Parkway travelled to Chipping Sodbury in a rearranged fixture brought forward from late October looking to maintain their promising start to their league campaign. 3 changes were made to the starting line up from the midweek victory over Exmouth Town with Jordan Bentley, Levi Landricombe and Nick Hurst starting in place of Matt Wright, Mikey Williams and Michael Landricombe who were all named among the substitutes. Shane Krac remains unavailable due to injury.

Parkway made a quick start and on 3 minutes almost took the lead. A through ball from Harrison Davis found Levi Landricombe in the clear only for his attempted first time lob from 18 yards fall safely into the hands of Chris Simsek in the home goal. In their first attack on 8 minutes the hosts struck back and almost went ahead with only a last ditch goal line clearance by Rob Farkins, after some hesitant and chaotic defending, prevented them from doing so. With the hosts looking lively on the flanks, they created another chance on 10 minutes with Kyle Moore comfortably saving a long range effort. Parkway began to dominate the midfield but were often guilty of conceding possession too easily with their final ball lacking quality and precision. Chipping Sodbury continued to compete well without creating any clear chances with the game lacking fluidity with too many misplaced passes, overhit long balls and neither keeper being called into action.

Parkway looked to use the flanks and switch play whilst remaining patient but were unable to penetrate the home defence who remained strong. A lengthy delay whilst the home keeper received treatment broke up play as the game lacked any real quality as Parkway huffed and puffed but rarely tested a struggling Simsek. On 32 minutes a curling free kick from 25 yards by River Allen clipped the outside of the post followed by a neat exchange between Hurst and Ryan Richards being deflected behind for a corner as Parkway looked for an opening. The resultant corner was cleared to the edge of the 18 area where Farkins hit a rising effort narrowly over.

Little was seen of Chipping Sodbury as an attacking threat but the pacey Josh Pandolfino looked lively but invariably lacked support in the final third with Parkway defending comfortably. On 35 minutes a Parkway break along the right saw Callum Hall link well with Richards whose cross was headed just wide by Hurst. Parkway continued to squander possession in midfield however a period of pressure saw them win a couple of corners and from one on the left they took the lead on 43 minutes when Bentley climbed highest at the far post to power home a header. They almost doubled the lead a minute later when a delicate lob by Richards skimmed the bar after good work by Allen.

The final action of the half saw the hosts Ben Chick receive the game’s first yellow card after a cynical trip on Hall as he attempted to break through from midfield. A stuttering, generally uninspiring first half from Parkway whose game lacked fluency and a cutting edge and despite having the lion’s share of possession, they were unable to test Simsek in the home goal too often.

An early break in the second half saw the hosts Kalam Youngsham fire an angled drive just over on 47 minutes as Parkway looked to up their tempo from the first half and attempt to control the game. With Parkway now looking much sharper and positive, good work between Allen and Billy Palfrey released Levi Landricombe whose shot was blocked by the keeper before another break along the left saw Hurst cut inside and again test Simsek.

A rare break by the hosts on 53 minutes resulted in some hesitant defending which saw them win a corner from which Aaron Stevens free header flew narrowly over. Chipping Sodbury made their first substitution on 54 minutes with Keene Ashwood replacing Frankie Grieveson. Hurst was then put in the clear and cleverly rounded the keeper only for his heavy touch to get away from him with his shot from a narrow angle going into the side netting. Parkway continued to dominate but play remained generally scrappy as they looked to increase their lead.

On 59 minutes Michael Landricombe replaced Hall in midfield and made an almost immediate impact. On 63 minutes a determined Richards broke clear along the left with his dangerous cross only being cleared as far as Landricombe who, unmarked, smashed home an unstoppable volley from around 15 yards. The hosts then made their final substitutions with Darren Jeffries replacing Jordan Clark and Corey King coming on for Pandolfino. Parkway’s second goal seemed to release the tension and they started playing with much more confidence, moving the ball around at pace with more penetration against a tiring defence and it was no surprise when they increased their lead further.

On 68 minutes good work between Allen and Davis along the right saw a cross from Allen cutely dummied by Michael Landricombe to brother Levi who does what he does best and crashed home a shot from around 12 yards. With Parkway now in full flow, on 70 minutes Allen broke clear and shot wide when he had better options available in support. James Ward replaced Davis for Parkway on 73 minutes as they continued to dominate despite the tempo of the game dropping. On 76 minutes they should have gone further ahead when a strong run down the left by Hurst saw him pull the ball back to Richards some 6 yards out only for him to uncharacteristically spoon his shot over the bar.

Chipping Sodbury remained on the back foot, rarely threatening and on 80 minutes Richards finally got the goal his hard working, selfless performance deserved. A pin point cross field ball to Allen on the right saw his dangerous cross pick out Ryan Lane whose shot was parried with Richards reacting quickest to hammer home the rebound low into the corner from around 10 yards. With Parkway now content to slow the pace and retain and control possession, on 85 minutes the strong running and lively substitute King saw Moore easily save his shot as Parkway comfortably saw the game out.

After a rather insipid, disjointed first half against limited but willing, hardworking opponents who never gave up, a much improved second half performance from Parkway saw them run out comfortable winners to make it out 3 wins out of 3 and top the table as early pacesetters. There remains a long, long way to go with plenty of room for improvement as the much changed squad begin to gel, recover from injuries and get up to full match fitness but the early signs are encouraging. With an intense start to the season and 4 games having been played in the first 12 days, Parkway now have a rest and recovery week before entertaining Cribbs in another all ticket game at Bolitho Park next Saturday.