CHORLEY'S snakes-and-ladders progress in the UniBond First Division was typified by this untidy display against local rivals Radcliffe who completed a league double over the Magpies to go top of the table.

Borough in truth had chances enough in the first half to have put the game beyond Chorley but in the end the home side were forced to hang on to secure the spoils.

As Radcliffe called all the early shots, skipper Mark Dempsey blazed over the bar from Simon Kelly's inviting lay-off before Borough went ahead on 17 minutes when Jody Banim whipped in a cross for Richard Landon to score with a diving header at the back post.

The same player could only stare in disbelief later in the half when Simon Marsh pulled off a stunning save from his fierce close-range volley.

Then, as the Chorley defence continued to look unconvincing as a unit, former Rossendale man Banim hit a post in a goalmouth scramble before the visitors broke away and Danny Kent came close to snatching an equaliser with a shot which went just outside the upright.

More was seen of the Magpies as an attacking force after the interval and they wasted several chances through poor finishing, notably when Noel Corrigan snatched at his shot from David Sutch's clever prompting and when Chris Blakeman miskicked with only keeper Danny Hurst to beat from another Sutch cross.

The tricky Sutch then forced Hurst into a diving save but it was Radcliffe who got the vital second goal on 82 minutes when Ian Lunt headed the ball into the path of Banim who fired low past Marsh.

Substitute David Eatock, whose omission from the starting line-up bemused Chorley's supporters, ensured a close finish when, five minutes from time, he outwitted Hurst before rolling the ball across the face of goal for leading scorer Andy Mason to stab home.

But the Magpies could not conjure an equaliser and the fact remains they are not making any real progress towards even the play-off positions in the table.

RESULT: RADCLIFFE BOROUGH...2 CHORLEY...1