Accrington climb out of bottom four with valuable win over Shrewsbury

Accrington boosted their hopes of escaping relegation with a 1-0 victory over in-form Shrewsbury.

It was Stanley’s first triumph in six league games against a promotion-chasing Shrewsbury side whose six wins in their previous seven had propelled them up to eighth place.

Stanley’s winner came after 13 minutes when Rosaire Longelo’s right-wing cross was swept home by Brentford loan striker Aaron Pressley, his second Stanley league goal.

The Reds came close to a second after 32 minutes when, from another Longelo cross, former Shrew Shaun Whalley headed against the post.

The closest the Shrews came in the first half was after 40 minutes when Ryan Bowman was clean through but goalkeeper Lukas Jensen denied him – their first shot of the game.

Shrews boss Steve Cotterill made a double substitution at half-time and, within two minutes, one of the substitute’s Rekeil Pyke hit the top of the crossbar with a strike.

The Shrews pressed for an equaliser in the second half but suffered their first league defeat since January 1 while Stanley moved out of the bottom four.