Parkway Keep the Points at Bolitho
Parkway v Taunton Town | Match ReportPlymouth Parkway claimed their third win on the bounce in a feisty midweek affair against Taunton Town.
Goals from Rocky Neal and Jake Smith cancelled out an equaliser from Niall Thompson to seal a 2-1 win.
Parkway made one change to the side that beat Bracknell Town 1-0 at Bolitho last Saturday, with Farren Simons making way for Taylor Scarff.
 Plymouth ParkwayTaunton Town 
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It was a fiery start to the local derby and the extraordinarily early red card for Jack Rice, after an elbow on Ryan Brett, set the tone for the 90 to follow.
Parkway started brightly and produced a warning shot through Jensen Ireland who volleyed an effort wide of the Frankie Phillips’ far post.
Taunton hit back with their own maiden shot ten minutes later as Josh Owens stole possession back from Ireland and forced Mack Allen to tip his strong effort over the bar.
James Watts Barciela then tested Phillips with a strong shot through a packed box, but his effort sailed straight into the keeper’s open arms.
With momentum in Parkway’s favour, Rocky Neal made it count as the number nine fired a smart free-kick into the far-left corner to give his side a deserved 1-0 lead after 23 minutes.
With Parkway in a controlling position over the ten men of Taunton heading into half time, The Peacocks saw themselves receive another red card thanks to a moment of madness from manager Richard Luffman.
After referee James Long blew for half time, the Peacocks manager sprinted the width of the pitch to square up to Ryan Brett, subsequently causing some chaotic scenes between the two sides.
The “excitement” of half time seemed to have had an effect on Parkway as it was Taunton who emerged the stronger of the two sides.
The Peacocks levelled the scores five minutes after the restart as Niall Thompson struck home into the bottom left corner after being found in yards of space on the right wing.
After this rocky restart, The Yellows started to regain their footing and they came close to taking the lead once more after Rocky headed a great cross from Watts-Barciela narrowly wide of Phillips’ far post.
Parkway’s persistence paid off in the 65th minute when Callum Hall whipped a low teasing ball into the box for Jake Smith to run onto and bury home into the bottom left corner for his second goal in yellow.
The remainder of the game was a tight and tetchy affair and although both Parkway and the ten men of Taunton battled well, there were very little opportunities at goal.
The win sees Parkway rise up to 16th in the Southern League Premier, with a trip to Hungerford Town set in their sights.
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