Celebrations muted by joint boss Adam Morning as Storks’ survival is sealed
The 32-year-old insisted that the manner of their survival wasn’t worthy of recognition with their performance against Winsford United reflective of the position they’re in.
The home side did enough on the final day of the season, winning 3-2 at the Ruby Civil Arena, but Morning wasn’t impressed with the way his players had heaped unnecessary pressure on themselves.
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Hide AdThe Storks looked out of sight at one point but six defeats on the bounce dragged them right back in to the mire. And they even made hard work of things against the Blues.
While rivals West Didsbury and Chorlton were beaten at home to Ashton United, Morning’s men were hanging on despite commanding the fixture for large chunks.
James Dean and Samuel Howell but the hosts two goals up at the midway point in the first half before Sam Madeley pulled a goal back for United.
Ellis Hancox restored Padiham’s two-goal advantage before the break and at that point everything seemed done and dusted. However, a second for Madeley in the second half added to Morning’s stress levels.
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Hide Ad“It’s a massive relief,” he said. “I had to miss one of my good friend’s wedding for it, which killed me a bit, but he completely understood the situation.
“I left afterwards and had a couple of drinks with Steve Cunningham. They got in to the play-offs that afternoon. It was good to have a chilled evening, a chance to relax after all the stress and pressure we’ve been under.
“Thankfully it’s all over with. We’ve had a good battle with West Didsbury, and every credit to them, but it’s been horrendous.
“We ended up winning the game 3-2 but, having looked back at the game, the goals we conceded were shambolic.
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Hide Ad“There was nothing to celebrate after the game, we should never have been in that position. I didn’t want the players celebrating like we’d won the league.
“We were very good in the first half and controlled the game but we should have been out of sight. Our own mistakes cost us.
“We should have won the game comfortably and at 3-1 that’s where good teams kill the game off. The better sides pick teams off when they’re trying to break you down.
“We’ve allowed teams to get back in to the game and that’s why we finished down in 18th. That’s something we’ll have to address.
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Hide Ad“If we don’t change things then, ultimately, we’ll get the sack. There’s no two ways about it. The task was to keep the club up, we’d have liked it to have been done earlier, but we got there in the end.”