Parkway jubilant after final day drama
Beaconsfield Town vs Parkway | Match ReportBEACONSFIELD TOWN 1 (Dobson pen 66)
PLYMOUTH PARKWAY (Jones 59)
In their final game of a difficult season and a particularly demanding April in which they have played 11 games in 27 days, 17th placed Parkway travelled to 18th placed Beaconsfield Town ahead only on goal difference with both sides knowing that only a win would guarantee them safety from relegation. Any other outcome would depend on results elsewhere with 3 other teams also in danger of the drop
Parkway made 2 changes from Wednesday’s victory over fellow strugglers Hayes and Yeading with Reece Thomson replacing Matt Wright and Cameron Sangster starting in place of the unavailable Jamie Lowry. Rio Garside was unavailable due to injury.
Full Match Report
Beaconsfield made a strong start on their 3G surface with Zidan Akers forcing an early corner with Toby Down doing well to block a close range effort from Kam English. With both sides clearly not sitting back at this early stage Parkway responded in the 4th minute with Callum Hall blazing well over from a good position after a cross by Jack Crago.
Play continued at a pace with the game evenly balanced with Dylan Jones making a strong run forward on 14 minutes forcing defenders to retreat and firing a left footed shot narrowly wide. Crago then shot from distance with goalkeeper Tom Northcott parrying behind for a corner. Parkway began to gain some control moving the ball patiently and from side to side looking to create openings with a long ball from Oscar Halls finding Jones whose cross to the far post just eluded the incoming Crago.
On 21 minutes a Parkway corner saw Reece Thomson head narrowly wide as Parkway continued to apply pressure.
Play continued at a pace with both sides competitive and combative and on 23 minutes another flowing Parkway move involving Tom Purrington and Cameron Sangster through midfield set up Jones who curled an effort narrowly wide.
Purrington was in action again shortly after releasing Crago wide on the left with his cross just overhit and running out for a goal kick. The game continued to be a tense affair with at times both sides understandably cautious and wary of making mistakes with defences generally remaining on top and both goalkeepers relatively untested. However on 29 minutes Adam Parkes did well to gather a cross under some pressure.
Play continued to fluctuate from end to end and on 34 minutes a well weighted through ball from the hosts most creative player Jake Gosling saw Halls do well to track the pacey run of Akers at the expense of conceding a corner. On 35 minutes Parkway stole possession in midfield allowing Hall to make a run forward with his long range, powerful strike deflected behind for a corner by James Dobson which was comfortably defended.
Parkway continued to dominate possession in midfield but were unable to breach the hosts back line with Thomson forced to shoot from distance on 38 minutes with his effort going narrowly wide.
Gosling continued to probe away for the hosts forcing another corner on 40 minutes which was again confidently gathered by Parkes. On 41 minutes Shane White linked well with Sangster wide on the right releasing Crago who was unable to show the necessary composure and fired wide when well placed.
Thomson then saw a shot well saved by Norcott after Jones and Hall had combined well to set up the opportunity. On 44 minutes the hosts almost took the lead but for a fine save by Parkes. A long raking ball from Dobson picked out Tom McElroy whose angled drive took a wicked deflection with Parkes flinging himself to his right at full stretch to push the ball behind for a corner. McElroy became the first player to be cautioned after an act of persistent petulance as the half came to a close with little to choose between the 2 sides with the stakes remaining high.
A tense nervy affair at times with both sides showing caution and patience when in possession with few clear close range chances being created and most scoring opportunities coming from long range efforts with defences generally remaining solid.
Parkway started the 2nd half brightly making early inroads into the hosts half but it was Beaconsfield who almost broke the deadlock on 54 minutes. After a penalty appeal for hand ball had been waved away on 52 minutes their next attack saw a powerful McElroy header from an Akers cross smash against the cross bar and be cleared away. Parkway made their 1st change on 56 minutes with Alex Cairo replacing the industrious Hall who appeared to have picked up an injury in a strong challenge shortly before being replaced.
With Beaconsfield now looking the stronger side and applying increasing pressure, Parkes kept Parkway in the game on 58 minutes with an outstanding save spreading himself in a one on one to deny Dan Roth with the loose ball being recycled and a follow up shot blocked.
As often happens shortly after one side almost score, the opposition break away and do score. This was the case as Parkway finally broke the deadlock on 59 minutes. A strong, pacey run from Jones inside his own half saw him glide past and beat a couple of retreating defenders before calmly cutting inside and a coolly caressing a left footed shot low into the left hand corner beyond Norcott’s despairing dive. Sean Fraser was immediately replaced by Joe Wilson for the hosts as they were now forced to go looking for an equaliser which they got on 66 minutes.
At trip by Jones on Wilson gave the referee no alternative other than to award a spot kick which Dobson duly despatched and then pick up a yellow card for a bit of silly afters before the restart. With Beaconsfield now the dominant force they began to control the pace of the game forcing Parkway to defend deeper and pin them in their own half.
