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Radcliffe got their hands on the Northern Premier League trophy on Saturday after their final home game of the season ended in a 1-1 draw against Basford United.
By James Gordon

Jordan Hulme put the Boro ahead on the hour mark, and it would remain that way until the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time when Prince Mancinelli scored to earn Basford a point which confirmed their Northern Premier League status for another season. In doing so, they also consigned Stafford Rangers and Bradford Park Avenue to relegation from Step 3.
Stafford were beaten 1-0 at home to Ashton United while Avenue overturned a three-goal deficit to earn a credible point at home to Gainsborough Trinity - a second-half double from Jake Daniels not enough to take the fight for survival into the final weekend.
Further up the division, Macclesfield secured themselves a home play-off semi-final as goals in either half from Alex Curran and Dan Sweeney earned the Silkmen a 2-0 victory at home to Workington.
Meanwhile, Warrington Rylands' proud unbeaten away record in the league fell at the final hurdle, with Paul Green slotting home in the 91st minute as Worksop Town left it late to topple the Blues 2-1 at Sandy Lane.
It has now been confirmed that Rylands will face Marine in the play-off semi-finals, with a Fin Sinclair-Smith double helping the Mariners to a 4-0 home win against already-relegated Atherton Collieries.
Marine lead Rylands by one point heading into the final weekend, and with third place still up for grabs, there is no confirmation over who will host the play-off tie.
In the fight to secure the final top-five spot, Hyde United did all they could as a Matthew Fearnley brace saw the Tigers beat Matlock Town 2-1.
However, their fate now rests on results elsewhere as Ashton United kept pace with their 1-0 win at Stafford.
The Robins are locked on 67 points with Hyde but crucially have two games still to play - away at Matlock on Monday night before hosting Marine on the final day.
Worksop's victory over Warrington Rylands means they are just three points behind the pair with two games to play too.
Elsewhere, Guiseley ended a five-game losing run in the league by defeating FC United of Manchester 3-1 at Nethermoor. All goals in that game came during a frantic 10-minute spell at the end of the first half.
In the afternoon's other games, Ilkeston Town were forced to dig deep to overcome Morpeth Town 3-2 as the Highwaymen suffered their seventh straight loss on the road.
With the score level at 1-1 at half-time, Jonathan Wafula and Thomas Cursons gave the hosts some breathing space before Jack Foalle's 78th minute goal set up a grandstand final 10 minutes.
The only other game of the afternoon was an eventful one at the Sir Tom Finney Stadium, where Bamber Bridge came from two goals down to beat Whitby Town 3-2. Callum Leigh scored either side of half-time for the Brig before turning provider for Simon Grand to head home the winner 10 minutes from time.

Results - Saturday 20 April

Bamber Bridge 3-2 Whitby Town
Bradford Park Avenue 3-3 Gainsborough Trinity
Guiseley 3-1 FC United of Manchester
Hyde United 2-1 Matlock Town
Ilkeston Town 3-2 Morpeth Town
Macclesfield 2-0 Workington
Marine 4-0 Atherton Collieries
Radcliffe 1-1 Basford United
Stafford Rangers 0-1 Ashton United
Worksop Town 2-1 Warrington Rylands  

 

Last edited by Matchman (22/4/2024 11:20 AM)