ACCRINGTON // Fulham booked their place in the fifth round after overcoming a spirited Accrington side, who dared to dream of an upset. Damien Duff's strike in the second half ended Accrington hopes of springing a shock - and Zoltan Gera's late goal added gloss to the scoreline - but John Coleman's side will point to the dismissal of Darran Kempson as the turning point in a tumultuous cup tie. Coleman said: " I am immensely proud of the boys, we ran them very close. I cannot complain about the ref as I'll get in trouble, but I can have no complaints with the attitude of the players. We played them off the park and if it had been 11 against 11, we wouldn't have lost."
Accrington play in the fourth tier of English football and they almost went out of business last year. They welcomed their Premier League opponents to a humble Crown Ground having pocketed a much-needed £100,000 (Dh592,000) following their exploits in the competition. Stanley had never previously reached the fourth round of the competition since reforming in 1968 while Fulham, last season's quarter-finalists, have Europa League football to look forward to.
But this is the FA Cup; reputations count for nothing and Stanley set about adding their name to the list of the competition's giant-killers early on. Mark Schwarzer tipped Michael Symes' shot around the post and then brilliantly denied Sean McConville from close range. Fulham made the hosts pay on 21 minutes when Erik Nevland prodded past Dean Bouzanis but within four minutes of the Norwegian's opener, Accrington were level. James Ryan's shot from the edge of the box was only parried by Schwarzer, who watched in horror as McConville found Symes to tap in.
The hosts were on top but two minutes before the break their dreams of causing an upset were dealt a blow. Kempson, already on a booking, fouled Danny Murphy and was shown a red card. It was tough on Accrington, but they coped admirably with 10 men until Duff squeezed a left-foot shot past Bouzanis on the hour before Gera's volley sealed the win. Fulham manager Roy Hodgson paid tribute to Accrington, saying: "Our inclination was that they would be a long ball type of team but they were not. They played good football."
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