Radcliffe suffered heartache as Bamber Bridge’s late strike sealed victory in a five-goal thriller at the Neuven Stadium on Tuesday night.

Boro, who won 2-1 at Grantham Town on Saturday, were denied a point after Brig substitute Jake Thompson curled home the winner a minute from time.

Radcliffe came out firing on all cylinders and created a string of early chances and Olly Thornley thought he’d nodded them ahead with his first goal of the season after 10 minutes - only to be denied by a swift flag from the linesman.

Two minutes later, Luca Navarro’s curling ball from the left flank was met by Jo Cummings who saw his header cannon off the crossbar, the follow up dropped straight back to him but Mateuse Hewelt was there to beat his second effort away.

The Radcliffe lead did eventually come after 11 minutes, thanks to a moment of brilliance from Callum Gribbin.

The former Manchester United youngster picked up a loose ball on the edge of the box after Hewelt palmed away Navarro’s powerful effort, his fast feet allowed him to cut onto his left foot before slotting a curling ball into the bottom left corner.

However, the visitors fought back with a quick reply after Radcliffe’s opener, as stand-in striker, Nathan Pond, scored against the run of play for Bamber Bridge.

A long ball was played over the top of the centre backs, Cam Belford came charging out of his six yard box to meet the pass but Pond managed to beat him to the ball and prod home.

Chances were still coming thick and fast for the Boro after Bamber Bridge’s equaliser, Jack Baxter and Bobby Grant linked up well on a number of occasions but the ball somehow stayed out of the net.

Baxter’s through ball to Grant was intercepted when he looked to be in on goal, moments later, Olly Thornley played an over the top ball to Grant who took it down expertly and picked out the run of Baxter just inside the box.

His low pass was taken first time by the Preston-loanee when he had time to take a touch, his following shot was high and wide in a great position to restore the lead.

Bamber Bridge went ahead for the first time in the 29th minute, despite Radcliffe looking like the only team who could score before the break. Isaac Sinclair raced through the centre of the pitch and unleashed a rocket from 25-yards out - his thunderous strike rifled the post on its way into the net, leaving Belford with absolutely no chance.

After the half time interval, the fog really started to come down leaving questions on whether the game would go ahead due to poor vision between both players and fans.

The referee continued the game and awarded Radcliffe a penalty midway through the second half, even though most of the stadium had no idea what for. Grant stepped up, confidently converting into the bottom right corner and sending Hewelt the wrong way to grab an equaliser.

The second half was rather lacklustre compared to the first, the heavy fog may have played a part in that however.

The away side had the final say on the result, as they scored on the cusp of the stoppage time to take all three points back to Preston. Jake Thompson made a run into the box and received the ball on the left side, fending off the nearest defender before curling an outstanding shot into the top corner of Belford’s net.

Radcliffe’s next game is away at high-flying South Shields at the 1st Cloud Arena, looking to get back to winning ways on the road.