By Casey Evans
Stretford Paddock came out victors in their latest fixture in the Lancashire and Cheshire League against Urmston Town Junior. This result put an end to the team’s run of three games without a win and pushes them up to second in the table and level on points with first placed Moston Brook.
Paddock again got off to a rough start again, when a cross by Urmston in the 8th minute was met unchallenged at the far post and was headed in to make it 1-0 to the home side. Paddock went close to equalising soon after, when a goal mouth scramble led to forward Adam Ashton getting a shot off, but it rolled just wide, then Urmston doubled their lead before the 20th minute.
Paddock have been having problems with set piece goals throughout their campaign, and this match was no different as the goal came from a corner which was spilled by Pearce and headed into the net. Stephen Howson’s men had again given themselves a hill to climb.
Throughout the first half Paddock showed their quality on the ball with some tight and precise passing around the Urmston side and this movement led to their first goal on the 36th minute when a lovely turn by midfielder Gabriel Fernando, played Jay Phillips down the line, who’s low ball in was met at the far post by Ashton and he slid it in to make the score 2-1.
Paddock got another goal before half time when defender and vice-captain James Oatt got on the end of a well hit corner and headed it into the back of the net to even the scores. Spectators on the day were unsure whether it was an own goal, but after reviewing the footage, James Oatt rightly claimed his first goal for the club.
Soon after the whistle was blown, and Paddock went into half time drawing 2-2.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with Paddock pushing for a goal to go ahead consistantly. The break came in the 58th minute when Okera Simmonds was brought down after breaking through clean on goal and a penalty was awarded. Jay Phillips stepped up to take the spot kick and smashed it home to put Paddock ahead and add to his tally for the season.
Paddock forwards, Simmonds and Ronaldo Brown were a constant nuisance for the oppositions defence, with the latter being unlucky not to get on the score sheet after beating the Urmston defenders time and time again.
But for Simmonds, his opportunity came in the 65th minute when he did well to get past the Urmston centre back and smashed it past the keeper to make it 4-2.
Urmston managed to get a consolation goal, with a stunning late strike from outside the box, making it 4-3, but it was too late for the opposition to mount a comeback and when the final whistle blew, Paddock were the victors.
Manager Stephen Howson said: “Going 2-0 down was not the sort of response I was hoping for and it’s funny because we win but it’s not funny because theres something about why we can’t score goals first.
“I don’t know if teams are getting up for playing us, they’re treating this like a cup final and they’re blasting and emptying themselves out in the first 15-20 minutes.
“I think today was a clear example of something I thought for a long time which is I think we’re fitter than a lot of teams, and I think we can blow a team out and I think we can blow a team out and that’s what we have to start doing. We have to start at a ridiculous tempo and that tempo has to be too much for teams to handle and we have to drag them into the deep water and we have to drown them. And if we do that we can put games to bed early.”
We are currently unsure of what the incoming COVID-19 restrictions will entail for Paddocks future contests in the league, so make sure to stay tuned on our social media channels for any updates.
