SEVEN UP AS CURTIS ERA BEGINS WITH STATEMENT WIN
Parkway v Bracknell Town | Match ReportBy Mike Parrish
Opening day at Bolitho always hits a little differently, but few could have imagined just how emphatic Karl Curtis’ first competitive game in charge would prove to be.
Parkway put Bracknell Town to the sword with a stunning 7–0 victory, putting years of opening-day misery firmly behind them with a performance that had the Bolitho crowd purring from the outset.
 Plymouth ParkwayBracknell Town 
7 - 0Full Time |
Full Match Report
Images: Leon Brooke
After a final night’s sleep before the big day, Curtis handed competitive debuts to Aaron Dearing and Joel Sullivan, while Will Sullivan was asked to support Reece Thomson up front with Rocky Neal nursing a slight niggle.
Bracknell arrived after a busy few weeks in the transfer market, although marquee signing Harry Cooksley did not travel. New striker Adam Liddle led the line for the visitors.
It took just three minutes for the Curtis era to produce its first goal, and it came from an unlikely source.
Captain Rio Garside delivered a superb corner into the danger area and centre-back Toby Down rose highest to head Parkway in front.
The opening ten minutes were frantic, with Bracknell gradually adapting to the conditions and looking to impose themselves through Joshua Smith, who repeatedly tried to link with Liddle.
Parkway, however, quickly settled into their shape, with Will Sullivan causing problems through a series of intelligent runs and Carlo Garside providing the pivot in midfield for Callum Hall and Rio Garside to press whenever possession turned over.
Hall almost doubled the advantage on 20 minutes when a surging run and effort was blocked, the ball falling back to the number eight before he was crowded out inside the area.
The second goal was not far away. Again it came from a Garside corner, and again Down was in the right place. The centre-back found himself with the ball at his feet six yards from goal and calmly finished to make it 2–0.
Five minutes later, Parkway had a third. Joel Sullivan marked his debut in perfect fashion, drifting into the box before connecting with a superb glancing header that looped over the outstretched Myles Brown.
Bracknell had quality, with Lynford Sackey and Ruben Bartlett-Antwi offering threats from the wings, but the late assembly of their squad was evident as Parkway’s organisation and cohesion proved too much to handle.
Down, Taylor Scarff and Mikey Williams formed a back three that had barely been tested by the time the game reached its latter stages of the opening half.
There was even time for some comic relief before the interval when referee Craig Scriven was caught by a close-range clearance straight in the face in the 43rd minute.
The referee was back on his feet shortly afterwards, accompanied by applause from around Bolitho, before bringing an outstanding first half to a close.
Bracknell attempted to find a way back after the restart, with Logan Coles replacing Smith, and the change brought the first real involvement for Dearing.
The Parkway goalkeeper got down well to save from Sackey as the visitors tried to kickstart their afternoon.
For the opening ten minutes of the second half, Parkway were content to sit in their shape, compact and organised as Bracknell looked to build on that early spell.
But any thoughts of a comeback were extinguished on 56 minutes.
A trademark run from the Wizard, a sight Parkway supporters have become accustomed to over the last decade, ended with the number seven being clipped inside the box.
Carlo Garside stepped up and made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Parkway 4–0 ahead.
Curtis made his first change on 64 minutes as Rocky Neal replaced the hard-working Will Sullivan.
The striker’s first touch almost produced an immediate assist, with Reece Thomson sending a looped header towards goal that landed on top of the net.
The frustration among the travelling supporters was now clear. Encouragement and drums gave way to sarcastic chants of “We’ve had a shot” as Bracknell’s hopes of salvaging anything from the afternoon disappeared.
Around 600 spectators at Bolitho were enjoying a performance that had already banished memories of previous opening-day disasters.
The 7–0 defeat at Hungerford and last season’s 6–3 horror show at Walton had made the first day of the season a difficult one for Parkway in recent years.
Not this time.
Neal would not be kept quiet for long, producing a wonder strike to make it five before Parkway continued to make changes with the afternoon already firmly in their grasp.
There was still time for another defender to join the scoring.
With Toby Down already having grabbed two, Taylor Scarff duly obliged on 82 minutes, adding a sixth to cap a remarkable opening day for Curtis.
But Parkway weren’t finished.
Neal struck again in the 89th minute to claim his second of the afternoon and complete a stunning 7–0 victory.
Seven goals, a clean sheet and the perfect start to the Curtis era.
After years of opening-day ghosts, Parkway finally laid them to rest.
Parkway Partners
