Faz Ball Eyes Taunton Test
Parkway v Taunton Town | Match PreviewBy Jack Hobbs
Plymouth Parkway’s season seems finally to be flickering into life after The Yellows secured a 1-0 win over Bracknell Town at Bolitho Park on Saturday.
The solitary goal from Ryan Brett not only secured a vital three points, but rewarded Parkway with back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
The win sees Chris McPhee’s side move up to 19th in the table, level on points with 17th placed Basingstoke Town and 18th placed Dorchester Town, ahead of a visit from Taunton Town on Tuesday.
Summer signing Farren Simons highlighted the importance Parkway’s home form will play in the rest of their season.
“We’re feeling good after Saturday”, said Simons.
“We spoke about it being really important that when we are at home, to try and make it as much of a fortress as we can, making ourselves hard to beat, and how important those results are when you’re playing teams in and around you.
“We need to make sure that we pick up those points.
“Winning two games in a row is always a good thing as well, because when you win one, you’re never 100% sure that you’re going to kick on, but it’s nice to get two in a row after beating Gosport Borough, who are a good side.
“It’s important to kick on now, because there’s a few teams that are in and around us with similar points and similar games played. So we need to start picking more points up where we can.”
It was also Parkway’s first clean sheet of the season and their first since a 0-1 away win at Winchester City back in April, something that Simons believes will install lots of confidence into the side.
“I think confidence is a big thing when you’ve got so many young lads in the team, and we’ve got a couple across that back line”, said Simons.
“I don’t think the defence has mainly been to blame for conceding as many goals as we as we have. Obviously when people see that we’re conceding goals, they mainly look to the defence as the first point of call to give stick to.
“So I think it was nice for the lads to get a clean sheet, because I think they deserve it, especially Mack, he’s been digging us out of quite a lot of holes for the season. So it was definitely nice for him.”
Parkway welcome local rivals Taunton Town to Bolitho Park on Tuesday evening with hopes of securing three wins in a row for the first time since March 8th when they beat The Peacocks 2-3 at The Viridor Stadium.
Taunton sit 9th in the Southern Premier with four wins, three draws and three losses in their opening 10 league games, and it will prove another tough test for McPhee’s side.
“It’s important that with local rivalries that you to make as much of the home advantage as much as you can”, said Simons.
“I think them coming to our place, we’ve got a good following and it’s not an easy ground to come to especially on a Tuesday night under the lights.
“I know they’ve struggled in the last few games as well; their form has dipped. Obviously, a lot of the lads will know their players, a lot of their players will know our players as well.
“I think in games like this, it’s important to get off to a quick start, sort of match the intensity of the game and just not make silly mistakes to give ourselves the best chance of coming away with a win.”
Despite an inconsistent run of games at the start of the season, the 20-year-old is enjoying his time with The Yellows and is looking forward to pushing on this season.
“It’s a great group of lads and it’s a family club”, said Simons.
“I got that feeling in the first couple of weeks. The gaffer’s great and it’s been good.
“With the position I play, I’m a bit of a flow player so it’s been tough to get going with just a start here and a start there, but now that I’m starting to pick up more consistent minutes, I feel like I can really kick on and start contributing to the team a bit more.
“It’s a tough one for wingers and attackers, because we’re not really people that you bring on in the end of games where you’re trying to hold out, get a point, or if the games really tight.
“Sometimes it’s tough for the gaffer to make that decision to bring me on, but when you start games, it’s important that you leave your mark on it. You have a couple of good moments where the gaffers is in his head thinking ‘those were good moments’ and you need to make that impact to keep your shirt.
“Obviously wins coming is going to help me out and I’m going to get more minutes if the team are winning. It’s just important that I kick on now, try and grab as many minutes as I can and as many assists and goals as I can.”
The former Derby County academy player spent last season at Tiverton Town on loan from Truro City but, due to several management changes, failed to secure the amount of gametime he was after.
The 20-year-old is hoping to find more consistency during his new chapter in Yellow.
“Ever since coming out of Derby, it’s sort of been a bit stop start”, said Simons.
“I joined Truro, expecting to play, and got loaned out.
“It didn’t really go to plan at Tiverton because they were struggling at the time, and they had three manager changes. Being a loan player, it was tough for me to get a good gig at Tiverton, and then I went back to Truro, didn’t really play, had a couple of loan spells.
“This year, it’s really important for me to get as many consistent minutes as I can, and just to almost find a bit of a home where I can play games. I have a manager that trusts me. I’m a familiar face to my teammates and stuff. I’m not always a player that’s just trying to fit into another group.
“I think it’s really tough for young players, when they come out of academies or when they come out of clubs, to really gel somewhere and try and find a group where they fit in with the teammates and sort of system and playing non-league football and gaining that trust of senior players.
“For me, this year, I want as many goal contributions as I can get, and just to try and really kick on and just get as many as many starts and as many games in my belt as possible.”
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