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Stretford Paddock take a break from league action this weekend as they take on division one side Trafford United in the first round of the Rhodes Cup, a further chance for silverware that Howson’s men will undoubtedly be looking to make the most of after bowing out of the competition disappointingly last year. However, the reds should have a spring in their step after another last gasp victory against a tricky Salford Vics side, allowing them to keep pace in their surge to title glory with just four league games remaining.

This Trafford United side are currently one place of the bottom in division one, only winning two of the 13 league games they’ve played this season. With Paddock flying high in good form, they go into the game as massive favourites and expect nothing less than a victory. The league title is far from a foregone conclusion, so the cup could be a safety blanket opportunity to avoid going the season trophyless if the title does evade the Howson’s men. Confidence should be high however as Paddock have proven themselves very difficult to beat over the course of the season and should take the momentum from last weeks game into this weekend.

Unfortunately, Paddock will be going into the game short-handed, most notably without talisman Kieron Molloy who found the winner when needed last week taking him to 12 goals for the season as he looks to overtake Josh Smith’s tally before the end of the season; but it will be a race against time as he looks to regain fitness in time for an important run-in.

The match will be played at Wythenshawe Sports Ground, Willenhall Road, M23 OBD, kick-off being at 2 pm, where Paddock will be hoping to get off to a flying start and start the journey to cup glory.

Table-topping Stretford Paddock are back in action this weekend against Salford Victoria, in what is now just five more league games of the season remaining and Paddock are expecting five wins from five if they’re going to end the season as champions.

Coming off a subpar 4-1 victoria against bottom of the league side AFC Oldham, the team are well aware that they will need a massive uptick in performance this time around if they are going to be able to avoid a possible upset against a dangerous and mercurial Salford Vics side who have only played nine league games all season. Howson has been on record this week stating his discontent with the performance and setting out just how important each and every remaining game is, anything can happen on any given day and with De La Salle just one point behind with a game in hand there is simply no margin for error.

Something to keep an eye on, however, is the blazing hot form of Kieron Molloy who has Josh Smith’s goal scoring record in his sights, currently three goals behind with just five league games to go – with the form he’s in and with Josh out of action for the rest of the season, it would actually come as a surprise if Kieron isn’t able to overtake Josh come the end of the season. This weekend will however see the return of Will Hobson and Cameron Watters, who will undoubtedly help strengthen what has been an injury-ravaged squad in recent weeks.

The league is no longer in the hands of Howson’s men but they can just control what they can control. After all, points on the board trump ‘games in hand’, and as things stand, Paddock hold just a one-point lead at the top of the table. Anything can happen and if Paddock are able to win out the rest of the season they will be there or thereabouts.

Stretford Paddock ran away 4-1 winners against bottom dwellers AFC Oldham, taking care of business and maintaining their three-point lead at the top of the table. However, the performance was far from impressive, and the game was surprisingly competitive for large parts of the match, with Oldham being able to build confidence and compete throughout.

Stephen Howson echoed throughout the week of his expectations of no complacency and approaching the match with ruthlessness and conviction. Still, it was the visitors that began the game with impetus and urgency, taking the lead through a tremendous direct free-kick early in the first half and continued to create half-chances until Paddock decided to wake up.

Paddock then scored four goals unanswered, with Kieron Molloy continuing his sensational goal-scoring season, followed by Joao De Andrade scoring from the spot and setting up to others to continue his excellent start to his Paddock career. Much of the noise was surrounding the return of Ronaldo Brown, who made his return to the club after a short stint and Ramsbottom United, marking his return with a goal late in the second half to secure the points. It was a forgettable performance from the reds, one that Stephen Howson described as “the worse performance he’s seen from a Stretford Paddock team”, as he is aware that with the strength of the run in Paddock have to end the season, Paddock will need to perform much better if they expect to come away with the title come the end of the season.

Howson’s men will have the chance to put things right as they will be returning next weekend against Salford Victoria in another must-win game and will be looking to put in a much better performance than they could muster this weekend. With only five league games remaining, it’s invariably five cup finals as Paddock can’t afford to slip up.

Stretford Paddock have been out of league action for over a month now, after suffering a 3-1 defeat to title-chasing rivals De La Salle, dealing a massive blow to Paddock’s title aspirations. As things stand, Stretford Paddock are still top of the league with a one-point lead on De La Salle, who have a game in hand. With only six league games remaining for Howson’s men, there is no margin for error, as dropping points in a title race this tight at this stage could prove futile. There is already a sizeable disadvantage in goal difference, currently sitting at a staggering 15 goals, which could work as an extra point come the end of the season.

Paddock has tested themselves against Macclesfield Town and Lescott’s Mystery XI, a team consisting of Premier League Winner Chris Eagles. Without a doubt, they will be looking to take this experience against higher opposition and use it to go up a level in the remainder of their season as they return against an AFC Oldham side who are coming off a 9-1 defeat against De La Salle.

Paddock come in as huge favourites, coming up against a side that are rock bottom of the league and have only registered one win in the league all season. The reverse fixture ended 5-2 to Paddock earlier in the season in a performance far from their best, and Howson will be expecting his men to be a lot more emphatic this time around.

There are over 14 players unavailable for Paddock and will be without top scorer Josh Smith for the rest of the season, which will be a huge blow for the reds, the title run-in will undoubtedly be a test of resolve and the squads’ strength-in-depth and there may be an exciting return to the team on the weekend to soften the blow.

