RAMSBOTTOM United and Padiham served up an action-packed derby full of goals, plenty of incidents and controversy.

The Rams appeared to be cruising to victory after opening up a 4-1 lead but were forced to hang on as Padiham mounted a late fightback.

And that fightback would have been complete had Callum Little’s stoppage time header hit the back of the net rather than the crossbar.

Ed O’Neill was the hero of the hour for the Rams but villain of the piece for Padiham who believed he committed a foul in the build-up to the crucial second goal.

It was O’Neill who opened the scoring in a lively encounter when he blasted home from the edge of the area on 25 minutes.

Storks keeper Sean Davis denied the hosts a second, saving with his feet to deny Joel Pilkington. But two minutes later, Padiham were back on level terms when an unmarked Nehru McKenzie rose to head home a corner from close range.

With halftime approaching, O’Neill appeared to foul Stuart Telfer in the build-up to the second goal but it went unpunished and he slotted the ball past the advancing Davis.

Lee Connell thought he had increased the lead in the 48th minute when his free-kick hit the inside of the post before being cleared.

But he made his next chance count, rising the head home across from O’Neill.

Padiham had a big shout for a penalty turned down when Keiron Fletcher fouled Chris Ridehalgh in the area and to add insult to injury, the Rams extended their lead through joint player/manager Bernard Morley.

But Padiham weren’t finished and McKenzie scored his second with 15 minutes remaining before Damion Morrison clawed it back to 4-3 in the last minute.

And they were inches away from nicking a point when Little hit the bar.