A delighted Paul McGuire praised his Radcliffe Borough side after a 4-0 victory over fellow strugglers New Mills lifted the Stainton Park outfit out of the relegation zone.

With the benefit of extra training sessions and key players returning from injury, the Evo-Stik Division One North side recorded their first win since December.

Assistant manager, McGuire said: “It was a fantastic result and an outstanding performance just when we needed it.

“This result will give the players a huge confidence boost.”

McGuire and coach Kevin Glendon had set about putting the players through their paces ahead of Saturday’s match, and McGuire was thrilled to see the extra training, running and bleep tests had paid off.

He said: “With the previous two games (against Prescot Cables and Ossett Albion) being postponed, we’ve done a lot of fitness in the last two weeks “The lads didn’t really enjoy doing it much if I’m honest, but I think now they will definitely see a benefit.

“We absolutely overpowered New Mills for fitness, effort and workrate, which was really pleasing to see.”

The way Boro took the game to the visitors really stunned the club’s management team.

McGuire said: “It was perfect. “I remember saying to Kevin on the touchline ‘to be honest Kev if we get three up here I think the game is over’, and that was literally just before Carden’s shot flew into the corner.”

The assistant boss reserved particular praise for Burey. He said: “We put Bevan down the middle instead of right midfield. We thought we’d free him up for a centre forward role and it worked.

“Bevan is young, athletic and he’s got pace. He absolutely frightened their defence all game.

“He chased everything and was a menace for the defence. He had a few chances and I was glad he got on the scoresheet.”

With the strikers on fire, McGuire was equally pleased that his defence also held strong to record their first clean sheet since a 1-0 victory at Ossett Town in November.

McGuire said: “You could not fault any of the 11 players, but the defence were particularly solid. They limited New Mills to just one or two chances all game.”

Boro travel to Cammell Laird on Saturday looking to reverse the 6-0 hammering they received at home in December, with McGuire confident his side can now steadily climb their way to mid-table safety.

“I was looking at the table after the New Mills game and we’re third bottom now. The two teams beneath us aren’t exactly cut adrift, but we did put a bit of a gap between us, and obviously we are closer to the teams above us.

“I think we’ll put several wins together over the next couple of months and end up in a strong safe mid-table position.”