After a cagey first 45, Jordan Hulme opened the scoring on the hour mark to kick start the party which continued up until the final whistle, despite the visitors netting an equaliser in the tenth minute of stoppage time.
Two changes were made from the starting eleven that won the title at Whitby last Saturday, as Willem Tomlinson and Matt Sargent were replaced by Rick Smith and Ewan Bange after the two central midfielders picked up injuries in the first half of last week’s fixture.
Neither of the sides were able to take control of the game in the first half, but it was relegation-threatened Basford who carved out the better chances in the opening 45.
The away side had three chances before half-time to enter the break with a lead, two of which fell to Remaye Campbell. With 25 minutes on the clock, the forward was picked out in the penalty area by Matthew Thornhill but with just Mateusz Hewelt to beat, Rick Smith was able to catch up to his man and make a key block to prevent the danger.
Basford’s top scorer also went one-on-one with the Polish shot stopper after the visitors took a quick free kick on the half-way line, but Hewelt stood tall and made himself big to block Campbell’s shot.
Radcliffe began the second half with more intensity and almost worked Hulme in behind the Basford defence, but the attacker was offside to deny any following opportunities.
Jamie Morgan found himself in on goal after Hulme cleverly flicked the ball around the defender, but the substitute was unable to work the ‘keeper who was well placed to stop the shot from close range.
Two minutes after Isaac Modi’s introduction, he provided the opening goal to unlock the Basford defence for the first time. After some neat footwork to open up a pocket of space, the pacey forward threaded a ball through to Hulme who then rolled his effort into the far corner of the net, sparking celebrations around the Neuven Stadium.
The lead was almost doubled 10 minutes later as Modi helped the ball across the box from Oyibo’s dinked cross, but Morgan was unable to apply the delicate touch needed to keep his shot on target.
In the final few moments of the 90, Modi went down with a head injury that required the 20-year-old to be removed from the pitch via a stretcher and was later taken to hospital. We can confirm that he suffered a concussion and a few minor injuries, and is now recovering.
Radcliffe looked to be adding yet another victory to our tally but in the final minute of injury time, Basford managed to claw a point from the depths to seal their safety with a game to spare. Prince Mancinelli poked the ball home from close range after a scramble in the Radcliffe penalty area from Thornhill’s free kick.
At the full-time whistle, there were celebrations from both sides for two very different reasons, and Radcliffe later lifted the NPL Premier Division trophy as Champions in front of 2,351 in attendance, which is a new stadium record.
We now look to end the season with a victory as we travel to Gainsborough Trinity next weekend for our final fixture of an outstanding 2023/24 campaign, join us on the road to back the Champions in numbers!
Radcliffe XI: Hewelt, Jackson (Hancock 58’), Duxbury, Smith, Thornley, Maynard, Dudley (Modi 58’), Adams (Morgan 52’), Hulme, Bange, Oyibo
Unused Subs: Mercer, Tse
Basford XI: Preston, Nirennold, Wilder, Lewis (Fankwe 67’), Ritzema, Fenton, James, Mancinelli, Campbell (Thomas 58’), Thornhill, Barnes (Richards 84’)
Unused Subs: Dacres, Holmes
