RADCLIFFE were knocked out of the Frank Hannah Manchester Premier Cup following an agonising penalty shoot-out defeat to FC United of Manchester on Tuesday.

Four second-half goals split evenly between the two sides sent the game to penalties, but in the shoot-out, misses from Scott Metcalfe and Matthew Crothers handed FCUM the victory.

In a tense first half both sides found chances few and far between but the Reds found the breakthrough in the 52nd minute.

Paul Ennis broke forward on the counter attack and caught Radcliffe napping. He slid a through-ball that beat the offside trap to Nialle Rodney and he coolly finished to give his side the lead.

The home team looked to respond and found an equaliser in the 68th minute when Crothers sent a low cross into the box for Liam Ellis and he calmly finished past Cameron Belford to make it 1-1.

Almost as soon as the home team had finished celebrating, United were back in front. Alex Curran saw his curling effort come back off the post, before Michael Donohue was first to react in the box to score.

Radcliffe did not have to wait long for there second equaliser of the game as this fell to defender Rick Smith in the 82nd minute.

At full time, the game went straight to penalties.

The Reds dispatched all of their penalties but Metcalfe blazed over before Crothers saw his effort saved by Belford down to his left to dump Boro out.

Four days earlier, Boro secured three points in the BetVictor League Premier Division with a 3-0 home win against Hyde United.

The home team dominated the early proceedings and got their just rewards in the 19th minute when Tyrees Sinclair broke forward from one box to the other end and fed Ellis to give Boro the lead.

Tigers boss David McGurk was clearly an unhappy man with his team and made a couple of substitutions at the start of the second half and they went close to levelling.

But Boro eventually got their second goal after being on the back foot for much of the second half.

The ball was played forward towards Ellis in the box, he then looked to control the ball on his chest. He was pushed in the back by Oran Thompson and referee Alex James pointed to the spot.

Sinclair coolly dispatched the penalty to give the home team a 2-0 lead in the 83rd minute.

Radcliffe wrapped up all three points only a few minutes after the penalty.

Sinclair and Metcalfe played a delightful one-two down the left-hand side before the former dribbled across the edge of the box and delivered a lovely floated ball into the area.

Smith was on hand to meet the ball and his header looped over the keeper and into the back of the net.

In the end, it was a fairly routine win for the home team – a first at home.

On Saturday, Jon Macken’s side will look to bounce back from their midweek cup disappointment when they travel to Nantwich Town.

Meanwhile, Radcliffe have announced the signing of academy striker Rhys Moseley.

The 16-year-old has been promoted to the first team after his impressive start to the academy campaign.