PADIHAM regained pole position in the race for the North West Counties League Division Two championship last night with an impressive 1-0 away victory over Bacup Borough to move two points clear at the top of the table.

A screamer of a goal by Padiham midfield player and man of the match Craig Wilkinson three minutes into the second half won this keenly contested derby, which attracted nearly 200 paying customers to the West View ground.

Bacup started well and put Padiham under a lot of pressure during the early stages of the game but it was the Storks who had the best chance to take the lead when a darting right wing run and cross by Dean Stowe found Scott Gizon charging in at the far post to shoot just wide.

Bacup's Paul Fildes shot wide and then just over in quick succession 20 minutes into the game and just before half time the home side's captain Ian McLellan headed over from close range when he should have done better.

At the start of the second half it was all Padiham and they got off to a great start when a Scott Gizon cross found its way to Craig Wilkinson who unleashed an unstoppable 20 yard drive to give the Storks a 48 minute lead.

Darren Forest nearly added a second five minutes later when he intercepted a poor clearance from Bacup keeper Tommy Allen and raced forward to force Allen into making a top class save at the expense of a corner.

From the resultant Robby Smith corner Bacup had a let off when they cleared off their own goal line.

In the 72nd minute, Kirk Marsden came to Padiham's rescue with a tremendous save while at the other end Dean Stowe tested Tommy Allen on two occasions in Padiham's next two attacks.

The referee sent off Padiham's Craig Wilkinson for a second yellow card offence which left the Storks to finish the game with ten men.

Bacup boss Brent Peters said: "We worked hard but our quality was missing. Fair credit to Padiham, over the 90 minutes they shaded it and deserved their win."

BACUP BOROUGH 0, PADIHAM 1