Plymouth Parkway fell to a 2-0 defeat away at playoff hopefuls Walton & Hersham thanks to a brace from Johl Powell.

Parkway’s league safety had been secured prior to kick off due to results elsewhere whereas The Swans were chasing to secure their spot in the playoffs.

There were early warning signs for Chris McPhee’s side, who started slowly, and those signs became reality when Walton took the lead with just nine minutes played.

Walton’s number 10, Powell, found himself with enough space in the box to let fire a shot into the bottom left corner to give his side an early lead, despite Alex Rutter getting a strong hand to it.

The home side were clearly in the driving seat and Parkway were far from their best, but things could have been made interesting just before half time.

The referee waved away two clear penalty shouts from Parkway within the space of two minutes, one for a coming together off the ball and the second for a blatant hand ball in the box – yet both decisions were shelved.

Parkway improved on the ball in the second half but a mistake in possession gifted The Swans their second.

After failing to clear their lines, Powell was again found in space in Parkway’s box and in similar fashion, the midfielder struck home into the far corner past a helpless Rutter to give Walton a convincing lead after 53 minutes.

All in all, it was probably a day to forget for Parkway who were far from their best against a strong opposition, but it was a welcome sight to see long-term absentee Taylor Scarff return to the starting XI.

Speaking after the game, McPhee said: “It was one of those games where we weren’t anywhere near our best for large parts of the game.”

“Especially in the first half, we knew that Walton & Hersham were going to try and play out from the back and be as confident and brave on the ball as they were, and in that first half, we weren’t fully committed to our defensive shape and reacting to triggers to try and get pressure on the ball.”

“Too many times in that first half, they cut through us and caused us problems. Going in a half time, 1-0 down, we kind of felt a little bit fortunate to be in that position.

“They were very good, and we weren’t anywhere near our best and that was the most disappointing thing, was that we weren’t anywhere near our best, and we weren’t fully committed.

“We didn’t have as much energy in our out-of-possession game, and we were really slow with the ball – it made life quite easy for our opponents. Second half, we came out with a little bit more energy, a little bit more belief, bit more desire, and we were a bit more committed to our tactical plan and it showed.

“It was really disappointing to give away a goal in the way that we did to go 2-0 down. It’s just one of those where things just didn’t quite click for long enough periods. It’s an all-around disappointing performance.”

It hasn’t been the first time this season that Parkway have been on the receiving end of poor officiating. Despite Walton & Hersham being deserving of the three points, it was clear to see that the decisions were not going in Parkway’s favour.

“I’ve learned a lot this year”, said McPhee.

“I honestly feel as though this level of football isn’t respected enough. I feel as though this level of football is just disregarded.

“What I’ve seen this this year is that there’s some very good teams in this league, there’s some very good football being played in this league and here’s some very good players in this league.

“Unfortunately, for one reason or another, there isn’t enough being done to ensure that the officiating is being supported in order to get more of the big decisions correct than the not. Even the simple things of having communications between the three officials involved, I think it would make a huge difference.

“Today, one of our players gets elbowed in the face and the linesman by me sees it, confirms it with me. However, there’s no communication with the referee. The referee doesn’t give a free-kick or anything, and there’s just a huge amount of inconsistency with decisions.

“I understand the job is difficult. I really, really do and it’s not the reason that we lost the game today. However, it’s really frustrating to see so many disappointing, key moments in the game that are just either missed, chosen to be ignored, or just treated differently because of who the who the offense is against.

“You look at the incident in first half, the referee even admits it’s handball and if he had been to two or three yards further back, he would have given a penalty. To hear that and have those conversations with referees at halftime or at the end of the game, is disappointing.

“A key moment in the game, just before half time, potentially going in 1-1 and things are slightly different.

“Like I said, that isn’t the reason we’ve lost the game today. Hats off to Walton & Hersham. They’re where they are in the league because they’re a good side. They’re well organised, they play some good football, and they were better than us today. They deserved to win, and I genuinely wish them all the very best in in the in the playoffs.”