Gift-Wrapped on Valentine’s Day as Parkway Slip at Sholing
Sholing | Match ReportIt was encouraging to see the sun shining brightly as Parkway left Plymouth for Southampton, chasing a fourth consecutive league victory and another step towards clarity in a winter defined by uncertainty.
With almost a full programme of fixtures surviving inspection across the division, and Sholing’s 3G surface removing the usual pre-match doubts, the stage was set for football to take centre stage.
Chris McPhee travelled without Rocky Neal and Taylor Scarff, though there was a welcome return to the squad for loanee Tylor Love-Holmes. One change came to the starting XI, Gunnar Franke leading the line in place of Neal after recent upturns in form.
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On a fine afternoon in Hampshire, Parkway began steadily. The ball was worked into areas ahead of the lively James Watts-Barciela, whose pace looked capable of unsettling a physical Sholing back four. Early exchanges suggested control, if not clear-cut dominance.
Sholing, though, carried menace of their own. McCarthy and Michael Folivi were particularly sharp, probing whenever space appeared. And on a Valentine’s Saturday with a slightly subdued crowd inside The Mortgage Decisions Stadium, Parkway handed the hosts an unwanted gift.
A mix-up between Luke McCormick and his defensive line allowed Folivi to pounce, driving into the box before finishing calmly from eight yards. The opener shifted the tone entirely.
Parkway’s composure deserted them. Short, neat passing was replaced by rushed long balls that Franke, isolated, struggled to retain. Frustration crept in, Callum Hall and Rio Garside both entering the referee’s notebook as the contest grew scrappy.
The pressure told again just past the 20-minute mark. Folivi was brought down inside the area and stepped up himself, dispatching the penalty confidently to double Sholing’s advantage.
There were chances to change the narrative. Watts-Barciela went close on several occasions, his direct running offering Parkway hope, while at 1–0 Jack Veale missed a clear header from six yards that might have altered the afternoon’s direction. Magnus Norman was called into action again before the interval, saving well to deny Watts-Barciela and preserve Sholing’s cushion.
Half-time arrived with Parkway trailing for the first time in three matches. The overriding feeling was frustration, at the scoreline, and at the manner of it.
There were no changes at the break, but whatever was said in the away dressing room was swiftly undermined. Just three minutes into the second half, Sholing struck a decisive blow. Folivi ghosted in at the back post to complete his hat-trick with a composed first-time finish, capitalising on further defensive uncertainty.
At 3–0, Parkway faced a mountain.
Jenson Ireland was forced off with a niggle soon after, Mikey Williams introduced at left-back as Parkway sought greater attacking thrust. The contest, however, remained littered with errors and played out against a strangely flat backdrop.
Yet even amid the frustration, Parkway found resolve.
Carlo Garside delivered a fine ball into the area, and Shane White rose well to power a header home from six yards, halving the deficit and igniting belief. Suddenly the momentum shifted.
Ten minutes later, Parkway had another. Watts-Barciela again proved influential, his work at the byline finding substitute Will Sullivan at the back post. The youngster finished smartly from close range, and from nowhere it was 3–2.
For a brief spell, Parkway looked capable of a remarkable turnaround.
But moments change games, and errors defined this one.
Another unforced mistake allowed Jake McCarthy to race through and restore Sholing’s two-goal cushion, the forward coolly notching his 13th league goal of the campaign and extinguishing the comeback.
McPhee reshaped to a back three in the closing stages, searching for one final surge, but Sholing managed the remainder professionally. Organised, opportunistic, and ruthless when gifts were offered, the hosts did not require a second invitation.
For Parkway, this was a reminder of fine margins. They created chances, they showed fight, but defensive lapses proved decisive. In a division where momentum is fragile, the run of three successive victories came to an abrupt halt.
Attention now turns to Bolitho Park, where league leaders Walton & Hersham make the long trip to Devon for what promises to be a high-drama evening at the Theatre of Trees.
Parkway will look to leave this frustration behind, and rediscover not only the results, but the composure that had reignited belief in recent weeks.
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