Parkway get back to winning ways at Bolitho
Playing their 4th consecutive home game in 12 days, Parkway entertained Harrow Borough looking to bounce back from Tuesday’s narrow 1-0 defeat to the Metropolitan Police.
Two changes were made with Jordan Duffey replacing Jack Arthur in goal with Tom Bath in for the injured Ben Seymour up front. Returning to Parkway after quite some time was old favourite Adam Carter who was named among the substitutes having recently been signed as cover on a dual registration with Saltash United.
 Plymouth ParkwayHarrow Borough 
4 - 0Full Time |
Full Match Report
Images: Tom Finnie
After a lengthy pre match pitch inspection by the referee, the game kicked off on a difficult playing surface.
The visitors made an early break with Duffey doing well to smother a through ball, just beating the onrushing Ben De Lacy-Turner. With both sides taking a while to come to terms with the tricky surface, Parkway forced a couple of corners in the 6th minute both defended well by Harrow.
Play continued to be scrappy with little pattern from either side both of whom seemed content to hit long balls into the channels looking to force defensive mistakes. On 12 minutes a strong run forward from Bath ended with his low cross being gathered at his near post by Jacob Knightbridge in the visitor’s goal.
The first real controlled passage of play came in the 17th minute with Jack Crago, Rio Garside and Dan Rooney linking well along the right with the final cross catching Ryan Lane marginally offside. Harrow continued to look to play long balls and on 19 minutes De Lacy-Turner did well to release George Moore whose angled shot was bravely blocked by the feet of Duffey with the ball deflected for a corner.
Play continued to be bitty with no real flow to the game and on 20 minutes another long ball saw Crago going clear only to be brought down around 25 yards out by Sonny Hart who received the game’s first yellow card.
From the resultant free kick Knightbridge did well to parry away Garside’s effort with Crago blasting the loose ball over from close range. On 23 minutes Duffey was again forced from his line to smother another long through ball as Harrow continued to look to counter attack.
Parkway gradually began to control the tempo of the game through midfield and on 24 minutes a corner from the left saw Callum Rose rise highest with his header cleared off the line by Moore.
With Parkway now applying more pressure they took the lead on 25 minutes. A neat passage of play along the left saw the ball hoisted into the 18 area and after Rose and Austen Booth won a couple of headers and Harrow were unable to clear the danger, Dan Rooney pounced on the bobbly, bouncing loose ball and rifled a shot home from around 12 yards.
The game continued to lack too much quality as the pitch continued to deteriorate with both sides finding it difficult to retain possession or create any scoring chances.
On 29 minutes Harrow won a free kick which was cleared only as far as De Lacy-Turner who fired well over from around 30 yards. Callum Hall continued to be prominent in midfield and on 32 minutes he did well to win possession and release Lane whose cross sailed narrowly over.
On 36 minutes another Parkway break saw a cross from the left take an awkward bounce just wrong footing Bath who was well placed. The visitors then squandered a gilt edged chance with the impressive Moore releasing Anointed Chukwu who rounded Duffey but could only find the side netting from a very tight angle. Parkway continued to have the better of the possession but were unable to test Knightbridge too often with the Harrow back line defending well.
Approaching half time Parkway pressure along the right between Mikey Williams, Harrison King and Garside created an opening with the final cross flashing across the 6 yard box with no one able to get a final touch.
Hall then saw his shot comfortably saved after good work by Lane, Crago and Bath had created the scoring opportunity. The final action of the half saw Williams uncharacteristically lose possession in midfield and receive a caution for a foul as he attempted to regain possession.
A fairly scrappy half lacking quality with Parkway gradually adjusting to the conditions and looking the stronger side without becoming totally dominant and just about deserving their slender lead.
Aaron Goulty replaced Hall at half time for Parkway presumably as an injury precaution.
They started the half sharply with a long ball from Rose finding King going clear along the right with his low cross blocked for a corner by Hamilton Bunga.
