Six of the best for Parkway
Parkway v Hungerford Town | Match ReportAfter 2 successive home postponements Parkway returned to Bolitho Park for the first time since Boxing Day looking to extend their 6 match unbeaten run in the league against 5th placed and in form Hungerford Town. 3 changes were made from the midweek 3-1 Devon St Lukes Bowl defeat at Willand Rovers with Ryan Lane and Mikey Williams returning from injury and illness respectively and Callum Hall replacing Matt Wright, Ethan Wright and Callum Rose.
Injuries continue to blight the squad with only 3 substitutes available. The game was also the first to be played at Bolitho Park since the installation of the new LED floodlighting system.
Plymouth ParkwayHungerford Town
6 - 2Full Time |
Full Match Report
Images: Tom Finnie
Hungerford started the sharper forcing 3 corners in the first 5 minutes with Parkway under pressure and doing well to defend them with Adam Parkes making 2 early saves, one low down at his near post from one and then tipping over a header from another.
Hungerford continued to look the more dangerous with Parkway taking a while to get to the pace of the game. On 12 minutes Parkes did well under pressure to claim a high ball from a corner through a crowd of players. Hungerford continued to press and on 14 minutes a break along the right saw a cross into the 6 yard area from the tricky Elis Watts well smothered by Parkes.
After weathering the early storm Parkway gradually began to gain more midfield possession but were still unable to create any clear chances. On 17 minutes Parkes again did well saving an effort from Adulai Sambu.
Parkway created their first chance on 20 minutes with Jack Crago teeing up Lane whose close range effort was well saved by Ryan Clarke. With play continuing at a high tempo Toby Down did well to block an effort from Conor McDonagh with Parkes confidently gathering the resultant corner.
With Parkway forcing their way back into the game, a smart passage of play from back to front saw Reece Thomson flagged marginally offside as he broke clear along the left.
On 24 minutes the dangerous Watts broke clear along the right forcing a corner with Parkes again looking competent under the high ball.
On 28 minutes Rio Garside saw his speculative long range effort sail well wide with Parkway then taking the lead on 33minutes, arguably against the run of play. A long clearance to the wide left found Thomson who, showing pace and control, went clear and displaying good vision delivered a perfect cross to Crago coming in at the back post to fire high into the roof of the net from 5 yards.
This seemed to stun the visitors and galvanise Parkway who then enjoyed their best spell of the game. On 37 minutes a neat passage of play along the left between Thomson, Hall and Williams created a cross forcing some desperate defending. Shane White and Alex Cairo then linked well along right with Clarke doing well to smother the cross.
With Thomson working hard across the front line, switching from flank to flank and stretching the visitors back line, on 40 minutes he was again caught marginally offside after a neat exchange between Garside and Williams had created a scoring opportunity.
With Parkway now the more dominant side they finished the half in style by adding 2 quick goals. On 42 minutes a break along the right released Hall who cut inside at pace and unleashed a spectacular left footed drive from around 20 yards into the top corner giving Clarke no chance. A third goal quickly followed in the added minute of stoppage time with Thomson climbing high at the far post with his looping header from a corner just dropping over the line at the far post with the referees assistant confirming the ball had crossed the line..
After a stuttering start by Parkway with the hosts the more dominant early on and creating the better chances, Parkway gradually took control in the last 20 minutes and playing some delightful football at a high tempo on a tricky surface created chances and finished them clinically.
The second half started with the same intensity and on 49 minutes the visitors Jacob Gardiner-Smith fired way over from long range. On 50 minutes a penetrating move of one touch football from around halfway ended with Williams rounding Clarke and slotting home only to be denied by an offside flag. Parkway continued to compete strongly in midfield applying pressure with Tom Purrington,
Cairo and Hall prominent in winning their fair share of second balls, breaking up Hungerford’s play and supporting the front players. Watts became the first player to be cautioned on 55 minutes for a foul with Hungerford making a double substitution shortly after with Fabio Verissimo-Lopes and Great Evans replacing Brad Hooper and Sam De St Croix respectively.
Garside was then booked for delaying his free kick with the visitors changes making an almost immediate impact by pulling a goal back on the hour. A break along the right allowed Watts, the visitor’s most dangerous player, to cut inside and rifle home a shot from around 20 yards.
