Cheltenham Town 2 : 1 Accrington Stanley - Arthur leaves it late for Robins

Posted Sunday, August 17, 2014 by PA

Koby Arthur struck a late winner as Cheltenham made it back-to-back league wins at the start of the season for the first time in eight years as they saw off Accrington 2-1.

But the Robins were let off the hook deep in injury time when Kal Naismith blew a chance for a second goal of the afternoon when he lifted a penalty high over the crossbar.

The Robins dominated early on with captain Matt Taylor having a header cleared off the line by Rob Atkinson with the Stanley defender then doing well to block a Terry Gornell shot soon after.

Lee Vaughan forced an excellent save from Accrington goalkeeper Luke Simpson but it was from the resulting corner that the Robins took the lead in the 34th minute. Troy Brown headed against the foot of the post and Byron Robinson was on hand to tuck away the rebound.

Naismith levelled the scores in the 76th minute with a shot from the edge of the area before Arthur, an 18-year-old on loan from Birmingham, latched on to a long clearance from keeper Trevor Carson before firing home the winner with six minutes to go.

The visitors were awarded a last-gasp penalty following a foul on Piero Mingoia but Naismith skied his effort.