Crago and Bath then combined well on 55 minutes to force another corner as Parkway continued to apply pressure looking to increase their lead.
The ever dangerous Lane continued to look threatening along the left and on 57 minutes his well placed cross was deflected to Knightbridge just ahead of Bath.
Both sides made substitutions on 58 minutes with Carter replacing Bath and Johnny Allotey and Quaine Bartley replacing Kai Brosnan and De Lacy-Turner respectively for the visitors. Parkway continued to dominate possession with their defence rarely coming under and Duffey remaining untested.
On the hour mark good work between Garside and Crago along the right saw the latter reach the bye line with his cross just dropping behind Carter. Harrow were forced into their final substitution on 66 minutes with the influential Moore being assisted from the field and being replaced by Shaun Preddie.
Parkway continued to apply pressure forcing Harrow to defend deep but were unable to create any clear chances and it was the visitors who had the next chance on 67 minutes when a rare counter attack saw Chukwu go one on one with Duffey and pull his shot just wide. Parkway’s pressure finally paid off and they doubled their lead in the 71st minute.
With a Harrow defender looking to shepherd the ball out close to the right hand bye line, Goulty’s persistence saw him do well to win the ball and link with King who drew a foul around 30 yards out. From the resultant free kick Lane’s whipped in effort evaded everyone and flew into the top corner at the far post.
On 75 minutes Carter and King linked well to set up Crago with Prince Kandolo doing well to block Crago’s shot and conceding a corner from which Booth’s bullet header flew narrowly wide.
Parkway continued to threaten and increased their lead further in the 78th minute.
A break along the left saw the ball played into Carter who with his back to goal rolled back the years and doing what he does best used his strength to hold off his marker, spin away and fire in a left footed shot low into the bottom right hand corner from around 15 yards. In the 80th minute
Toby Down replaced Williams as Parkway looked to manage the game out with Harrow forcing a rare corner in the 82nd minute which was comfortably dealt with by the Parkway defence. With the pace of the game slowing, in the 86th minutes Carter won a header which found Crago going clear and rounding Knightbridge who did well to push the ball away with Garside seeing his follow up shot well saved by the keeper.
With 4 minutes of time added, Parkway continued to press and in the final minute the non stop Crago pressurised Hart in the 18 yard with the defenders hurried clearance being sliced high over Knightbridge’s head into the back of the net for an own goal which rounded off a miserable afternoon for the visitors.
In testing conditions a gritty, hard working performance from Parkway who became more dominant as the game progressed with their strong 2nd half display against stubborn opponents deservedly earning them the 3 points.
A haul of 9 points out of 12 from their run of 4 consecutive home games with 8 goals scored and only 2 conceded sees Parkway remain in 11th place and will have gone a long way to ensuring safety and retention of their place in the league for next season.
Parkway now go back on the road for their next 2 games with a 468 mile round trip to 4th placed Chesham United on Tuesday, their 3rd longest away trip of the season, followed on Friday with a short 67 mile hop up the A38/M5 to 12th placed Tiverton Town.
Match Info
Line-ups:
Parkway:
1 Duffey, 2 King, 3 Lane ©, 4 Hall (Goulty 46), 5 Rose, 6 Booth, 7 Williams (Down 80), 8 Rooney, 9 Bath (Carter 58), 10 Garside, 11 Crago
Substitutes:
12 Goulty, 14 Down, Carter
Harrow Borough;
1 Knightbridge, 2 Kandolo, 3 Sharman, 4 Bunga, 5 Hart, 6 Adenola, 7 Moore © (Preddie 66), 8 Leonard, 9 Chukwu, 10 Brosnan (Allotey 56),11 De Lacy-Turner (Bartley 56)
Substitutes: 12 Bartley, 14 Allotey, 15 Ikebuasi (unused), 16 Bloom (unused), 17 Preddie.
Attendance: 378
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