GOAL twins Rory Patterson and Stuart Rudd struck to give FC United a 2-1 comeback win at Bacup Borough which keeps them on course for the NWCL first division title.
The Rebels seized on leaders Salford City's latest slip, a 2-2 draw at Maine Road, to move to within a point of them at the summit with six games in hand on their Moor Lane rivals.
But Karl Marginson's men did it the hard way, trailing to a Stuart Shepherd penalty after Rudd had failed from the spot before he and Patterson again showed off their goalscoring prowess in front of a crowd of 1,504.
Salford were pegged back by Road's Martin Turner and Paul Wadsworth after John Robinson and Kenny Tudor had put them two-up.
That leaves third-placed Curzon Ashton, who beat Trafford 2-0, as the biggest threat to FC's second successive title hopes.
2 Liam Foster
3 Shaun Roscoe
4 Steve Spencer
5 Dave Chadwick(captain)
6 Rob Nugent
7 Dave Swarbrick
8 Josh Howard
9 Stuart Rudd
10 Jerome Wright
11 Rory Patterson
Subs Used 12. Rhodri Giggs(for 7, 83 mins) 14. Simon Carden(for 8, 67 mins) 15. Dave Brown(for 6, 33 mins) Attendance:1106
Scorers Patterson 33, Rudd 43