Radcliffe slipped to a second successive league defeat as they went down 2-0 at NPL Premier League high-flyers South Shields.

Boro got off to the worse possible start when they found themselves behind after just six minutes.

Luca Navarro left a foot in on Connor Tee who wriggled his way through the right side of the box, allowing the referee to point to the spot despite a lack of appeals from the South Shields players.

Nathan Lowe took the responsibility, confidently converting down the centre of Jack McIntyre’s net.

South Shields, who have appointed former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips as manager, continued to push forward and Connor Tee saw a number of efforts denied by both the defenders and goalkeeper - the wall doing its job to block his attempt from a dangerous free kick on the edge of the box with 16 minutes on the clock.

Radcliffe should have had an equaliser soon after, Callum Gribbin couldn’t dispatch the Boro’s best chance in the first half thanks to a superb block on the line by Jack Bodenham.

Bobby Grant squared it across the box to the 23-year-old who looked certain to score, he opened his body up to knock a shot towards goal, the ball beat Scott Moloney but Bodeham stayed alert and got back to put his body in the way as it looked to nestle into the bottom corner, with South Shields eventually clearing their lines to cancel out the forward move.

Radcliffe were creators of their own wrong-doing 30 minutes into the game, fortunately, the ball didn’t end up in the back of the net from a mix up at the back. A South Shields corner was headed towards his own goal by Tayt Trusty, however a mix of fellow Blackpool-loanee Jack Moore and Grant managed to stop it from crossing the line with a brilliant piece of defending.

After the interval, the 1st Cloud Arena sounded with applause from both sets of fans for devoted Radcliffe fan, Mick Norman, to commemorate the one year anniversary of his passing - a nice touch from all parties which reminds us that some things are bigger than football.

As the clock ticked on, South Shields continued to press for that all-important second goal which would have decided the game’s outcome. One of the home side’s best players in the encounter, Cedric Main, beat his man and drove into the box, he then cut onto his right foot before fizzing an effort over the crossbar as his options screamed for a simple pass into the space in front of them.

South Shields were handed a gift with 15 minutes left to play, which JJ Hooper took with delight to double his side’s advantage. Sunderland-loanee Jack McIntyre slipped as he tried to take a goal kick, with the ball sliding straight into the feet of Hooper who made the most of the chance by coolly dispatching into the top right corner.

Defeat means Radcliffe are in 14th place but they will be looking to climb the table with a victory against Gainsborough Trinity at the Neuven Stadium on Saturday.