Wolves Sporting hot-shots close in on glory

Having won their last 12 league games and scored almost 200 goals across all competitions, Andy Paddock’s side have breezed past a fair few teams this term.

Six points clear with six games left, with three games in hand on second-placed Malvern Town, Sporting knocked Pegasus Juniors for six at the weekend.

Jon Letford grabbed a hat-trick and Alex Moore, Tom Hill and Wes Grey struck in a 6-0 triumph, less than 48 hours on from a 6-2 win against Bewdley Town. But Paddock is not allowing his charges to rest on their laurels.

“We’ve said to them, they’ve got to keep winning – every single game,” said Paddock.

“It’s easy to lose your way when the games are coming so thick and fast, but we’ve been able to make a few changes as we’ve got a lot of depth.

“The amount of goals that we are scoring really is phenomenal, and we kept a clean sheet on Saturday too.

“We’ve scored in every single game across all competitions so if we keep a clean sheet, we’re very likely to win.

“The lads have done really well for me. They’re a very good bunch.”

Last week, Sporting suffered a rare defeat, losing 3-1 to Stafford Rangers – who are three divisions above – in the Staffordshire Senior Cup semi-finals.

Paddock has praised his men for getting over that to take further steps towards league glory.

“We were disappointed to lose against Stafford Rangers last week, as we’re used to winning most weeks, but we bounced back to beat Bewdley Town 6-2 and then Pegasus 6-0,” he said.

“It’s relentless at the moment, the schedule, but we’re enjoying it.

“We fear nobody. We always play the same way, attacking football.

“We’ve scored 183 goals across all competitions. I think we need a few wins to confirm it now. We’ve won 12 on the bounce in the league and are 16 unbeaten, so the lads deserve a great amount of credit.”

Sporting had a lot of games called off over the winter, which is why they still have six games to go. Next up is a short trip to Wednesfield, who Paddock used to manage, tomorrow.

The Amos Lane side have done well under Dean Gill, following promotion from Division One as runners-up, which has prompted Wolverhampton Casuals to secure Gill’s services for next term.

“We’ve got Wednesfield, who are a very good team,” added Paddock.

“Dean Gill has done brilliantly down there. He has done amazingly at the club, and he’s off to Casuals in the summer.

“You have to take your hat off to him. He’s worked so hard.

“I definitely want to get out of this league as I don’t want to have to be in a challenge with Casuals for the title next season.

“It’ll be a really tough game, a competitive game – they won’t sit back.”

Along with Malvern, Tividale could still catch Sporting.

They extended their unbeaten run in the league to six games on Saturday, winning 4-1 at AFC Bridgnorth.

Tividale started the game superbly. Kicking against the slope, a whipped-in Elliott Hartley free-kick on five minutes was headed home by Ben Birch, his first goal for the club.

James Chetter soon equalised for the hosts. After the break, Tivi were back on top thanks Curtis Cocking’s powerful strike.

Joe Lawley extended their advantage from the penalty spot and substitute Chris Bladen rounded off a fine afternoon. Tividale take on Malvern tonight.

Dudley Sports came from two goals down to win 4-2 at basement boys Wellington Amateurs.

Jack Bailey, Richard Nicholson, Kaynell Smith and Joe Billingham got the goals for Sports at School Grove.

In Division One, Darlaston Town concluded their home programme with a 2-2 draw against Kington Town.

Zuki Stanton put Darlaston in front. Kington then took the lead, with Danny Mayne’s close-range finish securing a point for the hosts. They are sixth in the table.