The game will be held at 3 pm at Nicholls Community Football Centre, Dalberg St, Manchester M12 6BN, where Stretford Paddock will start their final surge towards a possible championship season.

On a weekend where Stretford Paddock was scheduled to face Abacus Media, the opportunity for a top of the table clash came from Abacus calling the game off due to a supposed Covid breakout within their squad. Paddock was then heading for another weekend fixtureless and a possible hit to momentum but almost miraculously, with 24 hours to spare, De La Salle showed the wherewithal to take up the offer and opportunity to play Paddock on short notice. Setting up was very much dubbed an early title decider.

The situation going into the game was Paddock were eight points clear of De La Salle, with the Salford side having three games in hand; a victory for Paddock would have taken them 11 points clear, invariably putting one hand firmly on the title with only six games to go. So it was an opportunity for Paddock, but an opportunity missed.

In what was the biggest game of the season thus far, it was one of the more disappointing performances to date. Howson’s men struggled to get any foothold in the game as they lacked quality and composure in their build-up play, caught out time and time again with square passes and loose touches. De La Salle executed their game plan very well, staying compact and organised – picking their moments to pounce on Paddock mistakes with incisiveness and clinical finishing. They disrupted the rhythm of Howson’s men, causing them problems all day long. Leading to Howson giving credence to his previous criticisms during victories stating that, “Days like today are why I’m still hard on the lads when we win comfortably, but I see faults in performance because I know that against opposition with the quality of De La Salle, we could get punished and today we were.”

De La Salle eventually ran out 3-1 winners, with Paddock’s goal being nothing more than a consolation penalty from Tom Jones later in the game, which wasn’t enough to match the hat-trick from De La Salle’s number 9 who was a thorn in the side all day.

So as things stand, Paddock are now only five points clear of De La Salle, who have three games in hand. Therefore the title is very much in the hands of the team from Salford, but it’s not over yet. This weekend was a big blow to the title hopes, but a flawless finish to the season from Paddock, with a favour or two from other teams in the league, still give Paddock an outsiders shot. It’s a big few months ahead for this Paddock side.

Stretford Paddock went on their travels on the weekend and flexed their title-challenging muscles, dispatching a very tricky Milton side 6-1 on the weekend. This was the eighth league game in the row Stretford Paddock have come out victorious, as they are becoming an unstoppable force at this level.

Chris Singleton was sensational on the day with big saves in big moments and his distribution was sensational, apart from one error leading to a goal later in the game, he was practically flawless, being the fire starter for so many attacks; but once again the attacking trio of Josh Smith, Kieron Molloy and Tom Jones. Josh furthered his attempts at becoming league top scorer with another brace, a feat matched by fellow wing partner Kieron before Tom Jones got himself on the score sheet later on as he combined with Josh later in the game to slide the ball home from six yards out.

There was still a sense of disappointment as another clean sheet opportunity went awry, something that could prove costly come the end of the season, in a title race that could possibly come down to goal difference when it’s all said and done. Without sounding perfectionist, little intricacies like these are exactly the ones that Paddock are looking to eliminate from their game, as the club has aspirations of ascending up the football pyramid. Little kinks in the armour that could punish them in future, and Howson being as meticulous as he is, there’s little doubt that no stone will be left unturned in the training weeks to come.

This victory however took them eight points clear at the top of the league on 28 points, eight points clear of De La Salle Reds who still have three games in hand. However, De La Salle dropped points on the weekend after a 1-1 draw against Rochdalians on the weekend. As a result this now means that the title is now very much in Stretford Paddock’s hands where even if De La Salle wins out with their games in hand and go one point clear at the top, they will still have Paddock to play before the season ends, so destiny is very much now in Paddock’s hands.

A red-hot Stretford Paddock side travels to a Milton team with enough quality in their ranks to cause an upset; the Paddock boys will need to give this game their full attention as complacency could prove futile during a run-in where nothing but three points will do.

Milton have five losses and five wins in the ten league games they have played, making them very much a Jekyll and Hyde proposition. A side that gave Paddock several issues in the reverse fixture when Paddock ran out 4-3 winners, an end to end game that ebbed and flowed, and we can expect more of the same in tomorrows fixture.

It was no secret how disappointed Howson was in the performance last week, and speaking in the week in preparation for the game, he said, ‘I wasn’t at all happy with the performance last weekend, we are miles better than we showed, and I expect an increased level of performance this time around.’ This suggests Paddock anticipate a much sterner test and will be wary of dropping points as they continue to mount the pressure on De La Salle Reds to make the most of their games in hand.

The urge for silverware is an insatiable one in the Paddock camp, a feeling that has resonated during a winning streak in the league that now extends to eight games and this weekend should be no different. As the visitors will be looking to take all three points and continue to pile the pressure on De La Salle. Josh Smith coming off a brace last week, now has 11 goals in the league, ranking him second place in the goal-scoring rankings, six goals behind the leader Jack Ward of Moston Brook. There’s quite a gap, but with the form Josh is in, the type of form where it wouldn’t be surprising if he bridges the gap by the end of the season as he undoubtedly will be looking to continue his goal-scoring exploits on the weekend.

The match will be held at Heywood Sports Village, Starkey Street, Heywood OL10 4TW; kick-off will be the standard time at 2 pm.