Witton Albion 3 Radcliffe Borough 0 DYED in the hair Boro fan, Wiggy, reached over the barrier and handed two bottles of champers to skipper Mark Dempsey as the final whistle blew at Wincham Park.

The whole Boro team followed him over to shake hands with the small band of travelling fans who had made the holiday journey to see what proved to be one game too many for the visitors.

In truth the post-match get-together was the most memorable event on a day which saw Witton keep their promotion hopes alive with a win against a Boro side which visibly wilted in the late afternoon sunshine.

The refreshing bubbly must have gone down well in the heat. And the players richly deserved it in spite of the result. The toast marked the end of a long hard season in which they have played some super stuff. Although promotion was lost, the standard of football has been a delight to behold. For Boro the result of the Witton game was more or less irrelevant. And a good thing too because the Stainton men were one down after only 57 seconds, Danny Graystone beating Steve Berryman well, high to his left after the ball had broken to him on the edge of the box.

Radcliffe responded with a free kick just wide but in the main Witton were on top early on. Berryman blocked another shot after a mix-up involving James Price and Tony Whealing.

Radcliffe came out in the second quarter though and Ronnie Sinclair produced a truly brilliant diving save to deny a rocket shot from Simon Carden on the edge of the box.

Further efforts followed from Ian Lunt and David Bean before the break.

Witton piled on the pressure after the restart though, producing three good goal attempts before Nigel Gleghorn doubled his side's lead in the 53rd minute with a low shot into Berryman's left hand corner.

No less than seven more chances followed for the Cheshire side as Boro went absent without leave, collectively.

It was very disappointing, particularly for young fans Chris Turner (8) and Nathan Hardman (10), who did their best, tying Radcliffe scarves to the barriers and donning blue and white chequered Boro top hats.

Whealing's crossing was of a high quality in this game but the front men were unable to cash in. Tony Cullen was dismissed for a second bookable offence in the 74th minute but the way the game was going it didn't really matter.

Paul Mullin went down in the box in the 85th minute but the appeal came more from the fans than the players. But Lee Anderson looked to be holding Mullin back in the area moments later. Unfortunately the flag was up for offside.

Brian Pritchard headed a right-wing corner past little Steve Morris on the back post in the 89th minute and by his time the Boro fans must have been praying for the referee to close out what had become a quite miserable spectacle for them.

Another Witton header went wide of the back post and Boro sub Richard Battersby belted over and wide in injury time before the man in black called things to a halt and stopped the pain at last.

A black day, then, but still a bright season overall. The football world never stops turning and Boro still have promotion in their sights. It's just going to take at least another year, that's all.

BORO: BERRYMAN 9, Cullen 6, Whealing 8, Parker 8 (sub 72 Battersby), Price 7, Dempsey 7, Lunt 7 (sub 67 Morris), Carden 7, Mullin 7, Bean 7, Kelly 7 (sub Edwards 52).