PAUL McGuire was disappointed with a controversial decision to award Ossett Town an injury-time penalty which denied his hard-working Radcliffe Borough side victory in Evo-Stik Division One North on Saturday.

The assistant manager was preparing to celebrate a well-deserved win over eighth-placed Town after Danny Lafferty had given Boro the lead on 14 minutes. But, for the second consecutive week, Boro conceded in the final minute of the game as Lafferty was adjudged to have handballed in the area, and Ossett captain Steve Jeff duly slotted the ball home to level at 1-1.

McGuire said: “It was sickening really. I think for the most part we dominated the game and we were the better team by a long way.

“I don’t think anybody in the ground thought it was a penalty. One of their guys put a cross in and it hit Lafferty on the arm. His arms were down by his side but the referee (Peter Gibbons) gave a penalty.

“So again, loads of effort and loads of hard work undone in the final moments of the game.”

McGuire again heaped praise on another strong team performance as Boro restricted Town to few goalscoring chances.

“It was a solid, all-round team performance,” he said. The team is working hard and defensively that’s showing.

“Danny White in centre midfield had a good game and Marcus Calvert, on his debut, played very well.”

The supporters were pleased to see Steve Howson back in the starting line-up following his return from Australia.

“Having Howson back is a big bonus for us. He started at centre-half, because Mark Ayres was suspended, and he was a strong presence. “He’s a voice, and he’s a leader and a commanding figure on the pitch.”

“We limited Ossett Town to three or four chances. We didn’t really give much away all game.

“But we did fear that they might get a scrappy goal or a goal out of nothing, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Saturday’s draw was enough to keep Boro out of the relegation zone on goal difference, but things could have been different if Boro had managed to hold on for a win and Wakefield had not scored a late equaliser themselves.

“We were disappointed to see Wakefield net a late goal to draw 2-2, especially as we had come so close to winning, but it’s another point gained and another week ticked off.”

McGuire is confident his side can now kick on and pick up the points needed to steer them away from the drop, starting, with Padiham who sit just five points above them.

He said: “With the games coming up we’ll be hoping to get some more points on the board and make ourselves safe.

“We’ve got Padiham away on Saturday and play Prescot Cables at home on Tuesday. “If we take six points we could even leapfrog Padiham. “It’s a big game and we’ll be looking to be firing on all cylinders for that,” he said.