Radcliffe left it late before they could breathe easily but battled valiantly to a 3-1 win against Scarborough Athletic.

A fifth-minute goal from Liam Ellis gave Boro the perfect start before Athletic equalised close to half time through James Walshaw.

But two goals in the second half, from Kingsley Williams and Ben Wharton, ensured the hosts collected the points.

Williams capitalised on a defensive mix-up to restore his side’s lead and Wharton sealed the win with a late penalty.

The result means Radcliffe moved into 12th position in the Northern Premier table on 20 points, just a couple of points outside the play-off places.

The win also meant Jon Macken’s side are the current form team in the division with five wins in six games.

In a high-tempo start to the game from both teams, Boro looked to grab the initiative and took an early lead.

A free kick was floated towards the Scarborough penalty area, the ball was flicked on by Harry Winter into the path of Ellis, who took a neat touch and rifled his shot past Scarborough keeper Thomas Taylor to make it 1-0.

The Seadogs looked to hit back after the early goal and almost found an immediate breakthrough from an unlikely source.

A low cross was sent into the box and Williams sliced his clearance backwards towards his own goal, relieved to see the ball skim off the bar in a huge let-off for the home team.

As the rain started to fall, the game became fragmented with tackles flying in from both sides. Scarborough looked to impose their will on the home team and began to carve out chances.

Chris Dawson’s floated free kick was met by the head of Issac Assenso, but Ollie Martin made a smart save to tip the ball over.

When another ball came into the area Martin clawed it away and, though the ball fell into the path of Scarborough captain Michael Coulson, the Radcliffe keeper was equal to his follow-up shot.

The equaliser came five minutes before half time. Kian Spence attacked down the right-hand side and fed the ball in to Walshaw inside the box.

He cut inside and curled his finish into the bottom right-hand corner from a tight angle.

Boro looked to regroup at half time after conceding so close to the interval, and found themselves back in front eight minutes after the restart.

A long ball was played over the top into the path of Tyrese Sinclair and, as goalkeeper Taylor raced from his line to collect the ball, a defensive mix-up saw him take out both Sinclair and his own man Assenso at the same time.

This meant the ball fell for Williams to calmly slot the ball into an empty net to put the hosts 2-1 to the good.

The chances continued to come for the home team who were now smelling blood.

Prince Haywood clipped a free kick to the back post for Rick Smith, who headed the ball back across for Matt Hughes but he could not direct his header towards goal.

Ellis then whipped a cross in from the left-hand side that went agonisingly wide of the opposition goal.

Ellis had another chance to put the game to bed, when substitute Matthew Wolfenden burst through on goal down the right. He flashed a ball across goal but Ellis cleared the bar with his finish.

Radcliffe eventually found the goal to wrap up all three points in stoppage time.

Substitute Tom Brown played a delightful through ball to Haywood. Advancing into the box he was taken down by Wayne Brooksby.

Wharton, who himself had come off the bench, calmly slotted in the penalty to secure the win.

In the end the result looked fairly comprehensive, but it was a tough battle from both sides.

Boro now face three of the next four games away from home, starting with a trip to Mickleover Sports on Saturday.