Craig Madden's men progress to the second round for the first time in the Club's history
Fleetwood Town advanced into the second round of the FA Youth Cup on Wednesday night after knocking out Lancashire rivals Accrington Stanley at Highbury.A stunning effort from Liam Wood after 59 minutes settled proceedings in a game that the Cod Army deserved to win.
Craig Madden named an unchanged side to the one that beat Morecambe at the weekend.
In what was a bright start, it would be the hosts who would have first real chance with Jonny Conway being played in on goal by Shane Glean, only to see his left-footed shot well saved by keeper Chris Evans on 13 minutes.
Accrington keeper Evans was called into action again five minutes later, this time keeping out Louis Myers’ angled drive.
Fleetwood continued to press with Jordan Hancox and Myers both missing chances for the Fylde Coast side.
Stanley looked to come into the game more, and were unfortunate not to take the lead after 26 minutes, as Nathan Webb struck the post.
The visitors went close again three minutes later, with Liam Bleeker forced to make a smart save from Kealan Steenson's dipping free-kick.
As the half wore on, Town midfielder Wood saw another chance for the Cod Army go begging, as his long range effort was palmed away by Evans.
As the second half commenced, Myers saw his effort valiantly blocked as Town started well.
At the other end, Stanley themselves were thwarted by Fleetwood's resilient defence, with Webb and Hickey both seeing shots go wide.
Fleetwood then looked to take the game into their own hands, with Conor Smith whipping in a free-kick which was almost met by the heads of both Conway and Vile.
But shortly after that, Town found their lead thanks to a sublime individual finish from Wood just shy of the hour mark.
Wood collected the ball from a Hancox pass before delightfully curling the ball into the top right- hand corner beyond the dive of Evans.
Tyler Scath almost responded immediately for the visitors, however he rattled his effort onto the near post.
Hancox could have made it two when the winger raced in to meet Conway's headed knock-down, but skewed his effort just past the post.
Accrington rallied in the final stages, with the East Lancashire side seeing shots from Webb and Hartley once again blocked away superbly.
Despite the late pressure, Fleetwood managed to hang on and overcome their Stanley counterparts.
The draw for the next round will be made this coming Friday.
Fleetwood: Bleeker, Williams, Vile, Andrew Smith, Conor Smith, Muscat (c) Glean, Wood, Conway, Myers, Hancox.
Accrington: Evans, Wolfenden, Gunner, Smith, Roberts, Quansah, Hickey (c) Steenson, Dass, Webb, Hartley.