RADCLIFFE Borough's dreams of cup glory were hit by a late sucker punch at the Macron.

The Taurus Park outfit lost 2-1 against Hallmark Security League side Ashton Athletic in the final of the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy on Tuesday night.

Jack Hindle had put them in front early in the second half of the club's first major cup final in nearly a decade.

Joe Gibbons' men, who play a tier above Ashton in Evo-Stik First Division North, went into the match as favourites, but they were punished after failing to take their chances in front of goal.

Daniel Smith responded for Ashton with a well-worked goal before Lee Vaughan broke Boro hearts with a stoppage-time winner.

Boro had the better chances of an even first half.

Wingers Daniel Burns and Elliott Rokka continually stretched the Ashton defence. It was Burns who had the first sight of goal, just failing to connect with a well-placed Lassana Nalatche cross.

It remained goalless at the break, but Boro looked to have finally seized control of the game when Hindle prodded home on 57 minutes, following up after Timmy Raheem's shot was saved by Martin Pearson.

Boro pushed for a second goal but had no luck in the final third and Ashton punished them with an equaliser in the 69th minute, Smith finishing off a well-worked move that carved open the defence.

The goal rocked Gibbons' men and gave Ashton the confidence to push on for a winner.

With four minutes of time added on, Vaughan pounced on a defensive mistake to complete the comeback.

The devastating result capped off a bad week for the club after they fell to a 4-0 defeat at home to Ossett Town last Saturday.

Danny Frost scored either side of half time for the visitors, with Nathan Curtis adding a third and Alex Peterson rounding off the scoring in the 54th minute with a header.

Boro, who need four points from their final five games to secure league safety, are at leaders Farsley Celtic on Saturday.