Accrington manager Paul Cook hailed goalkeeper Ian Dunbavin as "terrific" after he helped see off Southend United 1-0 at Roots Hall.
Dunbavin pulled off a string of fine saves as Stanley grabbed their first away win since January thanks to Karl Sheppard's 61st minute header.
"We defended well and the keeper was just terrific," said the Stanley boss. "He made some good saves and I'm delighted to have won and get this monkey off our backs.
"It was an up and down game for us and I thought we started well.
"But after that we went in to our shells and a few of the lads making their debuts looked quite nervous.
"We had a nice pop at them at half-time though because we wanted them to play like we know we can and we were able to get the win."
