In front of another sell out crowd, Parkway entertained Bridgwater Town looking for their fourth consecutive victory to consolidate their position at the top of the table. Prior to the game two presentations were made, the first by the Cornwall FA to Parkway coach Matt Cusack for being named Cornwall’s coach of the season last season whilst manager of Saltash United and the second to Harrison Davis for being voted player of the month for September by members of the Plymouth Parkway Supporters Club. Many congratulations to them both.

Parkway made one change from last week’s victory over Shepton Mallet with Callum Hall replacing Ryan Richards who had recently become a father for the second time. Congratulations to him too. The game got off to a fast start with Hall firing just over in the 2nd minute followed by a Craig Veal run and shot being tipped over by Jake Viney in the visitor’s goal on 10 minutes. After the early probing exchanges, Parkway gradually began to exert control with Viney at full stretch touching over a Billy Palfrey header after a good run and cross from Mikey Williams.
With Parkway now beginning to dominate the midfield and playing at a high tempo and with intensity, they took the lead on 17 minutes. A cross from the right saw Matt Wright win a header which dropped invitingly to Veal whose close range shot appeared to deflect off Wright at the near post and trickle over the line. Parkway continued to threaten as their midfield began to dictate play with River Allen, Palfrey, Williams and the tenacious running of Hall all having in impact forcing the visitors on to the back foot.

Wing backs Davis and Ryan Lane, wearing the captain’s armband for the first time today, continued to look threatening with their pace along the flanks constantly putting the visitors defence under pressure. On 23 minutes another surging run by the impressive Hall saw him shoot just over from around 25 yards. Hall was again in the action shortly after with his determination winning the ball in midfield and feeding Allen whose powerful shot was acrobatically tipped over by the increasingly busy Viney. With Parkway now well in control, little was seen of the visitors in attack with central defenders Michael Landricombe and Jordan Bentley looking organised, comfortable and composed and content to play out from the back under little pressure. Parkway continued to create chances with Williams linking well with Hall who pulled his shot just wide on 33 minutes followed by more good work by the creative Allen on 35 minutes setting up Veal who curled an angled effort narrowly wide.

Lane then saw his effort just off target before Parkway’s constant pressure finally paid off as they doubled their lead on 42 minutes. Excellent work on the left by the strong running Veal saw him link well with Allen who had made a late run from deep and after cleverly making space for himself by wrong footing his marker, curled a delightful shot around the despairing Viney from around 18 yards.

With Parkway finishing the half strongly, Wright then saw a goalbound strike well saved by Viney at the near post before he turned provider on the cusp of half time. His defence splitting pass released Veal who raced clear and calmly sidefooted past the advancing Viney from around 10 yards. After a cagey start, a dominant half from Parkway with the midfield engine room particularly impressive with Hall invariably the fulcrum. Bridgwater made a bright start to the second half and on 47 minutes new signing Tom Fry showed good skill by setting up Jack Taylor who fired well over when well placed. Parkway quickly got back into their stride and Veal fired high and wide after an Allen free kick was only half cleared. On 53 minutes a neat exchange between Williams and Hall saw the latter’s mishit shot easily saved by Vine as Parkway continued to exert pressure. On the hour they almost increased their lead after the strong running Wright saw his powerful shot parried by Viney with the ball bouncing around in the 6 yard area and Veal poking the loose ball on to the base of the post before being scrambled to safety. A jinking run from Williams on 62 minutes created more confusion in the Bridgwater 18 yard area with his shot once again being saved by Viney with the next attack seeing Parkway go further ahead.

On 63 minutes a clash in the penalty area between Wright and a Bridgwater defender was deemed a penalty by the referee and after a lengthy, vehement protest by the visitors, Allen calmly stepped up and hammered home the spot kick. Levi Landricombe then replaced the hugely impressive Veal with Parkway looking to extend their lead further which they almost did on 65 minutes. Another flowing move involving Wright, Allen and Hall ended with a cross to Palfrey being headed back into the danger area with Williams sweeping home from close range only to be adjudged narrowly offside. Bridgwater made their first change on 70 minutes with Connor Bryant replacing Adnan Hiroli.

A rare Bridgwater attack on 72 minutes saw them win a free kick on the left with Fry sending his kick narrowly over before both sides made further changes. Richards replaced Williams who looked to be returning to somewhere near full fitness and arguably had his most influential game so far this season with Jake Llewellyn replacing Archie Sturdy for the visitors. With the tempo dropping and Parkway content to retain possession and look to manage the game out, Bridgwater were allowed to get forward more and grabbed a consolation goal on 80 minutes.

A misunderstanding between Kyle Moore and Michael Landricombe saw Llewellyn pounce on a loose throw out and lob Moore from around 30 yards with the ball bouncing down off the bar with the referee’s assistant awarding the goal despite the keeper’s attempt to scoop the ball clear. As the game meandered to its conclusion, Bridgwater replaced Dave Thorne with Tyne Govier and on 83 minutes Parkway sent on Rob Farkins, who had missed the previous 2 games through injury, to replace Michael Landricombe. An impressive all round display from Parkway with every player making an impact and had it not been for the heroics of the outstanding Viney, the winning margin could have been much wider. The victory cements Parkway’s position at the top of the table, 7 points clear of Buckland Athletic having played 2 games less. Buckland moved into second place today after a narrow 3-2 win at Bitton having been 3-0 up in 15 minutes. By a quirk of fate, Parkway visit Homers Heath on Tuesday in what should be another intriguing Devon Derby as Buckland are the only team to have denied Parkway a league victory so far this season and in doing so the only team to stop them scoring with the game finishing 0-0 on 22 September. Parkway then entertain Wellington at Bolitho Park next Saturday with the recent reverse fixture seeing Parkway come away with a 6-1 victory.

Teams:

 Parkway:1 Moore, 2 Davis, 3 Lane, 4 Palfrey, 5 Bentley, 6 M. Landricombe (Farkins 83), 7 Williams (Richards 74), 8 Allen, 9 Wright, 10 Hall, 11 Veal (L. Landricombe 64).

Sub unused Bevan

Bridgwater: 1 Viney, 2 Thorne (Govier 84), 3 Greenwood, 4 Morris, 5 Armstrong, 6 Ellis, 7 Fry, 8 Towler, 9 Taylor, 10 Sturdy (Llewellyn 74), 11 Hiroli (Bryant 70)

Sub unused Bannister