Ten-man Buxton are beaten by last-gasp Radcliffe winner

That came as a shock as the hosts, until late on, had dominated possession in search of a winning goal, even after the dismissal just short of the hour of centre-back and captain Kieran Burton.

The 19th-placed visitors arrived with seemingly a very limited ambition from the outset, drawing back ten or even 11 men as Buxton attacked, making it so very difficult for the hosts to create clear openings.

Having already climbed out of the relegation places, Radcliffe were disciplined and effective in defence on an afternoon when little went right for the Bucks, who have played less well and won.

As a spectacle the contest proved far less appealing than Tuesday's feast of good football between attack-minded teams and that was particularly disappointing as Saturday's crowd was almost double that of Tuesday.

Unsurprisingly unchanged, Buxton first attacked the Ashwood End by choice, showing early promise through a Luke Brennan run forward then a fine Johnny Johnston pass for attacking midfielder Oli Ewing, both forcing unproductive corner-kicks.

With Radcliffe yet to threaten, visiting 'keeper Hewelt was arguably twice a little fortunate within a minute to be able to make saves at the second attempt from low shots by Josh Popoola and Johnston.

Continuing to push forward, Buxton twice went close as, from a Ewing corner-kick, Popoola's firm header passed narrowly wide, while the latter provided the half's most spectacular action with a 30-yard drive of awesome power that fractionally cleared the bar.

Late in the half, Radcliffe briefly showed some attacking potential as ex-Buxton loanee, Brad Jackson, from wide right delivered a cross that narrowly cleared the well-placed Hancock's head and midfielder Greenfield's firmly-struck cross-cum-shot from the same flank narrowly passed the far post.

Little was different in the opening 12 minutes of the second half and again the Bucks were out of luck as Tommy Elliott stretched to get a touch on True Grant's long punt forward but only into the adjacent Hewelt's grasp.

Then came the afternoon's undoubted turning-point as Burton was sent off by referee England for a foul that he deemed to be 'denying a goal-scoring opportunity' as Jackson surprised everyone with a sudden, powerful surge through midfield to the edge of the penalty area.

The hosts commendably continued to press forward, trying various attacking combinations as a result of their substitutions, while Radcliffe in the 72nd minute understandably showed much increased ambition with the introduction of three attacking substitutes, two of them ex-Silverlanders in the persons of Jude Oyibo and Luca Navarro.

That decision paid off in the third of five added minutes. Following a left-flank free-kick awarded for a foul on Oyibo, 'keeper Grant couldn't hold Navarro's close-range shot and another ex-Silverlander, midfielder Matt Sargent, prodded the ball into goal. That completed the irony as the scorer hadn't been able to find the net in his 16 appearances for Buxton.

So Radcliffe, at the expense of six yellow cards, claimed a success that ended another Buxton sequence, namely that of nine consecutive victories versus Radcliffe dating back to Cheshire League days.

The Bucks now face three NLN away fixtures at Leamington, Curzon Ashton and Hereford in the next ten days before returning home to tackle Scunthorpe United on Saturday, March 1.