Boro beaten by clinical Clitheroe

After making a bright start and taking an early lead from Tom Corner, Boro were pulled apart in the second half as the home side cantered to the three points in the end.

Boro named an unchanged side from the battling draw against Glossop, with the bench boosted by the late addition of youngsters Ben Hirst and Isaac Assenso from York City and Scunthorpe United.

The goal drought of recent games was fixed in just the sixth minute when the ball feel nicely for Joe Fox to crack a shot against the crossbar, with Corner on hand to nod in from a yard out.

However, the hosts hit back quickly when Jonathan Hession took advantage of a slip from Boro skipper Nathan Peat to ghost in and finish in confident fashion across Athletic keeper Rob Zand.

Hession had a similar chance to give his side the lead on the stroke of half-time after a mistake from Joe Lamplough, with Zand saving low down to keep the scores level.

At the start of the second half Clitheroe took the game to Boro, an approach that paid off following a flowing move from the left, finishing with James Heywood having enough space to rifle into the bottom corner for the hosts.

Boro were still creating opportunities though as Kieran McCaffrey tried his luck from long range before Alex Metcalfe saw his low angled shot cleared behind.

Sub Hirst replaced McCaffrey and nearly equalised with his first touch, denied by the legs of Guthrie following a deft flick from six yards.

But as Boro pushed forward in search of an equaliser, there was more space for the Clitheroe forwards to exploit the gaps left behind as they extended their advantage going into the final quarter.

Pressure from Louis Mayers forced Zand to mis-time his clearing header, with Peat bundling over the striker as he was set to pull the trigger to concede the spot kick.

Scott Bakkor stepped up and made no mistake to deepen Boro’s woes.

Clitheroe showed a killer instinct as a fourth goal followed in the closing stages through a neat turn and finish from captain David Lynch into the bottom corner to leave Boro down and out.

A late consolation in added time from Gary Bradshaw with an effortless free-kick that curled in off the bar was the final action as Boro slipped to a fourth defeat in six games.