Two first-half goals set the Boro on their way to a first-ever National League North victory in front of 1458 spectators at the Big Help Stadium, before Southport hit back with two of their own after the break to clutch a draw from a losing position, leaving Radcliffe on the brunt end of an even result at the full-time whistle.

Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley opted to make three changes to the team that played against Spennymoor Town last time out, as Josh Hancock, Jamie Morgan and Callum Rowe all came into the starting line-up, the latter making his first start for Radcliffe after signing for the club last week.

Hancock got the afternoon off to the perfect start inside 8 minutes for the Boro, converting his fourth of the campaign to give Radcliffe an early lead. After Jordan Hulme’s driven run to the byline, the striker laid it on a plate for his teammate to tap into an empty net inside the six-yard area.

Moments after Danny Lloyd tested the gloves of Mateusz Hewelt from a narrow angle for the first time in the game, our lead was doubled as Anthony Dudley raced in behind the Southport back line via Matt Sargent’s header, staying composed to poke beyond Chris Renshaw and into the back of the net.

Radcliffe continued to oversee large amounts of possession as Southport had little to answer for after being sucker punched by the away side’s electric start, their only chance of note before the break being a low, left-footed effort by Lloyd which our number one easily collected, after the former Rochdale man was set up by Jamie Proctor from the left side of the box.

Bernard and Jonno’s men settled for a two-goal cushion at the interval, seeing out the half comfortably to set up the unenviable task of maintaining the lead as the hosts attacked towards the sea of yellow and black in the home end terrace.

Before a fair amount of supporters could retake their seats after the restart, Southport had a glorious opportunity to get a goal back as Sam Minihan beat Scott Duxbury to possession in the air which opened up a gap to get his shot away with the goal at his mercy, the 30-year-old could only fire straight at Hewelt and then drag wide on the subsequent rebound.

Radcliffe enjoyed a good spell of attacking possession as the half ticked on, but it would be the home side who put away the next goal of the game, setting up an agonising final 27 minutes.

Luke Burgess found himself in behind from a lofted forward pass and nonchalantly slotted it beyond Hewelt, his teammates then frantically looked to grab the ball to quicken up the following restart with a spring in their step.

The Boro freshened up the pack with two separate substitutions in the 69th and 75th minutes respectively, as Tom Walker and Brad Jackson were introduced to the fray in place of both Radcliffe goalscorers, both players getting the loud applause they deserved from the travelling faithful.

On the 77-minute mark, Southport’s pressure paid dividends as the hosts restored parity in an unorthodox fashion, sparking jubilant celebrations from the home supporters on the west coast.

Lloyd’s corner from the right-hand side was headed away but sent back out wide to him, he then thumped an in-swinging cross towards the danger zone which bounced amongst the six-yard area, before nestling into the far corner of the net without an added touch on the ball.

A further three Radcliffe changes were made in an attempt to retrieve the two lost points at that stage but the fresh legs weren’t enough to trouble Renshaw any further in the Southport goal, Walker’s header in the 82nd minute was the only real opportunity to get that all-important third, which he couldn’t guide on target from Hulme’s dinked cross.

Five additional minutes were added on top of the initial 90 and despite a late scare from former Radcliffe man Tunde Owolabi who struck the outside of the right post deep into added time, the points were shared at the Big Help Stadium with Southport being the happier of the two teams.

We now swap league action for cup action on the road next Saturday as we visit Warrington Town in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup!