Parkway back on track with three points at Bolitho Park
Parkway vs Didcot Town | Match ReportAfter numerous postponements Parkway returned to Bolitho Park for the first time since 30 January for a crucial game against bottom side Didcot Town. Their rotation policy continued with 4 changes made to Saturday’s starting 11 at Bracknell Town.
Alex Cairo, Oscar Halls, Matt Wright and the injured Ryan Lane who was seen at the ground hobbling around on crutches, were replaced by Shane White, Toby Down, Reece Thomson and Rio Garside.
 Plymouth ParkwayDidcot Town FC 
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Images: Dave Crawford
Parkway started at a brisk tempo creating early forward momentum with Cameron Sangster shooting wide on 5 minutes.
Didcot forced the game’s first corner on 9 minutes which came to nothing with Parkway breaking away along the right with White and Garside linking well in finding Jack Crago at the far post who steered his effort narrowly wide.
Didcot responded immediately with Robbie Gallagher racing clear along the right, cutting inside but pulling his shot wide of the far post from around 15 yards. A warning for Parkway. Parkway gradually began to control the midfield area with White and Garside again combining well to set up Crago whose header was comfortably saved by Paul Strudley in the visitor’s goal.
Parkway continued to control the tempo of the game playing with intensity with Sangster getting the game’s first yellow card for a foul on 17 minutes.
Crago then saw his header cleared on 19 minutes after good work by Thomson wide on the right as Parkway continued to press. With Didcot being restricted to the occasional counter attack they managed to go clear on the left on 20 minutes forcing Adam Parkes into his first save of the match.
Parkway continued to move the ball at pace stretching the visitors back line and on 20 minutes a slick move saw Tom Purrington recyle a loose ball and cross to White whose powerful header flew narrowly over. Parkway’s pressure finally paid off when they deservedly took the lead on 23 minutes.
Neat build up play on the right breached the Didcot defence with a deep cross to the left being blocked and only half cleared as far as Purrington who turned smartly on the loose ball and fired home an angled drive into the far corner from around 20 yards.
The tricky Gallagher continued to look the visitors most dangerous player going forward and it was he drew a foul wide on the right on 28 minutes some 30 yards out with the resultant free kick being comfortably defended.
Didcot gradually began to get into the game having their best period of possession in midfield and on 34 minutes a break along the left saw Callum Rose do well to firstly block and then clear a dangerous cross into the 6 yard area.
However it was Parkway who continued to look the more threatening going forward, looking comfortable in possession, moving the ball well and stretching the Didcot defence. On 40 minutes Mikey Williams went clear along the left linking well with Garside whose cross was headed just wide by Purrington.
Another good opportunity wasted. Parkway continued to control the pace of the game creating half chances in the 2 minutes of added time but were unable to increase their lead.
A satisfactory half from Parkway who generally dominated throughout, creating a number of good chances but lacked the clinical finishing to convert them. Didcot were forced to defend in numbers, breaking forward occasionally with the lively Gallagher their main threat on the right flank.
White who appeared to have picked up a slight strain towards the end of the half was, as a precaution, replaced by Cairo at the break.
Parkway started the second half in the ascendancy and on 49 minutes the hard working Thomson displaying pace and awareness broke clear on the left pulling the ball back to Cairo whose shot from around 18 yards was comfortably saved low down by Strudley.
Parkway continued to stretch the Didcot back line and on 51 minutes a long ball in behind the defence saw Strudley race from his line with Thomson rounding the keeper wide on the right but unable to pull the ball back from a narrow angle. A rare Didcot attack on 56 minutes saw a shot fly harmlessly over leaving Parkes untested.
Purrington then saw a shot lacking power easily saved by Strudley as Parkway continued to dominate and create chances. On 58 minutes another break saw Garside go clear along the right, cut inside only to fire his shot straight at Strudley who grabbed the loose ball at the second attempt. Another good chance missed.
Parkway should have increased their lead on 62 minutes but once again spurned a glorious opportunity. Crago raced clear unchallenged but pulled his shot agonisingly wide of the far post from around 15 yards with Strudley beaten.
Didcot then made a double substitution and from the restart drew level from the penalty spot on 64 minutes. A break along the left saw the lively Gallagher bundled over just inside the area with Murphy Bennett converting despite Parkes getting a strong hand to the ball diving to his left.
The visitors Sam Barder was immediately cautioned presumably for remarks made to the officials. Parkway looked to increase their attacking options on 67 minutes with Dylan Jones replacing Sangster. Thomson’s persistence won a corner on the left on 70 minutes with Didcot doing well to clear their lines as Parkway continued to press in their attempt to regain the lead.
Matt Wright replaced Garside on 73 minutes effectively meaning Parkway now had 4 strikers on the pitch.
This seemed to have the desired effect with Jones, Crago and Thomson all linking well on 75 minutes with a close range effort cleared away with Jones and Crago again linking well to force a corner from the left on 76 minutes.
From the corner Rose climbed highest at the far post with his goalbound downward header poked home very close to the goal line by Thomson who had bravely reacted the quickest amongst a mass of bodies. Not the prettiest goal you’ll ever see but a very important one.
With Parkway now on the front foot and in control they should have increased their lead on 79 minutes. Jones was released clear along the right and drove into the 18 yard area unchallenged but lacked the necessary composure at the vital moment, hitting his angled shot from around 15 yards straight at Strudley.
Entering the final stages of the game Parkway continued to control the tempo and on 83 minutes forced another corner after good work by Crago.
Didcot then made their final change on 84 minutes with 17 year old Harry Pitman making his first team debut replacing Jack Alexander. Didcot created their last chance on 87 minutes with a long throw from the left being flicked on into the 6 yard area with Parkes comfortably saving the follow up header.
Cairo then saw yellow for delaying the taking of a throw as the clock approached 90 minutes. Parkway finished the game strongly creating further scoring opportunities in the 5 minutes of added time with shots from Jones and Crago failing to hit the target, again showing the lack of composure required in the final third.
A vital and valuable 3 points for Parkway with a gritty, hard working display. Playing some excellent football at times, had the quality of their finishing matched the quality of their approach play, the margin of victory would have been much wider.
They did well to react to being pegged back by the soft penalty, showing the determination and desire to respond and go on to clinch the win which sees them remain in 20th place and now 3 points closer to safety.
Parkway now have a few days of rest and recovery before the busy Easter weekend which sees them travel to 14th placed Sholing on Saturday before returning to Bolitho Park on Monday with 13th placed Poole Town the visitors.
On a night when one of the 4 scheduled matches in the league was postponed (Tiverton Town) and another abandoned (Hanwell Town), mention should be made of the much maligned pitch.
Considering the amount of rain that had a fallen over the previous 24 hours and beyond, the surface held up remarkably well and credit must be given to the groundsman, staff and many volunteers who had clearly worked tremendously hard in difficult circumstances over a lengthy period to produce a playable surface. Well done to them all.
Match Info
Line-ups:
Plymouth Parkway
1 Parkes, 2 White (Cairo 46), 3 Hall, 4 Purrington, 5 Rose ©, 6 Down, 7 Williams, 8 Sangster (Jones 67), 9 Thomson, 10 Garside (Wright 79), 11 Crago.
Substitutes:
12 Jones, 14 Cairo, 15 Halls (unused), 17 Wright
Didcot Town.
1 Strudley, 2 Bennett, 3 McNeill, 4 Barder, 5 Carnell, 6 Learoyd (c), 7 Alexander (Pitman 84), 8 Glover, 9 Putland, 10 Gallagher, 11 Fox (Humphries 63)
Substitutes:
12 Humphries, 15 Pitman, 16 Brenan
Attendance: 286 (not many away, Gallagher’s Dad was one of them, nice chap).
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