A rampant Radcliffe side collected three more points at the Neuven Stadium, extending the unbeaten run to six league games and returning to fourth in the table following the 0-0 stalemate against Bedford Town at the weekend.

The first big chance of the evening went the way of the home outfit after 15 minutes as top goalscorer Rio Clegg’s shot was blocked on the line by a white shirt, and from the following corner, Michael Afuye’s set piece caused pinball in the penalty area but Darlington were eventually able to clear their lines. The two attackers were involved once again by both trying their luck from close range just minutes later, and the Quakers continued to defend resolutely to keep the scoreline level.

On the 18-minute mark, Steve Watson’s men created their first opening via Cedric Main’s cross which found Jack Maskell at the back post who controlled well with his chest and took on the strike, Roscoe did brilliantly to throw his body in front of the shot and make a crucial block at the vital moment.

Radcliffe were handed a golden opportunity to get their noses in front when Clegg went to ground inside the box after 23 minutes, but the forward couldn’t convert from 12 yards as Peter Jameson guessed the right way to push his effort to safety.

Main continued to cause problems for the Boro defence, this time turning on a sixpence and shooting powerfully at goal to force Mateusz Hewelt into a solid save at full stretch, turning around the post. Radcliffe thought they’d finally netted the opener moments later, however after Matt Sargent’s clever finish into the roof of the net from a narrow angle, the linesman’s offside flag brought an end to any further celebrations.

Despite Clegg prodding home from the rebound of Anthony Dudley being fouled inside the 18-yard area, the man in the middle blew his whistle for a penalty to Radcliffe which allowed Clegg to grab his tenth of the campaign at the second bite of the cherry, firing into the bottom left corner.

Darlington started the quicker of the two sides in the opening minutes of the second half and they almost restored parity when Main’s effort ricocheted off the post, and Will McGowan saw his strike cleared off the line by Callum McFadzean on the follow up.

The hosts maintained their attacking intent and after a number of unsuccessful openings, it took the introduction of Jordan Hulme to finally score the second goal of the evening, and in some fashion as well.

Just five minutes after coming onto the field, the skipper found space in the box for a handful of attempts and with his back to goal on the third shot, Hulme back-heeled the ball underneath Jameson and into the back of the net with an audacious, yet perfectly-executed finish.

The home side won the ball back quickly from Darlington’s kick off and only seconds after play continued, Clegg was able to turn and send a lofted ball across to Michael Afuye on the right side of the box, the winger controlled possession and cut onto his favoured foot, curling into the far corner of the net to provide daylight for Radcliffe with a three-goal cushion.

After a quartet of Boro changes to complete the night’s substitutions from the hosts’ bench, Darlington managed to get a goal back by nodding beyond Hewelt as Toby Lees got the finishing touch but it was too little too late as Radcliffe comfortably saw out the rest of the game, returning to winning ways in the process.

Bernard and Jonno’s team are back in action this Saturday as the Boro travel to King’s Lynn Town for matchday 14 of our 2025/26 National League North season.

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