Radcliffe notched a third successive league win at Basford United, thanks to Booby Grant’s 10th goal of the campaign and an own goal in a 2-1 triumph.

Boro suffered an early scare seven minutes into the game as Basford had the ball in the back of the net through Aaron O’Connor, however the referee’s assistant deemed Alex Howes offside in the build-up to let the defenders off the hook.

And they profited inside 18 minutes, when in-form Grant picked up his third goal in as many games by curling in a beautiful opener.

The 31-year-old picked up a loose ball down the right and beat his man to gain some space inside the box, before setting his sights and curling a stunning strike into the top corner, out of the reach of Adam Collin in the Basford goal.

Radcliffe should have had a second but for some outstanding defending from Brad Gascoigne.

Grant chested the ball down before laying it to Adam Dawson inside the box, he put the ball onto his left foot by using his fast feet to beat his man, and his low shot looked to be heading for the bottom corner, however Gascoigne got back out of nowhere to spare the home side’s blushes by clearing off the line.

With seconds to go until half time, however, Radcliffe did manage to find an elusive two-goal lead in an unorthodox manner.

Jack Baxter volleyed the ball towards Collin’s net after Basford failed to clear their lines far enough to stop the Radcliffe attack, and the ball took a deflection off hero-turned-villain Gascoigne, to divert into the bottom corner.

Basford managed to find a goal 10 minutes into the second half, Aaron O’Connor meeting Kane Richards’ ball at the back post to send a low shot into the bottom corner with his left foot, out of the reach of Cam Belford who tried his best to get down and keep it out.

That goal brought some energy back into the Basford players, as Radcliffe found themselves on the back foot for large spells of the second half.

However, the Radcliffe defence continued to stand their ground throughout with Jo Cummings and Tom Miller winning almost every duel at the back to keep out the Basford attackers.

Another chance went astray for the home side after it was cleared at the perfect time by Miller. Marcus Marshall found space down the left to send a low cross into the box, and the drilled effort looked set on a plate for the winger to tap home at the back post, however Miller stayed aware and cleared the ball before it could reach the oncoming attacker waiting to pounce.

Steve Chettle’s side could not find the answer in the second half despite their dominance as Radcliffe held on to record a third successive league win for the first time since November 2019, sending them up to 16th in the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League.