FC UNITED chief Karl Marginson praised his players' patience after they'd taken their first step on the long road to Wembley in the FA Trophy with a last-gasp 1-0 victory over neighbours Radcliffe.
The Rebels had to wait until the dying seconds of injury-time before centre-half Adam Turner looped in a header from Adam Carden's cross to secure their passage into the second qualifying-round.
The win was no more than FC deserved, as they dominated throughout and only once had cause to panic when Carden denied Steve Howson with a goal-line clearance.
Marginson, an FA Trophy winner as a player with Macclesfield 12 years ago, said: "I'm really proud of the patience and belief we showed. The goal was a long time coming, but I'd say the result was spot-on.
"To get to Wembley would mean everything, but that's a million miles away. All we're now concentrating on is Wednesday's league game at Frickley."
2 Danny Warrender
3 Simon Garner
4 Chris Baguley
5 Dave Chadwick(captain)
6 Adam Turner
7 Adam Carden
8 Simon Carden
9 Kyle Wilson
10 Jerome Wright
11 Carlos Roca
Subs Used
12 Daniel Williams(for 11, 72 mins)
14 Liam Foster(for 4, 45 mins)
Attendance 1227
Scorers Turner 90