Joint boss Smith apologises for Storks' dip in form

Despite Spencer Jordan giving the Storks the lead midway through the first half at the St Luke’s Barton Stadium, the Blues went on to condemn the visitors to a fourth successive defeat and a sixth loss in eight outings.

It was Joe Duckworth’s double, in the space of seven second half minutes, that engineered the turnaround as Padiham suffered a seventh defeat on the bounce on the road in the Hallmark Security Premier Division.

Having failed to win on their travels since December, when Dominic Craig’s brace was enough to take the points off Northwich Victoria, Smith took to social media to say: “I have to apologise to everyone connected with the football club at the moment. We will get this right.”

The away side had taken the lead when Jay Hart’s set-piece landed at the feet of Jordan and the forward slotted the ball in to the corner.

Duckworth opened his account for the home side in the 67th minute when he was first on the scene to prod the ball in to the net after goalkeeper Marcus Burgess had spilled Callum Gardner’s attempt.

And the hosts had their noses in front in the 74th minute when Duckworth collected Gardner’s inch perfect pass before delicately lobbing Burgess from the edge of the penalty area.

The Storks entertain Barnoldswick Town at the Ruby Civil Arena this evening (Tuesday) with kick off at 7-45 p.m.

Padiham, now 13th in the table, have three home games on the bounce as they welcome Bootle to the Arbories on Thursday before Maine Road pay a visit at the weekend.