RADCLIFFE Borough's rollercoaster ride through December continued on Boxing Day with a late, late show at home to derby rivals Ramsbottom United.

Defeats at home to bottom club Burscough and Tadcaster Albion had bookended a damaging fire that all-but destroyed one of their stands, as well as morale-boosting wins in the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy and at title-chasing Scarborough.

So when Jack Hindle scored a 95th-minute penalty to complete a second-half fightback for Boro, it was perhaps just part of the script.

The three points, earned after Elliott Rokka tapped in after the break to cancel out Ryan Salmon's first-half opener, pushed Bill Prendergast's men back above Rammy in the Evo-Stik First Division North table.

Just a point and one place separate the neighbouring sides following the first round of festive fixtures.

Radcliffe will bid to stretch that slender gap and improve on their position of 14th in the table when they travel to Mossley (17th) tonight and fourth-placed Trafford on Monday.

But Boro's recent run has taught Prendergast not to expect consistency, with his side failing to string together three straight victories all season.

"It's important now we build on this and make it two wins on the bounce," said the Boro boss.

"But overall I am very pleased because we ultimately stuck to our gameplan."

Boro have had no trouble scoring this season but clean sheets have been very hard to come by.

Their last shut-out in the league came in a 4-0 win at home to Hyde United on November 1.

Yet with a healthy away following urging Rammy on, in a season's best attendance of 384, Boro's young side did not panic.

And their manager was impressed with the way they played their way back into the game, focusing on his brand of "front-foot football" rather than switching to the more aggressive, long-ball game prevalent in the Evo-Stik.

"We didn't want to go a goal behind, obviously, but the response of the team was very pleasing," said Prendergast.

"We were the best team in the second half and that was clear with the amount of chances we created.

"We got some luck on our side for once and to get the three points is a great achievement."