On 70 minutes Matt Wright replaced Thomson who once again had led the line well with his nonstop running harrying and hurrying defenders.
Parkway were now being forced to play on the break and on 71 minutes a long ball from White to Jones saw the latter’s pull back sliced way over by Purrington from around 18 yards. The hosts continued to press forcing a couple of corners on 74 minutes which Parkway managed to defend and on 77 minutes Gosling fired well over from distance as the pressure increased. Beaconsfield made their 2nd change on 79 minutes with Adanioritsewo Okorogheye replacing Akers.
The host’s continued to threaten forcing some backs to the wall defending from Parkway with bodies being put on the line with numerous blocks and clearances keeping the scoreline all square. Beaconsfield then saw a header flash narrowly wide as the pressure intensified with Parkway rarely able to get out of their own half.
After another unsuccessful shout for a penalty on 84 minutes the hosts thought they had finally taken the lead on 85 minutes with Parkes saving superbly from Wilson with Bradshaw slotting home the loose ball only to be adjudged offside. Beaconsfield continued to create opportunities with Okorogheye heading over on 87 minutes with Wilson curling an effort wide shortly after.
Parkway continued to defend manfully as the hosts threw everyone forward and a rare Parkway break on 90 minutes forced a good save from Norcott. Beaconsfield made their final change on 90 minutes as the game entered 7 minutes of added time with Elias Grant replacing Bradshaw. With Parkway now desperate to manage the game out Jack Bray-Evans replaced the indomitable Crago in the 93rd minute purely as a means of slowing the game and taking the sting out of the hosts attacking threat.
With the game now strtetched beyond the 7 minutes the hosts forced another corner in the 98th minute with Norcott joining the attack. Parkway managed to withstand the final period of pressure and shortly before the referee blew the final whistle Parkes was cautioned for time wasting.
A huge sigh of relief and scenes of joy and jubilation both on and off the field by all at Parkway was brought to a sudden halt when news filtered through that Hayes and Yeading had equalised at Bracknell Town with a 92nd minute penalty.
If they were to score again and win the game they would stay up and condemn Parkway to relegation. After an agonising wait that seemed like an eternity news that Hayes had drawn sparked the celebrations for a 2nd time as the realisation hit home that the club would be playing step 3 football next season.
After all they had been through this season only Parkway could end their season in this madcap manner and it was no real surprise that they were kept in suspense to the bitter end and beyond and avoid what would have been the club’s 1st ever relegation.
In a tense, nervous game Parkway were forced one last time to display all their fighting and battling qualities and dig deep to hang for the draw which saw them finally finish 1 place outside the relegation places in 18th, a place ahead of Beaconsfield with a better a goal difference of 7 and 1 place behind Hanwell Town by a single goal margin.
After the many trials and tribulations and the numerous hurdles Parkway had to overcome in what for too many reasons to list here has been a turbulent season like no other and is hoped will never be repeated, many will say the achievement of staying in this league in those circumstances surpasses and outshines any of the many title winning and promotion seasons that have gone before. Few will argue with that.
The relatively small and inexperienced squad in comparison to some of the other bigger, better resourced clubs can all be extremely proud of what they have achieved and are a credit to themselves, their families and the club. They have all earned their summer break as have their dedicated and long suffering supporters!
That’s your lot for this season folks. I hope you have enjoyed reading the reports as much as I have I have enjoyed writing them, at times under extremely testing circumstances. I can assure you it’s not been easy and much midnight oil has been burnt!
A big thankyou must go to Ian Kendall for coming off the bench at such short notice late in the season and to provide excellent, detailed reports to ensure match coverage remained uninterrupted whilst I was incapacitated due to ill health. Hopefully this 75 year old will come back fighting fit next season ready to carry on. That’s if the club still want me to continue of course and some younger blood cannot be found to step up to the mark and take the reins. They’ll have to one day soon! Volunteers are hard to come by these days so please think about it.
Match Info
Line-ups:
Beaconsfield Town
1 Norcott, 5 Neville ©, 6 Kpohomouh, 7 Bradshaw (Grant 90) 9 Gosling, 10 Akers (Okorogheye 79), 11 Dobson, 12 English, 16 Roth, 17 McElroy, 18 Fraser (Wilson 60)
Substitutes:
2 Wilson, 4 Togwell (unused) 14 Okorogheye, 19 Grant, 13 Dymott (gk) (unused)
Plymouth Parkway
1 Parkes 2 White, 3 Hall (Cairo 56), 4 Purrington, 5 Halls, 6 Down ©, 7 Williams, 8 Sangster, 9 Thomson (Wright 70), 10 Jones, 11 Crago (Bray-Evans 90+3)
Substitutes:
14 Cairo, 15 Rose (unused), 16 Bray-Evans, 17 Wright
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