Robert Grant’s 14th goal of the season saw Accrington Stanley make it six wins from their last seven fixtures on Saturday.
The youngster, who is a graduate of the AASE programme, hit Stanley’s winner against Shrewsbury Town when he latched on to a Michael Symes pass that was poorly dealt with by Shane Cansdell-Sherriff in the home defence and fired in to the top right hand corner from close range.
In icy conditions underfoot, Stanley forced home keeper David Button into several fine saves and always looked comfortable despite the dismissal of Andrew Proctor late in the game.
Accrington’s 1-0 victory moves them to within three points of the play-off spots, with games in hand on most of their promotion rivals.