Kris Bowler climbed off the substitutes' bench to complete Matlock Town's comeback and bring back three hard-earned points from their trip to Burscough.
It was the midfielder's first goal of the season and put the seal on a strong recovery by Mark Atkins' men after they had trailed early in the second half.
Burscough started the game bottom of the Premier Division with just a solitary point to their name and were rocked in the build-up by the resignation of manager Chris Stammers.
And although they are now playing their home games at Skelmersdale after a turbulent 2010-11 they proved their customary tough proposition.
Both sides had chances to have opened the scoring during the first 45 minutes with opposing keepers Chris Thompson and Jon Kennedy in action, the former making notable stops from Ian Holmes and TJ Nightingale while Matlock's Kennedy denied Darren Brookfield.
Kennedy could do nothing in the 50th minute when Burscough opened the scoring through Kevin Leadbetter but eventually the Gladiators wore down their hosts, who put up stiff resistance to the pressure the visitors piled on.
It told on 77 minutes when the Burscough defence was unable to properly clear a corner and when the ball came back in, leading scorer Ian Holmes made no mistake with a headed equaliser.
And just as Burscough fancied their chances of picking up a point, up popped Bowler with six minutes remaining to win the game from close-range.
The result extended Matlock's unbeaten run to six games since that opening-day defeat at Ashton United, and it was enough to put them fifth in the early table.
Attendance: 123
