John Coleman admitted it was emotional returning to Accrington as his Gillingham side needed a stoppage-time goal to rescue a point in a 1-1 draw.
Coleman was manager of the Reds for more than 20 years in two spells, leading them from non-league into the EFL, but was dismissed in March 2024.
His Gills side are battling at the wrong end of the table with Stanley and it looked like they were heading for defeat at the Wham Stadium, where he received a warm welcome before the game.
Coleman said: “Myself and (assistant) Jimmy Bell were big part of Accrington for a long time and I would have been disappointed to lose here.
“I did get a bit emotional at the end, especially with the nice tributes the fans paid to us.
“To be honest I didn’t want to come, if I could have managed from my armchair I would, but I was pleased with the reception and pleased it is over.
“It’s nice to look back but I have a job to do at Gillingham, myself and Jimmy are very passionate about Gillingham.”
Gills keeper Glenn Morris produced a couple of top class saves before Benn Ward celebrated his first EFL goal, getting on the end of a Ben Woods free-kick in the third minute of added time in the first half, to give Stanley the lead.
Coleman’s side pressed after the break but their first shot on target did not come until the 94th minute, when Armani Little’s short free-kick found Max Clark and he blasted home.
Coleman said: “I didn’t like the game, there wasn’t a lot of quality, not much goalmouth action, and both teams can play better.
“We fell asleep for their free-kick and then I felt we took control in the second half but we didn’t trouble their keeper and that’s what has plagued us all season.
“It was a great move for the free-kick and the strike from Max was fantastic.
“We move forward, it’s another point on the board to get towards 46-47 points to see us safe.”
Stanley were looking for back-to-back wins and manager John Doolan said: “It’s two points dropped, it’s frustrating because I could see what’s going to happen. We have to defend better.
“The first 20 minutes I felt there was only one team going to win it. We had the better chances. We were clinical on Tuesday when we won 5-0 but we weren’t with our chances today.
“They only had one shot on goal and that’s gone into the back of the net. We should have seen it out but we have to lick our wounds and go again.
“Four points from six this week is a decent return but we should have got six.”
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