Fleetwood Town knocked out of EFL Trophy by Accrington Stanley on penalties

Danny Andrew makes it 2-1 to Fleetwood but there were to be more twists to this EFL Trophy tie

Town bowed out of a second cup competition in four days at Highbury as their League One rivals equalised in the last-minute, then scored all five spot-kicks.

Paddy Madden missed the opening penalty for the Cod Army, who suffered another home knockout blow after Portsmouth's FA Cup win on Saturday.

It means Town head into the final months of the campaign with just one target in mind, continuing their push for promotion.

Town boss Joey Barton made six changes to the side which started against Pompey. And as regularly happens in this competition, it was a very young side that started against John Coleman's Stanley.

Ashley Eastham was named skipper for the night, while experienced names on the bench included Lewie Coyle, Kyle Dempsey and Madden.

Exciting 18-year-old forward Jay Matete was the big news as he stepped up to make his first senior start following two substitute appearances earlier in the competition.

Town's new loan capture from Everton, Callum Connolly, was ineligible for selection as he featured for Lincoln City earlier in the competition.

The wind was really howling and swirling once the game got under way at Highbury, and it was the hosts who tested Stanley in only the third minute.

Jack Sowerby smartly teed up Josh Morris and he fired in a fizzing angled strike which keeper Josef Bursik pushed away well.

The blustery conditions were proving to be a real leveller, though, and both sides were finding it tough to make real inroads in the early exchanges.

With Stanley still looking for their first sight of goal, it was the Cod Army who went close again in the 25th minute but Morris just couldn't stretch enough to reach Harrison Biggins' low drag-back from the bye-line.

Stanley broke the deadlock with their maiden opportunity 10 minutes before the break.

Again the hosts were guilty of some poor defending, allowing Dion Charles to escape down the right before crossing for Joe Pritchard, who slammed home from four yards after a chance to clear the danger in the middle was missed.

Conor McAleny fluffed Town's best chance to even it up before the break, when he blazed wildly over from the edge of the box.

Town did strike back five minutes after the restart. After taking the ball from Sowerby's short corner, Morris curled in a cross which evaded everyone, including keeper Bursik, and the ball flew into the far corner of the net.

The tide was seemingly turning, and with Coyle and Dempsey thrown on just past the hour mark, Barton was clearly eyeing a place in the last eight of the competition.

That looked an increasingly likely prospect in the 68th minute, when Danny Andrew curled home a sweetly-struck 20-yard free-kick to hand Town the lead.

The hosts were buoyant as the final 10 minutes approached, though there was a fright when Pritchard lashed into the side-netting, with some visiting fans thinking the shot had gone in.

Those fans were rejoicing, however, when Ross Sykes drove home a 90th-minute equaliser from 12 yards, just seconds after Madden fluffed a gilt-edged chance at the other end.

This paved the way for the dramatic penalty finale as Stanley ultimately defeated Town for the second time in this competition, having beaten them at Wham Stadium on their way to clinching top spot in their group.

Fleetwood: Cairns 7, Southam-Hales 6 (Coyle, 63, 6), Eastham 7, Souttar 6, Morris 8 (Madden, 76, 6), Biggins 7, Sowerby 8, Saunders 6, Andrew 7, Matete 5 (Dempsey, 63, 7), McAleny 6. Subs not used: Gilks, Hill, Garner, Rydel.

Referee: Robert Lewis