DELIGHTED Radcliffe Borough boss Danny Johnson praised a "magnificent" team performance after the Stainton Park outfit claimed their first win of the year, and his first as the club's manager, against Burscough on Saturday.

Boro, who came from a goal down, beat the mid-table side 2-1 with second half efforts from man-of-the-match Sam McMahon and Matthew Davies.

The victory lifts Boro up a place to 19th in Evo-Stik Division One North, 12 points above the relegation places.

"It was the best performance since I took charge. They were absolutely magnificent to a man," Johnson told the Radcliffe Times.

"Although we went down 1-0 before the break it was the first half performance that won us the game because we held strong and defended well in the face of strong winds.

"In the second half we got hold of the game and got crosses in the box. We were direct and positive and caused them lots of problems."

Johnson was particularly impressed with the tireless performance of goalscorer McMahon.

"Sam's overall performance was brilliant.

"His work rate, his ethic and desire. He's got all the attributes to be a really good centre forward and that's what he's going to be."

With New Mills losing again, Johnson has now set his sights on rising further up the league with 17th and 18th-placed Ossett Town and Ossett Albion the main targets.

"I can see us going from strength-to-strength now," he said.

"Although New Mills have four games in hand they are 12 points behind us so they've got to win all four and they've only won three games all season.

"We've still got some tough games to come against teams in the top half of the table so we are under no illusions but if we stay together and keep on improving then we'll be okay.

"It would be nice to climb to mid-table and the target for me when I took over was to overtake the two Ossett teams.

"We still have to play Town so that will be a six-pointer but if we can maintain the attitude and commitment and collect a few more points from the next seven games then a respective mid-table position may not be too far away."

Boro will be without suspended central defender Richard Smith for the trip to high-flying Scarborough on Saturday as they look to claim their first away win of the season.

"Ric will miss the next two games because he's picked up 10 bookings and that's a big blow because he was excellent in midfield against Burscough," said Johnson.

"It's disappointing because he gave us that extra bit of strength in the centre.

"But I'm sure the lads on the pitch will do everything they can to cause Scarborough plenty of problems.

"If we can get another win as quickly as possible that will give us an opportunity to relax and start preparing for next season."