Jack Marriott’s hat-trick plunged 10-man Accrington deeper into relegation trouble after a 5-2 win for Fleetwood.
The Cod Army opened the scoring on nine minutes when Brendan Wiredu’s ball over the top found Marriott, who tucked the ball past Lukas Jensen with Stanley appealing for offside.
Jayden Stockley’s header on 31 minutes bounced on the top of the crossbar before Town made it two on 35 minutes.
Marriott beat his marker and charged forward to the edge of the area before firing low into the bottom of the net.
It went from bad to worse for Stanley when, in the fourth minute of first-half added time, Liam Coyle saw red for a high challenge on Carl Johnston.
Fleetwood made it three on 57 minutes when Marriott broke and, with only Jensen to beat, his shot hit the post but Stockley picked up the loose ball, squaring for Promise Omochere to tap home.
Stanley got one back on 65 minutes when Mitch Clark’s ball into the area was headed home by Michael Nottingham before a Clark throw in the 81st minute found Tommy Leigh who blasted home to make it 3-2.
However, on 90 minutes, Phoenix Patterson made space for himself and blasted into the roof of the net before Marriott scored a solo goal in the third minute of added time to celebrate his hat-trick.
