The Ian Moorcroft Stadium proves another learning curve for Lee Hobbs’ men
Written by Graham Lloyd
Images by Tom Finnie
5 - Tiverton (Morison pen 14, Wright 32, Butcher 44, Bentley og 72, McCue 84) 3 - Plymouth Parkway (Bentley 16, Crago 46, Allen pen 65)
For their seventh and final pre-season friendly, Parkway travelled to step 3 side Tiverton Town along with a decent contingent of the Parkway faithful who had braved the M5 holiday traffic amongst the crowd of 172. The game got off to a lively start with the hosts Craig Woodman heading a free kick just wide after 3 minutes. Parkway responded on 6 minutes with a long ball from Callum Rose finding Callum Hall who linked well with Jamie Lowry to set up Jack Crago whose well struck shot flew just wide. Tiverton were forced to make an early change on 12 minutes with Ed Butcher replacing Chris Shepherd who appeared to have picked up an injury.
On 14 minutes Tiverton took the lead from the penalty spot. A break along their left saw a fierce shot parried by Kyle Moore and in an attempt to clear the loose ball a foul was committed with Louis Morison slamming home the spot kick. Parkway countered almost immediately and drew level on 16 minutes. Tiverton were unable to clear a corner and a neat exchange between Hall and River Allen saw his cross headed back into the danger area by Michael Landricombe with Aaron Bentley reacting quickest, turning well and firing a shot low into the far corner from around 10 yards. Play continued at a high tempo with both sides moving the ball at pace looking to create openings.
With the impressive Morison showing well in midfield, Tiverton created a couple of chances with shots from distance being comfortably saved by Moore. Parkway gradually grew into the game with a period of quality possession and on 22 minutes a driving run forward by Lowry saw him link neatly with Allen who found Tom Bath who created space well only to see his stinging shot from 25 yards cannon against the top of the cross bar and go behind to safety. Parkway continued to threaten and on 26 minutes a good move along the left involving Hall and Jordan Copp ended with a cross finding Crago who was caught narrowly offside. Parkway continued to apply pressure and on 28 minutes another shot from Bath was blocked with Crago’s follow up effort also being strongly defended. A Parkway corner on 30 minutes saw more good play from Copp and Allen with the latter’s cross being headed just over at the far post by Rose. Arguably against the run of play the hosts retook the lead on 32 minutes. A long ball into the 6 yard box was poorly defended with Matt Wright showing strength to win the ball under pressure from Landricombe, turning to shoot home into the far corner from around 10 yards.
Parkway responded well once again and almost forced an equaliser. On 34 minutes Allen’s free kick found Rose at the far post whose stabbed close range effort brought a fine save at the base of the post from Lewis Williams and from the resultant corner a powerful header from the imposing Rose flew just over. Tiverton came back into the game with Parkway conceding possession too easily in midfield with their final ball lacking quality, being overhit at times which enabled the home defence to deal comfortably with the threat. However on 39 minutes a Parkway attack saw another long diagonal ball from Lowry find Hall who linked well with Copp whose cross found Crago with his on target header being well defended. Approaching half time Parkway fell further behind after a long ball in behind the defence along their right allowed substitute Butcher to race clear unchallenged and fire an angled drive in at the near post from around 15 yards. A decent first half with both sides creating some good chances with the hosts being more clinical with theirs aided by a couple of Parkway defensive lapses.
Parkway had the perfect start to the second half. A slick passage of play from the back saw Hall find Bath on the edge of the 18 yard area with his tenacity seeing him retain possession under pressure and set up Crago who fired home emphatically from around 8 yards for his first goal for the club. A just reward for his hard working performance. Play continued at a pace and on 54 minutes more good work from Crago saw him win the ball in the hosts final third and release Allen whose shot from 20 yards was blocked. On 55 minutes Billy Palfrey and Craig Veal replaced Lowry and Bath respectively for Parkway. The hosts continued to look dangerous going forward with Morison directing play from midfield and Parkway coming under some sustained pressure
On 59 minutes Hall was booked for an unnecessary challenge in midfield with Wright following him into the book shortly after for a similar incident. Parkway continued to work hard in midfield, defend well and look to create further chances and they deservedly drew level on 65 minutes from the penalty spot. A free kick saw Crago’s looping header hit the bar, bounce down and be cleared off the line with the loose ball bouncing around and hitting a defenders arm for an arguably fortuitous spot kick which Allen calmly converted. Neil Martin replaced Butcher on 70 minutes as Tiverton continued to press and probe stretching the Parkway back line and they retook the lead again on 72 minutes. Parkway failed to clear their lines with Dan Hayfield driving a low cross cum shot through the crowded 6 yard box to the back post where Bentley, under pressure from Martin, inadvertently turned the ball into his own net from close range. Tiverton continued to control the play forcing Moore to save well from Hayfield after another free kick caused problems for the Parkway defence. On 78 minutes Jack Rhead and A Trialist goalkeeper replaced Copp and Moore respectively. A Wright header flew narrowly over on 80 minutes with the hosts Isaac McCue coming on for Theo Simpson on 82 minutes.
The diminutive McCue made an almost immediate impact as on 84 minutes he scored the goal of the game. Again Parkway were unable to clear their lines with McCue latching on to the loose ball, turning sharply and curling a superb effort into the top corner via the underside of the bar from around 18 yards. No keeper would have saved that! Despite Parkway continuing to work hard to maintain their shape and trying to claw something back, Tiverton slowed the game down by retaining possession and successfully managed the game to it’s conclusion. Despite the defeat, a creditable performance from Parkway missing three squad members against higher league opposition with Allen managing to complete his first full 90 minutes of the season a plus.
A mixed bag of pre season performances for Parkway against varying levels of opposition not helped by unavailabilities, Covid cases and niggling injuries. They have experimented with different formations and the management and coaching team now have 2 weeks to absorb and analyse the performances, consolidate valuable lessons learnt and look to work on making improvements in certain areas during training sessions prior to their opening league fixture at AFC Totton on 14 August. AFC Totton have been there or thereabouts at the top of the league during the last two curtailed seasons and are seemingly fancied again this season so a tough challenge is envisaged.
Parkway: 1 Moore (A Trialist 78), 2 Davis, 3 Hall, 4 Bentley, 5 Rose, 6 Landricombe ©, 7 Lowry, (Palfrey 55), 8 Allen, 9 Bath (Veal 55), 10 Copp (Rhead 78), 11 Crago
Substitutes: 12 Veal, 15 Rhead, 16 Palfrey, 19 A Trialist
Tiverton: 1 Williams, 2 Dawson, 3 Woodman ©, 4 Morison, 5 Warren, 6 Booth, 7 Rogers, 8 Hayfield, 9 Wright, 10 Simpson (McCue 82), 11 Shepherd (Butcher 12) (Martin 70)
Substitutes: 14 Martin, 15 Butcher, 16 Lam, 17, McCue
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