FARSLEY CELTIC 1 - RADCLIFFE BOROUGH 3

AFTER recent cup exploits a trip to Farsley Celtic was probably the last fixture Borough would have chosen but they dug in deep and produced a comfortable victory.

Mark Dempsey and Ian Lunt were given a rest, replaced by Eamonn Kelly and Dave Collins, and new recruit Craig Taylor found a place on the bench.

Borough got off to a cracking start and within a minute Scott Wilson produced a superb full length save from Celtic keeper Liam Sutcliffe.

Wilson continued to dictate terms running the midfield, with Dave Collins and Neil Hardy providing plenty of forward movement.

Hardy and Simon Carden both tested Sutcliffe with long range efforts as Borough quickly settled into their normal passing game. By contrast Farsley rarely produced any constructive football and Danny Hurst was rarely troubled.

After Richard Battersby had a 25 yard free kick saved, Borough eventually took the lead in the 26th minute.

Neil Hardy's persistence won a right wing corner and Tony Wealing's inswinging flag kick was headed home by Simon Kelly.

The second almost came seven minutes later but after Simon Carden had broken down the right, Hardy failed to capitalize on the chance.

Borough were causing Farsley's square-looking defence endless problems but were almost caught out at the back when a Blackstone shot was blocked with the Borough defence in confusion.

The second half started with Borough continuing to boss matters and they increased their lead on 51 minutes.

A neat build up saw Dave Collins play Hardy through and Borough's leading scorer cheekily chipped the ball over the advancing Sutcliffe.

Celtic hauled themselves back into the game four minutes later with the help of a penalty.

Wellans was brought down and scored with the spot kick, giving Hurst no chance.

As Farsley sought the equaliser it was Borough who grabbed the clinching third goal on 60 minutes.

Hardy found himself in the clear, rounded Sutcliffe but his goal bound shot was stopped on the line and cleared for a corner. Farsley's relief was short-lived however as they failed to clear the kick and David Bean rammed the ball home from close range.

Farsley were finding Borough's surging runs from midfield difficult to handle but they gradually began to exert some pressure on the Borough defence.

Hurst had a couple of goalward crosses to deal with but the home side's attempts on goal were generally off-target.

In the closing stages Borough brought Dempsey and Taylor off the bench as they sought to deny Farsley a way back into the match.

Borough's defence managed to deal with the pressure and the Yorkshiremen became increasingly frustrated.

The much-needed three points were fair reward for a very competent Radcliffe display.