Fleetwood Town vs Accrington Stanley. Sky Bet League One.
Highbury StadiumAttendance2,802.
Saturday 24 August 2019 18:35, UK
Ched Evans celebrated his return to Fleetwood colours by scoring from the penalty spot to seal a 2-0 win over 10-man Accrington Stanley.
Evans was making his first appearance since rejoining Town on a permanent basis from Sheffield United earlier this month.
The 30-year-old enjoyed an 18-goal loan spell at Highbury from the Blades last term but he has had to wait for a chance to feature this season.
The striker has been building up his fitness but came off the bench on Saturday to seal the points against Stanley.
It was another Fleetwood striker who stole the show in the first half, though, with Paddy Madden the hero at both ends in the opening 45 minutes.
He was on defensive duties as he just hooked Mark Hughes' header off the line, and later on he would give Fleetwood a 28th-minute lead.
Danny Andrew's cross to the left eventually fell to the feet of Wes Burns on the right. He fed Lewie Coyle on the overlap and the Leeds loanee fizzed the ball into the box with Madden needing just one touch to beat Dimitar Evtimov.
Town goalkeeper Matt Gilks was on hand to tip over a Colby Bishop header after Harry Souttar somehow managed to get a toe to the ball and stop Sam Finley sprinting through on goal.
But Town would get that all-important second goal after the introduction of Evans.
The Wales international forward slid the ball towards Josh Morris on the penalty spot and he tumbled under pressure from both Zaine Francis-Angol and Seamus Conneely.
Referee Peter Wright pointed to the spot and Evans stepped up to smash the ball home in the 71st minute.
To make matters worse for Accrington, within four minutes they were down to 10 men. Sean McConville appeared to hit Evans' face and he was shown a straight red card.
That did not dampen Accrington's spirits, however, as they tried to find a way past Gilks in the closing stages, but it was without success.
