CAST your mind back to April 2007 and Stanley needed to beat Macclesfield in their first season back in the Football League to preserve their status.

It was the penultimate game of what had been a torrid first season but Robbie Williams scored the opener and Andy Procter then netted twice in a vital 3-2 win.

Fast forward two years and the same players did it again for Stanley on Tuesday night.

This game, while not as nerve jangling, certainly had a similar importance as there seemed to be an air of doom and gloom around the FES with Stanley on an eight game winless run and heading deeper into the relegation mire.

But the long-serving duo came up with the goods again to make sure the Reds stopped the rot and allowed everyone connected with the club to breath a huge sigh of relief.

Williams was certainly an unexpected goal hero. The last time he scored was that Macc game in a season where he got four goals.

But since then, the 29-year-old - Accrington’s longest serving player - has been hampered by knee injuries which have forced him to miss long spells.

In fact, the left back has only been back the last two games but he was still alert enough to pounce when Chris Turner’s shot was pushed out to him by keeper Jon Brain just before half- time to help to ease the pressure on his manager John Coleman.

"It is certainly unusual for Rocky to score," said Coleman. "It is odd that it is the same two goalscorers who scored against Macclesfield in our first Conference season.

"Perhaps it was fated and it was omen. The two games he has come back to, Rocky has done really well. We know he might hit a brick wall at some point as you do when you come back from injury but we have got to try and nurse him through."

And the joy was evident on Procter’s face as the midfielder - who has missed two penalties for Accrington this season - got the last minute goal to secure the points.

This was after having a ‘goal’ ruled out earlier in the game when he had headed it down on the goalline and Paul Mullin bundled the ball home - with the striker ruled off-side.

But, in the 89th minute, ex-Macc man John Miles slotted the ball in from the by-line, it stuck under the defender’s feet and Procter reacted first to almost walk the ball into the net.

Procter was a January target for Silkmen who are said to be still interested in the 26-year-old.

"I am delighted for Andy but, apart from scoring the goal, he was absolutely magnificent," said Coleman, as the Reds chalked up their first away win since October.

"He got his legs to everything, his head to everything and popped up to score - and he tells me Mullers should have left his earlier header as it would have gone in anyway and wouldn’t have been off-side.

"But he covered every blade of grass and I hope that goal has gone some way to laying the ghost of the penalty misses."

Another who could lay a few ghosts to rest was John Miles up against his ex-club.

His former team-mates struggled to cope with his twists and turns as he helped to turn Macc inside out.

But it would be wrong to pick a single person as it was a team show which led to only Stanley’s second win of 2009 and their first double of the campaign.

Keeper Kenny Arthur was certainly not quiet - one-handedly tipping away Emile Sinclair’s solo effort to prevent Macc scoring first and he also touched away a Simon Yeo long range blast to halt an equaliser.

But the Reds defence was otherwise strong and all played their part in keeping an important clean sheet.

At the other end, Craig Lindfield - who hassled and harried and had his best game in a Reds’ shirt - was denied from close range by Brain while a Peter Cavanagh free kick was touched away by the Macc keeper - despite the referee giving a goal kick.

There was plenty to sing about for the 150 plus Stanley fans who made for a superb atmosphere as they took advantage of Macclesfield’s Credit Crunch Tuesday and got full entertainment for just £5.

Miles flashed a shot narrowly over the bar after some tricky footwork while the off-side goal after the break was agony as some early breathing space would have been nice.

But the Reds never let their heads drop despite Macc forcing a spell of pressure and they threw their bodies in front of everything.

And this set up an exciting finale with, on 85 minutes, Paul Mullin sidefooting narrowly wide before Sinclair had a free header which was just over the bar as the home side looked for an equaliser.

Jimmy Ryan was then denied by Brain to make sure the Reds fans had no finger-nails left until Procter finally gave them the welcome relief with the late second.

He slid on his knees - he said Peter Kay style although his team-mates reckon he was trying to be Fernando Torres - and ran over to celebrate with the Reds’ fans and it showed how much it meant to everyone concerned with Stanley.

"I think the delight on the players faces when the second goal went in told its own story," said Coleman.

"We worked really hard for it and had to dig in but you could not have asked for more from any one of our players.

"They ran their hearts out and it shows what it means to them to try to preserve their League status.

"We have set ourselves a standard - our application was better, our positional sense better and our organisation and concentration were better.

"Added to that, when we did get the ball down and play we cut them open quite regularly so it was a complete performance."

Now they need a few more of these.