St Helens Town AFC 1-6 Stretford Paddock
By Liam Sheasby
Stretford Paddock put on one of their best performances of the season against promotion-hopefuls St Helens, denting their chances of going up to the Cheshire League Premier Division.
It started all too familiarly – Paddock failed to deal with a ball in the box and St Helens’ no7, Ethan Wetton, hit a smart backheel past keeper Mason Taylor to give the home side the lead after just six minutes.
The visitors kept their heads up though and found an equaliser courtesy of forward Kiefer Cole, with the starlet hitting a peach of a free-kick off the underside of the crossbar and in to level the tie. The tragedy is that his goal came too late to be included in this season’s Goal of the Season awards, and it might have been better than his previous stunning set piece versus Clay Brow.
Six minutes later and a foul on midfielder Dylan Wilson in the box, directly in front of the referee, earned Paddock a penalty. Captain Joao De Andrade coolly dispatched into the bottom right corner in the 32nd minute, and from there the boys in red and black didn’t look like losing, with Joao popping up again in stoppage time at the back post to tap home Paddock’s third after a darting run and a sharp cross from Kiefer Cole down the right wing.
Into the second half and St Helens looked a little brighter, but still a way off their usual intensity or focus – especially damning considering their 10-1 win over Wythenshawe Reserves the Saturday previous. Their woes deepened when De Andrade picked up on a loose ball and drove at the St Helens defence 2v3, passing to striker Helder Pires on his left who controlled neatly and hit a bobbling shot under the keeper’s arm for 4-1
An awful sideways pass at the back allowed Kiefer Cole to intercept, skip round the intended target, and smash one home over the keeper’s head to double his tally and make it 5-1, and substitute forward Leland Irvine continued his top form with a sixth in the 94th minute; a thunderous 60+ yard ball from Cam Watters near the Paddock box upfield for the young forward to chase. Irvine’s pace allowed him to beat outrushing keeper Lewis Jenkinson to the ball and round him to side foot home from 25 yards out.
The official Man of the Match award went to young centre-back Christian Junior Bembo, but the efforts of Joao De Andrade, Kiefer Cole, Dylan Wilson and Cam Watters could have seen any of them awarded the accolade without complaints.
The win means Paddock have taken six points from six against St Helens this season, but it serves as a reminder that while this has been a rocky season for the squad and some players individually, the talent and potential is there within the side and we can do better. One game remains now – Sandbach away on May 16th. Make sure to tune in!
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