in the division.

“I am not naive and we can’t hide behind the fact that we need to win games,” said the Stanley boss.

“We need points on the board. This result could have gone either way as we had a couple of chances and we were comfortable until two mistakes proved costly.

“They scored and then we hit the post and then they went straight down the other end and got the second with some slopping defending and we are scratching our heads.

“We are the losing team but we were unlucky as there wasn’t a lot in it but we are lacking a bit of luck and a bit more guile.

“I am not too worried yet as there are games to come but we know what we have got to do.”

Exeter went temporarily into the top three with the victory but it was a rarity on their home turf – they have struggled at St James’ Park and the pitch made it difficult for both teams to get the ball down and play.

That made for a disappointing spectacle with neither side creating many chances.

In fact, Exeter’s best first-half chance was a backheader by Mark Hughes which almost caught out Paul Rachubka but went wide in the first minute.

And Stanley’s only shot of the first 45 minutes was James Gray’s ever-rising strike which smashed against a window of  the terraced houses behind the away goal.

There was nothing between the  sides despite the fact Paul Tisdale’s side are batting at the top and Stanley at the bottom end.

Defender Hughes kept well-travelled striker Jamie Cureton quiet while Guillem Bauza couldn’t have a big influence up front for Exeter as their players struggled to turn on the style as Stanley did.

By 78 minutes it looked for all the world like a 0-0 and Stanley would have gratefully accepted a point from a tough trip that, while hardly had the most creative play going forward, the defence looked solid.

But then three catastrophic minutes saw the Reds once again return empty-handed.

Probably the only neat passing move of the match saw the Reds defence cut open and Exeter substitute Jimmy Keohane had time and space 12 yards out to fire into roof of net.

Stanley haven’t won a game when they have gone behind since October 2011 but it looked like they had replied immediately when a Lee Molyneux cross found Exeter defender Danny Coles and he tried to clear it over the goal – but instead it bounced against the crossbar making it a lucky escape for the home side and agony for the Reds.

And from that, Exeter broke, Dean Winnard passed back to his keeper Rachubka on the byline but the ball bobbled up and Cureton nipped in and nicked the ball and passed to Keohane who had the whole net at his disposal to fire home the second, decisive goal.

At that point, it was absolute dejection by the Stanley fans and  management as Exeter’s director of football Steve Perryman jumped up in the stand in front of the press box.

And, with results going against the Reds on Saturday, it was an all-round weekend to forget.

“It wasn’t a great spectacle for the neutral, it wouldn’t have been pleasant,” continued Richardson.

“It was comfortable for us but the two goals don’t make good watching for individuals or collectively.

“The message to the lads is it’s not good enough.

“We know Exeter have struggled to break teams down at home and we held them for most of the game.

“They didn’t create many chances and neither did we and neither keeper had a save to make but then some sloppy defending saw us 1-0 down and then it’s 2-0.

“We feel hard done by but two mistakes have proved so costly.

“The experienced players in the dressing room are now priceless in picking the others up.

“It’s my job as well to keep positive and go again. We have to stand up and be counted.”

While Exeter could afford to be generous with their pasties, the Reds know they need to stop gifting goals. And fast.