Reddish North End Women Pinks 0-2 Stretford Paddock Women
By Liam Sheasby
Stretford Paddock Women have been promoted in their debut season, having beaten Reddish North End 2-0 on the last day of the campaign in a must-win fixture. It was only last summer that the women’s team was launched under the Paddock banner, but one year later and the Greater Manchester WFL Premier Division awaits.
The team needed all three points to be in with a chance of promotion, with rivals AFC Oldham 2005 and Wilmslow Albion also in contention for the title and the second automatic promotion spot, and a tricky grass pitch at North Reddish Park threatened to hinder the Paddock style of play and make for a scrappy affair.
The game started brightly enough, with Paddock playing out from the back via full backs Beth Greenhalgh and Katie Brooks, but the bobbly pitch was keeping any passing short range, putting a lot of pressure on midfielders Grace Byrne and Olivia Wakefield as receivers whilst the forward line waited their turn. This forced Abbie Wright and Meg Stapleton to drop deeper to get involved and limited Paddock’s attacking efforts to the odd driving run from Amelia Jennings and Aalish Atkinson.
Paddock eventually found their footing – quite literally – and began to settle into the game and make better use of the space and their intended formation, with Atkinson, Jennings and Stapleton all having efforts on goal, but no sooner had they begun to generate some momentum as the half ended.
Substitute Shan Morgan came on up front early in the second half and the change soon paid off, with the forward getting on the end of a low pass across the box to tap home for her 19th goal of the season. That was enough of a confidence booster to put Paddock firmly in the driving seat, and between Atkinson, Jennings, Stapleton, Morgan, Wakefield and substitute Alex Cash, the visitors kept Reddish penned back for large spells of the half.
Paddock’s pressure told in the 77th minute, with Aalish Atkinson (pictured below) cutting in from the right wing and fizzing an effort into the net to double the lead and all but confirm the result. Further chances would fall to Morgan and Jennings but were narrowly wide or saved in tidy fashion by the North End keeper, but the damage was done and Paddock came away with all three points.
The result, in combination with Wilmslow’s 0-0 draw at home to Manchester Laces, ensured automatic promotion for the girls – though they had to wait a week before finding out if they’d won the title. A stunning end to the season for Oldham saw them win 8-1 over Salford United Juniors that same weekend and 11-0 over Eccles United last weekend; an emphatic finale to crown themselves as league champions.
Paddock did come away with one accolade though – top goalscorer went to Shannon Morgan, whose 19 goals in 17 appearances just edged out AFC Oldham’s Freya Hill, who scored 19 in 18 games.
Speaking about her achievement, Shan said: “Getting promoted in our debut season is class, and being top scorer for the team and the league is the cherry on top. This is just the beginning though as far as we’re concerned – we’re just getting warmed up.”
Talismanic forward Meg Stapleton also took to social media to talk about the highs and lows of her season, but ended on a positive: “Finishing second in the league in our debut season is some good going and we’re going to look for another promotion next season because our hard work won’t be stopping here.”
Check our the matchday photography below, and make sure to follow Stretford Paddock Women on Instagram for the latest news and updates.
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