Parkway fall to another defeat in the capital

Parkway travelled to Hendon, their longest away trip of the season, a 476 mile round trip, looking to extend their 3 match unbeaten run. 3 changes were made from Tuesday’s goalless draw at Poole Town with, Rio Garside, Callum Rose and Jack Crago replacing Callum Hall, Mikey Williams and Ben Seymour respectively.

3 - 1
Full Time
Graham Lloyd

Full Match Report

Parkway made a sharp start on the 3g surface seeing an early effort ruled out for offside before taking the lead in the 3rd minute. Neat play in midfield between Dan Rooney and Gabe Billington released Harrison King on the right whose low cross was turned in at the near post by Tom Bath for his first goal of the season after his lengthy injury lay off.

Hendon responded almost immediately by drawing level in the 6th minute. Hesitancy and confusion in the Parkway back line close to the bye line saw them concede an unnecessary corner on the left with Dave Diedhiou’s powerful back post header being deflected over the line at close range off the unfortunate Rose.

After the early exchanges play began to even out with Rooney prominent in central midfield looking composed in possession prompting and probing looking to create openings for the front players.

On 13 minutes a Hendon break along the right saw the strong running Niko Muir-Marchant fire into the side netting after going clear.

Play continued at a high tempo with King seeing his shot blocked after good build up play between Garside and Rooney on 18 minutes. The hosts almost took the lead on 20 minutes after neat link up between Joe White and Muir-Marchant forced a corner from which the dangerous Diedhiou glanced his header narrowly wide.

On 22 minutes Hafed Al Droubi in the home goal was called into action for the first time saving well low down to his right from Crago’s angled drive. The lively Crago continued to cause problems for the Hendon defence and on 24 minutes his well-timed shot was blocked for another corner.

Play continued to switch from end to end with both sides defending well with few clear chances being created. However on 29 minutes Parkway could have taken the lead. Good work along the right between Austen Booth and King saw Booth’s cross into the danger area find Bath whose lofted shot from around 6 yards flew well over.

Hendon continued to look dangerous along both flanks and on 35 minutes they took the lead. Good build up and link play between White and Muir-Marchant caused hesitancy and poor communication in the Parkway defence allowing White to go clear and lob the advancing Harrison Lee who had been left exposed in a one on one situation.

Hendon continued to look the more threatening and on 39 minutes King did well to intercept and clear a dangerous cross from the right. Approaching half time Hendon broke again along the right with Toby Down doing well to block a shot which went for another corner.

On 43 minutes Ryan Lane made a strong run down the left with his cross being cleared and his follow up shot going well over. In the 2 minutes of added time Diedhiou picked up a yellow card for a foul with the Parkway free kick coming to nothing after a poor delivery.

After a sharp start and taking an early lead, Parkway went behind to 2 poorly conceded goals and despite competing well in a fairly even half and creating a couple of half chances, were unable to draw level going into the break.

Attendance
0

The second half started in dramatic fashion with Parkway’s first attack on 48 minutes being halted just outside the penalty area by a crude challenge by Diedhiou on Crago.

Diedhiou was duly sent off after receiving his second yellow card within 5 minutes of his first. Guri Demuria then replaced Shaun Lucien for Hendon as they looked to reorganise and adjust their formation. Parkway began to push forward with the hosts dropping deep and looking to play on the counter.

Garside and Rose combined well on 50 minutes with Al Droubi doing well to gather a loose ball under pressure from Crago. Rose then saw his ambitious effort from around 40 yards fly well over as Parkway continued to press for an equaliser.

Parkway began to dominate possession but their play in the final third lacked quality, composure or penetration with Hendon defending comfortably and Al Droubi remaining untested.

On 52 minutes Hendon broke clear with the powerful and pacey Muir-Marchant reaching the bye line with his cross being blocked.

