Knockout Night in Exmouth
Exmouth Town vs Parkway | Match PreviewBy Mike Parrish
There is little time for reflection in January, and for Plymouth Parkway the fixtures keep coming thick and fast. Just days after a fourth successive league defeat at Bolitho Park, Chris McPhee’s side turn their attention to knockout football as they make the short trip east to face Exmouth Town in the County Cup quarter-final.
It is, on paper, a game Parkway could probably do without. League survival remains the overriding priority, and another testing away trip to Uxbridge looms on Saturday. But McPhee has been clear in his thinking. This is not a distraction, it is an opportunity.
After a bruising run of results, the County Cup offers a chance to change the mood, rotate the squad, and inject some much needed momentum back into a group that showed real fight in the second half against Gosport Borough, even if the damage had already been done.
Changes are expected. With the workload beginning to fill, Rocky Neal and Shane White are set to be rested, while this fixture could shine a light on those waiting patiently for minutes. The foreign student contingent may come to the fore, including striker Gunner Franke, whose brief appearances have sparked intrigue, while fringe players such as Reece Shanley and Farren Simons are likely to be handed valuable opportunities under the lights.
A place in the semi-final is within touching distance, and in a season where margins feel increasingly fine, any taste of progress can matter. Still, the message will be clear: get the job done, and get out with a clean bill of health. No needless bookings. No fresh injury concerns. January brings little sympathy.
Exmouth Town, though, will have ideas of their own. Kev Hill’s impact since taking charge has been impressive, and the former Torquay man will see the County Cup as a realistic route to silverware. Southern Road is never an easy place to visit, particularly on a midweek evening, and the Muff Town Casuals will be eager to respond after a frustrating home defeat to Hartpury at the weekend.
They sit seventh in their league and will balance priorities much like Parkway, but the presence of former Yellows Matt Wright and Mike Landricome adds extra edge to what already shapes up as a lively Devon derby.
For Parkway, this is about more than just progression. It is about restoring belief, managing minutes, and carrying forward the intensity that briefly flickered back into life last Saturday. The league campaign remains the main event, but on Wednesday night, under the lights in Exmouth, there is a chance to find that winning feeling again.
And in a month as unforgiving as this, that might just matter more than it seems.
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