Highlighting once again that you can be most vulnerable directly after scoring, Parkway restored their 3 goal lead almost straight from the kick off. Slick play through midfield saw Garside, showing good control, slide in a well weighted pass to Crago who cut inside and fire left footed into the bottom near post corner from around 12 yards wrong footing Clarke.
With Parkway continuing to control the game with their passing and movement, Hungerford began to show their frustration with Gardiner-Smith the next to see yellow after a petulant foul.
Notwithstanding this Hungerford remained in the game and again pulled a goal back on 66 minutes. After a Watts cross had been deflected behind, poor Parkway defending from the corner allowed Evans to flick on a header to the unmarked Sambu who headed home from around 6 yards.
Hungerford continued to threaten with Parkway now forced to defend for a period and on 70 minutes a free kick from the edge of the 18 yard area by Watts was fired straight at Parkes who did well to secure the ball.
Hungerford made their final change on 73 minutes with Jack Alexander replacing Gardiner-Smith and Parkway’s Matt Wright coming on for Thomson who had put in a hard working shift culminating with a goal and an assist.
On 75 minutes Crago went clear through the centre but lacked support and was eventually crowded out by the Hungerford defence. On 76 minutes Jack Wright was cautioned after grabbing Crago’s shirt some 40 yards out preventing him breaking clear.
A Verissimo-Lopes caution quickly followed after some silly backchat to the referee. Despite the game approaching the latter stages, play continued at an intense pace with Parkway extending their lead on 79 minutes with arguably the goal of the game.
Good work by Crago in central midfield set up Lane who strode forward and unleashed a perfectly struck sensational left footed drive from around 30 yards past the despairing dive of Clarke.
Hungerford responded with McDonagh’s low drive being pushed away by Parkes at full stretch with White then doing well with a last ditch block tackle close to the goal line to concede a corner which came to nothing.
Parkway extended their lead further on 86 minutes with the energetic Hall reacting the quickest to poke home from close range after Clarke could only parry away Garside’s well directed 20 yard free kick. Parkway then made their second and final change with Teddy Hobbs replacing Garside.
With Parkway content so see out the 5 added minutes, the visitors almost pulled another goal back with Parkes staying alert and pushing behind a long range effort from McDonagh for the final action of a highly entertaining game.
After a slow start from Parkway against a well organised and threatening Hungerford, they gradually upped the pace of their game, grew in confidence and created chances with their 2 goals just before the break being pivotal.
A solid all round second half display saw them build on the first half performance and despite Hungerford proving stubborn opponents, Parkway ran out deserved winners which went a long way to laying the ghost of the 7-0 defeat in the reverse fixture in the first match of the season.
The win extends Parkway’s unbeaten league run to 7 games making them the most in form team in the league. Many of those games have been against teams in the top 8 and sees them remain in 16th place but closing in on teams immediately above them and still with games in hand.
Parkway now face a series of games against teams below them in the league commencing on Tuesday with a long trip to Hayes and Yeading in a rearranged fixture. Next Saturday sees the relatively short trip to Dorchester Town before returning to face Beaconsfield Town at Bolitho Park on Tuesday week.
The same type of application, commitment and organisation will be required and is equally if not more important against the lower placed teams as has been displayed against the higher ranked sides.
Match Info
Line-ups:
Plymouth Parkway
1 Parkes, 2 Cairo, 3 Lane ©, 4 Purrington, 5 White, 6 Down, 7 Williams, 8 Hall, 9 Thomson (Wright 73), 10 Garside (Hobbs 88), 11 Crago.
Substitutes:
12 Hobbs, 15 Rose (unused), 17 M Wright
Hungerford Town
1 Clarke, 3 Medford-Smith, 4 Jarra, 5 J Wright, 7 De St Croix (Evans 56) 8 Hooper (Verissimo-Lopes 56), 10 McDonagh, 12 Gardiner-Smith (Alexander 73), 14 Watts, 18 Sambu, 20 Tyler ©.
Substitutes:
6 Berryl-Hargreaves (unused), 9 Evans, 11 Verissimo-Lopes, 17 Stanley (unused), 19 Alexander
Attendance 286 (estimate 50 away)