UniBond League Division One

Leek Town 0 Radcliffe Boro 3

THE Quality Street gang went on tour to the Staffordshire sticks and came back with three points that should send a shudder through the rest of the division.

It wasn't so much the result that should give cause for concern amongst Radcliffe's rivals, but the sheer brilliance of the overall performance, particularly in the second half.

Boro simply ran the show, with influential skipper Mark Dempsey at the helm, steering them towards goal with some marvellous passes.

With Dempsey and his troops pushing forward all the time, the goals were bound to come, and they did, through star of the show Eamon Elliott and Jody Banim, who bagged two on the night.

It could have been more, but 0-3 was emphatic enough and augurs well for the future.

With Rossendale United losing on Saturday at home to Harrogate, the win put Radcliffe just a point behind the Dark Lane side at the top of the table, adding extra spice to this Saturday's fixture list when Boro travel to North Ferriby with the incentive to go top while Rossendale are in FA Cup action at Thackley. Boro started confidently at Harrison Park, pushing Leek back on the defensive from the start and testing them out in the sixth minute with a long range shot from Elliott that zipped past the far post from out on the right.

Tony Whealing was next to go close with a free-kick that went just over the bar in the 13th minute and a minute later Banim hit his first to put Boro ahead.

His shot from around 20 yards out arrowed towards the top corner, Kevin Welsby in the Leek goal got a hand to it, but couldn't prevent the ball ending up in the back of the net.

While Boro kept up the pressure, Leek began to creep into it towards half-time, but didn't do enough to alter the scoreline before the break.

The pattern was the same in the early stages of the second half and Danny Hobby was just wide of the target with a 58th minute shot following a free-kick.

Play switched to the other end three minutes later as Richard Battersby went on a great run down the right before cutting inside and shooting just past the far post.

David Bean got up well to send a header just past the right-hand post after connecting with a free-kick from the left and then saw his 65th minute long shot saved by Welsby. Danny Hurst was taking no chances with a 67th minute shot from Dave Macpherson, getting his hands to it, even though it looked like it might well have gone wide of the mark.

Boro stepped on the gas after that, prompted by a 30-yard shot from Elliott that took a wicked deflection in the box before flying past Welsby and into the net.

Wayne Johnson was a busy lad in the 75th minute, clearing a Banim shot from in front of goal and heading onto the roof of the Boro net at the other end from Martin Ridley's free-kick, all in the space of a few seconds.

The goal action continued in the 84th minute when Boro wrapped it up with the goal of the night. Whealing's throw-in from the left touchline found it's way to Richard Landon close to the goal line on the right of the box and his neat little lofted pass was whacked in unceremoniously by Banim from close range.

All in all, a very satisfying performance, so much so that it prompted injured striker Lee Kissock to rise to his feet in the stand on more than one occasion to inform his team-mates of the high regard he had for their performance on the night.

To use his words: "A quality performance, boys -- a quality performance."

RADCLIFFE BOROUGH: Hurst 7; Battersby 8, G Wilson 7, Bean 8, S Kelly 7, Whealing 7; E Elliott 9, Dempsey 9, S Wilson 8; Landon 7, Banim 8. Substitutes: Walker, Collins, Lunt. Attendance: 181.