It was all in all successful weekend for Stretford Paddock Football Club as the Ressies came out the victors in a 12 goal thriller, beating Milltown FC Firsts 7-5 in their 6th league game of the season. This victory takes them into the top 4, 6 points behind leaders Hattersley with two games in hand. Front 3 Adam Ashton, Paul Arrowsmith and Usamah Afzal took home the plaudits with a formidable attacking display. Adam and Paul netted a hat trick each scoring 4 and 3 respectively and Usamah excellently linked play and recorded 4 assists on the day. That is now Paul Arrowsmith’s second hat-trick of the season suggesting he’s a man that when he scores, he scores in bunches. The Ressies coaches implemented a new tactical approach this week which demanded a lot from the players, they responded well with an improved performance to set a strong foundation for the progression of the team during the remainder of the season.

The development squad managed to win their 1st game at home to top of the table Woodsend, pulling off the unthinkable. The hard work the squad has put in over the last few weeks was rewarded with a flawless performance. Paddock dominated the game from start to finish playing beautiful attacking football and dominated in defence. The game was run by man of the match captain Mark Dempsey who controlled the tempo from midfield. Identifying the space behind Woodsend’s centre backs, Paddock piled on the pressure in the first 20 minutes and were rewarded with goal from the outstanding Abdullah Saeed who was a level above the opposition all game.

They carried on with their exceptional performance in the the 2nd half and dominated the ball for the majority. The last 30 min was a near master class from Paddocks back 4 which included Karl Koulibaly, Usman Eshan, Cormac Donnellan and Iduonibin Awodumoye. They frustrated Woodends attack and dealt with everything that was thrown at them with goalkeeper Victor Gimmenez made sure of the well earned clean sheet with some fabulous saves. It was a great performance and great result for a team who have never stopped believing in themselves over the opening part of the season.

The only blemish on a brilliant weekend for Stretford Paddock were the U21’s succumbing to Ashton 3-0 in a tough and hard fought game, where lapses in concentration in the latter stages of the game cost them.

Ronaldo Brown

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