RADCLIFFE BOROUGH 4 HARROGATE TOWN 3: FOUR quality strikes in a pulsating second half gave Radcliffe a much-needed victory over champions-elect Harrogate.
While Boro's chances of overhauling Harrogate at the top still look slim, this win ended a dismal run that had yielded just one victory in five outings and improved their hopes of clinching that second automatic promotion spot as they battle it out with Eastwood Town.
Boro had the bulk of the first half possession, but couldn't turn their dominance into goals. In the third minute Scott Wilson shot over the bar from close range and 16 minutes later the same player headed onto the roof of the net from Lee Kissock's right wing cross.
They paid the price on 26 minutes when the ball was allowed to run through to Harrogate's Craig Elliott following a throw-in from the left and he hooked the ball home.
It looked to be all over for Boro eight minutes into the second half when Colin Hunter shot Harrogate into a 2-0 lead following a breakaway.
Minutes earlier Boro goalkeeper Danny Hurst and centre back David Bean got away with a terrible mix-up that saw the ball run loose to a Harrogate player who stroked the ball into the empty net.
Referee Lawton, in his one act of kindness to the home side, spotted an infringement and awarded a free-kick to Boro.
A minute after Hunter's strike, Boro pulled a goal back when Lee Kissock fired in off the far post from out on the right.
Four minutes later Bean had the home fans cheering again when he rose to plant a great header past Harrogate 'keeper Ashley Connor from Mark Dempsey's left wing corner.
Three goals in five minutes then, but the action continued to come thick and fast as Robbie Whellans edged Harrogate ahead again with his 18th goal of the season in the 62nd minute after Hurst had parried Elliott's initial shot.
Just five more minutes elapsed before Tony Whealing pulled Boro level again, finishing a fine run down the left by drilling the ball into the far corner of the net.
Boro bos Kevin Glendon rang the changes then with Richard Landon coming on for Scott Wilson and, nine minutes later, Ian Lunt entering the fray in place of Jody Banim.
The changes didn't knock Boro out of theri stride and they capped a magnificent second half display with a super winning goal from Eamon Elliott, who did well to thread a fierce shot through a crowded penalty area five minutes from the end of normal time.
Boro kept up the pressure and Dempsey had another shot saved by Connor as Radcliffe ran out deserved winners after a wonderfully entertaining second half.
RADCLIFFE BOROUGH: Hurst 6, Keeling 7, Whealing 7, Kelly 7, Bean 7, Dempsey 7, E Elliott 7, S Wilson 7, Kissock 8, Banim 6, Price 7. Substitutes: Landon (for S Wilson, 67 mins) 6, Lunt (for Banim, 76 mins), G Wilson ( for Kissock, 89 mins). Attendance: 392.
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