RADCLIFFE Borough came full circle after a tumultuous week at Taurus Park.

Goalkeeper Tadhg Ryan was the hero on Tuesday night as he saved three spot-kicks in a cup shootout against West Didsbury and Chorlton.

Boro won 3-1 on penalties to go through to the semi-finals of the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy.

But the joyous scenes in front of 300 fans were a far cry from the weekend, which Radcliffe kicked off by losing at home to the Evo-Stik League First Division North division’s basement club, Burscough.

Worse was to follow on Sunday when the main stand was gutted by fire, but the community rallied round, much to the delight of manager Bill Prendergast.

“In a perverse way, this week has done the club a power of good,” said the Boro boss. “It has been really heartening to see the way everyone has come together.

“We obviously had a much bigger crowd on Tuesday as a result, and the response shown by the wider football community has been fantastic. Even down to West Didsbury donating their match takings from the cup game, I thought that was a really classy act.”

Prendergast was also buoyed by the way his players reacted, especially after being moved to publish a public apology in Tuesday night’s programme following Saturday’s defeat.

“As manager I take full responsibility for the display, but the players have to know the minimum I expect is they try their hardest, and I didn’t see that against Burscough,” he said.

“But they responded well and I have to say, the penalty saves at the end were the best you will see at this level.”