Stanley stick knife into Bulls

Terry Gornell took his season tally to 12 goals as Accrington hammered Hereford 4-0 at home in League Two on Wednesday.

Stanley's win saw them close the gap on the play-off places to three points. In a one-sided clash, the Reds took the lead after 16 minutes when Sean McConville found Ian Craney and his shot was flicked into the net by Gornell. The Bulls' only attack of the half came from James McQuilkin after 38 minutes but his deflected strike bounced off the crossbar and to safety. Stanley deservedly doubled their tally two minutes before the break when a McConville corner was dummied by Phil Edwards and came out to Jimmy Ryan on the edge of the area and he rifled home his first goal in three months. And on the stroke of half-time it was three courtesy of a spectacular goal from McConville. Ryan found the midfielder in the area and he controlled the ball in the air before hooking it into the top corner of the net. Stanley continued in the same vein after the break and Gornell added his second on 56 minutes when he caught goalkeeper Bartlett loitering on the ball, nipping in to almost walk it into the empty net. The Bulls kept battling but rarely threatened Reds 'keeper Alex Cisak, leaving Stanley to extend their impressive home form to sixth successive victories while they have now lost just once in 11 matches and even have a game in hand on their play-off rivals.