Parkway made a double substitution on 57 minutes with Hall and Aaron Goulty replacing Down and Billington. Parkway continued to push forward leaving gaps at the back but were unable to create any clear chances or breach a solid Hendon defence with Al Droubi dealing comfortably with a series of poorly directed crosses as Parkway frustration began to creep in.

On 61 minutes Parkway fell further behind to a counter attack. A long ball out to the left to Muir-Marchant saw him race in behind the exposed Parkway defence and fire in a powerful drive into the far corner giving Lee no chance. Parkway continued to have plenty of possession in the Hendon half but remained unable to penetrate into final third with crosses and final passes lacking direction or troubling the host’s defence which remained solid.

On 68 minutes another Hendon counter yet again found Muir-Marchant going clear on the right with Lee pulling off a superb save to keep the score at 3-1 with the ball flying behind for a corner.

Hendon continued to defend in numbers restricting Parkway to shooting from distance with King firing wildly over on 70 minutes with Garside also failing to test the keeper with his effort on 72 minutes.

Lane and Garside then linked well to set up Hall whose shot from around 20 yards was easily saved by Al Droubi. Parkway continued to look to create openings but remained susceptible to the counter attack with Muir-Marchant and White caught narrowly offside on 75 minutes as they threatened to break clear.

On 77 minutes Parkway created a good opportunity to reduce the deficit only for Bath to blast well over from around 8 yards after being set up by Goulty. With desperation creeping into the Parkway ranks,

Hendon almost increased their lead on 78 minutes. Lee did well to block a shot from White with Rose heading behind from the resultant corner as the Parkway defence came under pressure with the hosts looking the more likely to score from their counter attacks.

Approaching full time Hendon were content to slow the game down and see it out with Brooks seeing yellow on 85 minutes for leaving the field too slowly after being substituted by Rohdell Gordon.

Parkway continued to look for a late push and get something from the game but their approach play lacked the quality to trouble the Hendon defence with Al Droubi remaining relatively untested and continuing to easily gather poorly delivered crosses.

Parkway huffed and puffed during the 7 minutes of added time but were unable to make any headway with Rooney seeing yellow as Hendon comfortably saw the game out with the highly impressive Muir-Marchant being substituted late on by Frank Keita.

Despite taking an early lead and playing against 10 men for almost all of the second half, a below par all round performance by Parkway saw a stubborn and determined Hendon run out deserved winners for their first win in 10 games.

Mistakes at the back and a lack of a cutting edge in the final third cost Parkway the game against a side scrapping for points as they look to climb away from the relegation zone and Parkway can have no real complaints on the outcome. Parkway drop a place to 13th and are now 10 points clear of the drop zone.

Parkway now have a short rest and recovery period before they embark on a run of 4 consecutive home games in the next 2 weeks starting on Tuesday when 17th placed Gosport Borough visit Bolitho Park.

Gosport beat Parkway 5-1 in the reverse fixture back in late August and will arrive off the back of a 2-2 draw at Dorchester Town on Saturday. Parkway must ensure they capitalise on these games as they look to consolidate their league position and not get drawn back towards the relegation zone.  

Match Info

Hendon:

1 Al Droubi, 2 Dawodu, 3 Perry, 4 Jackson, 5 Matsuzaka, 6 Diedhiou (sent off 48), 7 Brooks (Gordon 85), 8 Donnellan, 9 White ©, 10 Muir-Marchant (Keita 90+2)), 11 Lucien (Demuria 50)

Substitutes: 12 Keita, 15 Forbes (unused), 16 Demuria, 17 Gordon, 18 Iontton (unused).

Plymouth Parkway:

1 Lee, 2 King, 3 Lane ©, 4 Down (Goulty 57), 5 Rose, Booth, 7 Billington (Hall 57), 8 Rooney, 9 Bath, 10 Garside, 11 Crago

Substitutes:

12 Goulty, 14 Hall, 15 Palfrey (unused), 16 Seymour (unused), 17 Williams (unused)

Attendance:  239

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