DAVID Brown should have been celebrating his fourth goal of the season. Instead he was bemoaning his first sending off.

It was with a heavy heart that the striker greeted his former Hereford colleagues, just over an hour after he had set up current club Accrington Stanley's first back-to-back wins since September, and the first time the Reds had kept back-to-back clean sheets in League Two, with Peter Cavanagh wrapping things up in the second half with his second in as many games.

It was more sweet-bitter than bitter-sweet for Brown.

"It was nice to score a goal. I'm happy that we've won the game. I'm just gutted with the sending off and that it's ended in that way," the 27-year-old said.

"It's nice to play against your old teams and I've got a bit of a knack of scoring against them as well, but it's a first to get sent off against one of them.

"It's never been a sending off."

Brown was correct in his analysis, for so many reasons.

Firstly, he was not the last line of defence when he clipped Danny Thomas' heels as he broke quickly on the counter attack.

Secondly, the incident took place inside the Hereford half so could surely not be deemed to have denied a goalscoring opportunity.

Referee Graham Laws had reported it as serious foul play, which will incur an immediate three-match ban.

But that description was also hotly disputed. Brown's studs were not showing, it wasn't a two-footed lunge, it wasn't a high, reckless tackle.

The list is endless. At worst, it was a cynical trip in an attempt to preserve a deserved clean sheet.

"I've fouled the lad, yes. I've brought him down. But I've not gone with any intent to smash him," said an honest Brown.

"There were so many reasons why it wasn't a sending off. To say that it was serious foul play I think is very harsh. Hopefully we will be able to appeal and get it overturned."

Manager John Coleman certainly intends to take swift action, not least because midfielder Jay Harris and defender Phil Edwards serve the last of a two-match ban next week and will also miss the trip to league leaders Walsall.

But Stanley fans will be desperate for Mr Laws to admit he got it wrong and rescind the red card because of the profound impact Brown had on the game - helping to make his former club look ordinary whether operating up front, where he started alongside Paul Mullin, or in midfield, after he switched places with Rommy Boco around 15 minutes in.

The game was slow to get going but among the opening exchanges Rob Purdie made an angled run from the left flank but dragged a long-range right foot shot wide as Andy Procter went to close him down.

But when Shaun Whalley was handed the opportunity to test the Hereford defence from set pieces, Stanley looked more and more likely to break the Bulls down.

When Dean Beckwith put Andy Todd's cross behind for a corner, Whalley's delivery from the flag found Godwin Antwi unmarked and the Liverpool loanee almost scored his first goal in only his second Stanley game, but his header was flicked off the line by Luke Webb.

Whalley played the subsequent corner short to Boco, who tricked his way into the box and appeared to force Webb into a handball when he pumped the ball into the six-yard box, but appeals fell on deaf ears.

Hereford had a half-hearted attack that broke down when Procter blocked the ball inside the penalty area, Stanley broke through Brown, who fed Cavanagh as he burst down the right.

But the captain's final ball to meet Boco sprinting into the 18-yard box had too much pace on it and dropped for the goalkeeper to collect.

Hereford built up another attack, but when Robbie Williams intercepted a cross for Andy Williams, he found Whalley in acres of space to his left and waiting to receive the ball.

The pacy winger trotted towards wing back Simon Travis before cutting inside and finding Brown waiting in the wings.

The ex-Hereford striker has a habit of scoring against his former employers, and he maintained the trend in the 27th minute as his right-foot rocket had Wayne Brown well beaten.

The half became more frenetic as Hereford searched for an equaliser before the break, but they were almost caught out again on the counter attack.

Captain Cavanagh got his body in the way to block counterpart Ben Smith's volley from the edge of the box before Guinan rattled the crossbar, only to see the flag raised for offside.

Moments later Whalley had a golden opportunity as he beat Tamika Mkandawire for pace, but with the defender snapping at his heels, the winger side-footed the ball against Wayne Brown's left leg, the ball spun out for Mullin on the edge of the box, but his attempt to loop a header back over the goalkeeper failed and the ball dropped into Brown's arms.

The tempo the two sides had created towards the end of the half spilled over after the break, as Hereford were eager to get back into the game and Stanley's determination to preserve their lead grew with every minute.

Whalley was largely responsible for keeping the Reds on the front foot.

For when his final ball lacked the direction to beat the first man, he remained resilient in his efforts to keep possession in and around the area and benefited from the breaks.

For the second time in as many games the former Witton Albion man won a free kick on the edge of the box after being wrestled to the ground in a relentless pursuit for goal.

And for the second consecutive game ,captain Cavanagh found the bottom right hand corner.

While the emphasis remained on keeping Hereford at arm's length, Stanley weren't in the mood to shut up shop, even when the Bulls increased their attacking options with the introduction of front man Stuart Fleetwood, who recently spent an unproductive loan spell at Stanley, and Alan Connell, who scored a freak winner at Edgar Street earlier in the season.

Boco missed the target with a couple of half-chances before making a crucial defensive contribution to deny Connell then Guinan on the line following an inswinging corner.

But the fact that central defender Robbie Williams got far enough forward to have a long-range drive tipped around the post is enough to suggest that, while Stanley are still nine points short of the 50 points target manager Coleman has set them, they're not short on confidence.

And although Brown's late sending off, and wins for Wrexham on Saturday and Macclesfield on Friday, tempered the celebrations, they will hope that confidence is something that won't be taken away from them in their remaining seven games.