Parkway’s long week on the road ends with 3 points at Winterfield Road
Written by Graham Lloyd
Images by Dave Harry
1 - Paulton Rovers (Harvey 53) 2 - Plymouth Parkway (Bath 41, Andrew 56)
Parkway travelled to Paulton Rovers for their 3rd away game in 7 days and their 4th successive away league game. 1 change was made from Tuesday’s draw at Winchester with Aaron Bentley replacing the suspended Callum Rose in central defence. On a bobbly surface the game got off to a frenetic start with Jack Crago releasing Tom Bath clear on the left on 2 minutes and Kyle Anderson picking up an early yellow card for a foul on Bath. Play continued at a pace and on 9 minutes a Paulton break along the right saw Jack Ball’s shot deflected behind for a corner. The hosts continued to press and another break along the right on 14 minutes was halted by Ryan Lane who also picked up an early booking.
Play continued to switch from end to end with Ed Butcher seeing his angled drive blocked by Kyle Moore in the Parkway goal on 18 minutes. Parkway began to exert some midfield control with Billy Palfrey, Matt Andrew and Callum Hall looking to impose themselves and create openings. Parkway forced a couple of corners but their delivery lacked quality and were comfortably dealt with by the Paulton defence. On 20 minutes good link up play between Bath and Mikey Williams saw a shot from Bath pushed behind by home keeper Aaron Sainsbury. On 24 minutes a surging run through the middle by Crago ended with his shot being deflected behind. Parkway continued to look to stretch the play and on 30 minutes good build up play between Crago and the increasingly influential Andrew resulted in a telling cross from Crago being headed behind for a corner. Paulton looking dangerous along their left then created a period of pressure with Finlay Craske and Bentley combining well to thwart a Paulton attack. On 32 minutes a dangerous cross to the near post from the Paulton left was deflected narrowly wide. The hosts continued to threaten looking to hit early diagonal balls to the flanks but the Parkway defence remained firm with Moore remaining relatively untested.
However on 35 minutes Paulton’s Liban Ibrahim shot wide when well placed as play went through a scrappy phase with neither side able to dominate or create too many clear cut chances and both defences remaining solid. Paulton’s Barnaby Soady received a booking on 40 minutes after hauling back Williams as he attempted to break clear along the right as Parkway finished the half the stronger. With half time approaching the deadlock was broken as Parkway took the lead. An in swinging free quick from the right by Lane delivered with more quality than previous efforts was glanced in at the near post by Bath who had timed his run perfectly. A generally scrappy affair with few chances and lacking any real quality with Parkway just about deserving their half team lead.
Parkway started the second half brightly and almost doubled their lead on 52 minutes. A strong run along the left by Lane saw him link well with Andrew whose astute through ball released Bath who shot narrowly over from around 18 yards. The hosts responded immediately and on 53 minutes grabbed the equaliser. A break along the left saw Butcher deliver a low cross into the 6 yard area and poor defending by Parkway allowed Will Harvey to touch home from close range. After regrouping and looking to regain composure, Parkway responded well to the setback and regained the lead on 56 minutes. Good build up play through midfield resulted in Crago turning well with his shot being blocked and the ever alert Andrew reacting quickest to the loose ball, cleverly creating space for himself and drilling a low drive into the bottom corner from around 20 yards. On 59 minutes Williams saw yellow as play went through a scrappy phase with neither side able to retain any quality possession with too many passes going astray.
A Paulton attack on the hour saw Moore do well to intercept and smother a dangerous cross from the right. Parkway almost increased their lead on 62 minutes after a rare moment of quality saw Williams link well with the overlapping Craske with the increasingly impressive youngster seeing his powerful angled strike crash off the post and away to safety. The yellow card count mounted with the hosts Neil Martin being the next to be booked on 63 minutes as play became feisty, lacking any flow or rhythm. Harvey drove a shot into the side netting on 64 minutes as the hosts looked to get back on level terms. On 67 minutes they were reduced to 10 men with Anderson getting a second yellow for a foul on the persistent Crago.
Paulton immediately made a double substitution with Harley Prior and Joe Paradise replacing David O’Hare and Butcher respectively. Hall then saw yellow for another foul shortly before the experienced Adam Carter and Shane Krac replaced Bath and Palfrey on 75 minutes followed by Rhys Shirley coming on for Lane on 78 minutes. Making light of being a man short, Paulton continued to press however the Parkway defence well marshalled as ever by the composed and assured Michael Landricombe remained solid restricting the hosts to a couple of long range efforts which failed to hit the target. On 80 minutes neat link up play between Carter, Crago and Shirley saw the latter’s shot deflected behind with Bentley heading just over from the resultant corner. Paulton made their final change on 82 minutes with Kai Williamson replacing Harvey.
With full time approaching Parkway were content to slow the game down, retain possession and manage the game out with Krac and Moore picking up yellow cards in stoppage time for dissent and time wasting respectively. As the end of stoppage time approached, the ever willing Crago chased down and harried the Paulton back line eventually picking up a yellow card for a foul close the home technical area. This sparked a fracas the outcome of which saw 2 of the Paulton non playing staff shown red cards. The final whistle came shortly after with Parkway gaining a valuable 3 points in a gritty but not particularly pretty performance to complete a demanding 7 days.
A game of few chances and lacking any great quality but a dogged, doughty Parkway display showing character and resilience against tough opponents saw them grind out the win which saw them climb a place to 8th in the league still with games in hand over all teams above them. A slight area of concern to the management will be the number of cautions picked up recently and will need addressing.
After a lengthy absence, Parkway finally return to Bolitho Park this week with games against Slimbridge on Tuesday and Bristol Manor Farm next Saturday with the last home game being the FA Trophy victory over Dulwich Hamlet on 18 December and incredibly the last home league game the 1-0 win over AFC Totton on 20 November! With 19 games left to play of the 36, Parkway now have 12 home and 7 away games in what will be a challenging second half to the season in which injuries, suspensions and player availability will undoubtedly be a factor.
Line Ups:
Paulton; 1 Sainsbury, 2 Byrne, 3 Soady, 4 Martin ©, 5 Anderson, 6 Fowler, 7 Harvey (Williamson 82), 8 Ibrahim, 9 Ball, 10 O’Hare (Prior 68), 11 Butcher (Paradise 68)
Substitutes: 12 Brown (unused), 14 Paradise, 15 Prior, 16 Dempsey (unused) 17 Williamson
Parkway: 1, Moore, 2 Craske, 3 Lane (Shirley 78), 4 Palfrey (Krac 75), 5 Bentley, 6 Landricombe ©, 7 Williams, 8 Andrew, 9 Bath (Carter 75), 10 Hall, 11 Crago
Substitutes: 12 Davis (unused), 14 Smith (unused), 15 Krac, 16 Shirley, 17 Carter.
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