Walton made a change at half time with Stefan Ilic replacing Arsen Ujkaj in midfield. Rose returned to the fray with his forehead bandaged as a precaution after receiving a cut in the first half.

The home side made a sharp start to the half forcing a corner on 47 minutes with a header rattling the crossbar which would have been disallowed had it gone in with the referee’s assistant flagging for offside. The game continued at a high tempo with the hosts looking to make an early breakthrough but it was Parkway who created the first half chance with Thomson’s shot on the turn on 49 minutes deflected for a corner.

Walton looking dangerous along the left flank forced a couple of corners with Parkway continuing to defend stoutly with Parkes doing well to palm away a whipped in cross on 54 minutes .However it was Parkway who almost doubled their lead on 56 minutes after they won the ball in midfield, broke quickly with a neat one two with Thomson’s close range strike being spectacularly saved by Dickinson with the ball somehow bouncing up over the bar for a corner.

With the game beginning to open up and Walton in the ascendancy, a cross from the left was intercepted by Williams with the resultant corner being cleared. Parkway continued to play on the counter creating pressure in the final third with Garside’s free kick on 62 minutes being pushed away by Dickinson.

Walton almost drew level on 63 minutes only to be denied by a superb goal line block by Williams from a powerful strike from Trae Cook-Appiah. With Walton continuing to threaten, mainly along the left, a terrific last ditch tackle in the 18 yard area by Toby Down prevented an effort hitting the target. Parkes then did well to smother another effort from Cook-Appia who was becoming more dangerous as the hosts pressure increased. Parkway made their first change on 71 minutes with Thomson, who had worked tirelessly throughout and unlucky not to get on the score sheet, being replaced by Cameron Sangster who slotted into midfield leaving Crago as the lone front runner.

On 72 minutes a Parkway corner from the right was only cleared as far as Crago who hooked a difficult chance over from around 8 yards.

Walton continued to apply pressure with Parkway holding firm and on 79 minutes resolute defending by Hall and Lane close to the bye line halted a Walton attack with a free kick being awarded to Parkway. Statistics indicated that a high proportion of Walton’s goals, where they average almost 3 a game, have come in the last 15 minutes and they continued to dominate possession without creating too may clear chances mainly due to Parkway’s pressing, defending and terrific goalkeeping by Parkes.

Walton made their 2nd change on 80 minutes with Stefan Ilic replacing Kelly. With the hosts pushing more men forward and space opening up at the back Parkway almost increased their lead on 82 minutes, Crago bravely won a header from a second ball clearance with his angled shot being pushed behind by Dickinson. From the resultant corner Crago’s close range header was cleared off the line.

Walton continued to apply pressure with Parkway still forcing errors from the hosts and defending desperately at times. Despite Parkway almost holding out, the pressure finally told and in the 89th minute a cross from the right into a crowded 6 yard area saw Cook-Appiah scramble home a scuffed effort from close range to bring the home side level.

The 6 added minutes saw a dramatic end to the game. In the 92nd minute a cross from the Walton left by Ilic found Simon whose close range header forced a superb surely game saving one handed save by Parkes. Parkway immediately made a double substitution with Dylan Jones and Joe Belsten replacing Crago and Garside who had both run themselves into the ground with the changes making an almost immediate impact.

In the 94th minute Jones won a header wide on the left from a Parkway free kick and his superb first touch to the loose ball saw him spin off his marker, powerfully drive into the 18 yard area and fire an angled low shot from around 12 yards across Dickinson into the bottom right hand corner to spark wild scenes of jubilation from Parkway players, staff and supporters. Once the celebrations had subsided, the referee indicated a further 2 minutes of added time and in the 97th minute Walton forced a corner on left and with everyone including Dickinson camped in the Parkway 18 yard area the ball was only half cleared with a Walton shot going narrowly wide.

Parkway held out for the final couple of minutes to grab their elusive first away win of the season with a victory they ultimately deserved with their gritty, disciplined performance and perfectly well executed game plan.

A closely fought game played in a good spirit against a very good Walton and Hersham side which was sensibly refereed and allowed to flow. Credit to Parkway for sticking to and executing their game plan and showing tremendous character to respond positively to conceding the late equaliser and to clinch the win with a piece of individual quality from Jones. Some of Parkway’s recent performances have mirrored today’s display with the belief that sooner or later they would get the result their efforts merited. Despite the win, today’s other results see them remain in 19th place but have closed the gap on a couple of teams above them and with games in hand.

They now have a short period of rest and recovery before, weather permitting, embarking on a schedule of 3 games in 11 days. Wednesday sees them take a short hop up the A38 to face a rearranged game against Ivybridge Town in the 2nd round of the Devon St Lukes Bowl (the County Cup). Ivybridge are the runaway leaders of the South West Peninsula League East Division, 3 steps below Parkway in the pyramid. Saturday then sees them return to Bolitho Park for the first time since 21^st October in a rearranged fixture against bottom club Didcot Town who lost 7-0 at home to Poole Town today followed by the visit of 10th placed Bracknell Town the following Saturday.