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After a scrappy 3-2 win last week for Stretford Paddock against Trafford United, where they progressed into the next round of the Rhodes Cup with a goal from full-back Mikey Burke and a brace from Bouba Jenkins. The cup game worked as a momentary reprieve from what has been a helter-skelter league campaign. Still, Paddock will be returning to league action against Manchester Polonia this weekend as the pursuit for championship glory continues.

Manchester Polonia sits second from bottom, where they have only won one game in their last seven and will come into the game as heavy underdogs. However, they are coming off an impressive 1-1 draw against Abacus Media, one of the stronger sides in the division. Therefore, as we’ve seen lately, Paddock shouldn’t take them lightly, and Howson has made his men aware that complacency could be why Paddock don’t walk away with the silverware at the end of the season. Performance withstanding, Paddock have won six of their last seven games as they have a knack for grinding out results when they aren’t at their best, but there’s always a risk of that sort of luck running out.

Stretford Paddock remain top of the league on 34 points, three points ahead of De La Salle, who are on 31 points with a game in hand. Paddock do have a lengthy disadvantage on goal difference to the team from Salford, making results even more vital as it seems that if Howson’s men are going to walk away with the title, they are going to have to do it outright, which means no slip-ups and no dropped points.

The match will be held at Nicholls Community Football Centre, Dalberg St, Manchester M12 6BN, with kick-off at 3 pm.

Stretford Paddock  progress to the next round of the Rhodes Cup, but they did make hard work of it, only being able to settle the tie in the dying embers of the game, something that has become a force of habit for Howson’s men this year. The playing conditions were far from ideal as it was touch and go, whether the game was even going to go ahead, the combination of rain and wind made conditions an absolute nightmare, and it showed during the game. Paddock struggled to find any real patterns of play and playing rhythm. The conditions were a massive equaliser in what was anticipated as being a comfortable game for the visitors. However, in what was an unconvincing performance, Paddock did scrape through with a 3-2 win and will be eager to put the performance behind them and be satisfied with the result.

Howson did reiterate, “The conditions were awful, and we did have to adjust from how we usually play, but we do have to up our performance level if we are going to achieve what we want to achieve by the end of the season.”

In what was a scrappy and disjointed game throughout and it took a couple of moments of brilliance to get Paddock over the line. The deadlock was broken in what should already be locked up as the goal of the season, with a 40-yard screamer from Bouba Jenkins, a goal that was later almost matched in the game by Mikey Burke, who cut inside from the left and lashed home a superb strike into the top corner. Two instances of class in a game that largely lacked quality as the hosts soaked up the pressure and were able to break clinically on two occasions to score their goals. Paddock would score the winner in the end through Bouba Jenkins, who scrambled home a cushioned header from Paul Arrowsmith to complete his brace and send Paddock through into the next round of the cup.

A performance that will need to improve as Stretford Paddock takes on Polonia next week as they look to secure league glory.

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.