Parkway again left empty handed after another fine performance

After their 3-3 draw with 2nd placed Truro City on Boxing Day, Parkway faced an even tougher challenge with a visit to league leaders Weston-super-Mare who had beaten them 4-1 back in August. Prior to kick off, a minutes silence in memory of Stratford Town player Cody Fisher was impeccably observed.

Parkway made 3 changes from the Truro game with Rio Garside and Dan Rooney starting in place of Callum Hall and Toby Stephens in midfield with Toby Down replacing the injured Austen Booth in defence.

1 - 0
Full Time
Graham Lloyd

Full Match Report

Weston made a positive start moving the ball quickly through their midfield looking to stretch Parkway along the flanks.

On 10 minutes a knock down by Reuben Reid from a long ball dropped to Jordan Bastin whose shot was deflected behind for a corner. Dayle Grubb then saw his 25 yard effort comfortably saved by Adam Parkes as the hosts continued to dominate possession.

Parkway were being forced to play on the counter and on 14 minutes a neat exchange between Ben Seymour and Jack Crago saw the hosts deal easily with the final cross which lacked quality or penetration.

Garside then chased a long ball along the right and linked with Harrison King whose floated cross to the far post bounced just wide. The hosts continued to enjoy the majority of possession with Parkway competing well but unable to create too much going forward but at the same time defending well and restricting the hosts to few clear scoring opportunities.

On 22 minutes a Grubb free kick from around 25 yards curled around the wall but straight at Parkes who saved easily. Scott Laird then fired well over from around 25 yards as the hosts continued to threaten and on 26 minutes Reid set up Bastin whose mazy run along the 18 yard area ended with his shot hitting the base of the post and being cleared to safety.

Parkway continued to compete well looking to contain the hosts which they generally managed to do by defending in numbers and restricting Weston to long range efforts with Reid firing well over from around 25 yards on 30 minutes.

Parkway were not being overrun or overawed and on 34 minutes Rooney did well to win possession in midfield and release Crago who powered forward and shot well over from around 20 yards when under pressure from a covering defender.

On 36 minutes smart link up play along the left between Rooney and Williams opened up the hosts defence but again the final ball lacked quality or precision. Weston continued to prompt and probe but were unable to get in behind the Parkway backline with Callum Rose and Down defending resolutely with Parkes rarely tested.

Approaching half time Parkway applied a period of pressure with King getting well forward but unable to provide a quality final ball. On 42 minutes, Crago and Garside linked well along the right with Crago’s attempt to loft a cross from the bye line being well gathered by Max Harris in the home goal.

In the added minute of stoppage time James Dodd was brought down some 25 yards out centrally with Grubb curling the free kick narrowly over the bar.

Attendance
0

A half with Weston generally in control without creating too many clear chances mainly due to a well organised and competitive Parkway who defended solidly with Parkes only having to make a couple of routine saves.

Parkway were content to contain and play on the counter and on the occasions they did get forward, their final ball lacked quality with the impressive Lloyd Humphries rock solid at the heart of the hosts defence and keeper Harris relatively untested as goalmouth action at either end was relatively scarce.

Weston created an early second half chance on 49 minutes with Bastin winning the ball in midfield and releasing Marlon Jackson whose angled drive from the edge of the 18 yard area cannoned off the near post and away to safety.

The hosts continued to apply pressure and on 52 minutes a long range effort from Jason Pope was deflected behind for another corner. Parkway made their first change on 57 minutes with Hall replacing Rooney who had put a decent shift in his first start since early September after recovering from injury.

Toby Stephens then replaced Billy Palfrey shortly afterwards. Parkway then had a period of decent possession with Mikey Williams making a penetrating forward run from deep on 62 minutes with his final pass intercepted and cleared away.

King then made a strong run along the right with his cross going behind for a corner from which Crago’s header hit the top of the bar and dropping behind.

With Parkway finally gaining some forward momentum, neat interplay between Williams, Seymour and Lane created an opening along the left with the cross being deflected for another corner.

With 4 minutes of added time indicated, Parkway continued to press and in the 92nd minute a neat exchange along the left between Lane, Hall and Williams saw a header saved with Harris then forced to race from his lane to gather a loose ball in the 18 yard area.

The final action of the game came on 93 minutes with Grubb floating an effort just wide from around 20 yards.

Another determined, hardworking display not short on effort or commitment from Parkway who defended solidly throughout against a very good side who are clearly top of the league on merit despite their manager claiming they were not at their best today.

However Parkway were unable to dictate or control the midfield area nor create a platform going forward where clear cut chances were few and far between due to their final ball often lacking quality and their composure in possession lacking clarity.

The Weston keeper remained largely untested throughout behind a well organised defensive unit well marshalled by Humphries.

With the other 4 teams in the bottom 5 places all losing today, Parkway remain in 21st place. They will now need to start turning performances into points and make the most of their many games in hand starting on Saturday when 15th placed Gosport Borough are the visitors to Bolitho Park. Parkway lost 5-1 to Gosport earlier in the season but since then the visitors have gone through a difficult spell resulting in a recent change of management. 

"It's getting boring now saying we have played so well despite losing. We need to turn these performances into points and it needs to start happening soon."
Lee Hobbs
Manager

Match Info

Line-ups:

Weston-super-Mare

1 Harris, 2 Pope, 3 Laird, 4 Jagger-Cane, 5 Humphries, 6 Avery, 8 Dodd, 9 Jackson (Murray 71), 10 Grubb ©, 11 Bastin, 19 Reid.

 Substitutes:

7 Murray, 12 Coppin (unused), 14 Watts (unused), 15 Moulden (unused), 20 Purnell (unused)

Parkway:

1 Parkes, 2 King, 3 Lane ©, 4 Palfrey (Stephens 59), 5 Rose, 6 Down, 7 Williams, 8 Garside, 9 Seymour, 10 Rooney (Hall 57), 11 Crago (Rhead 70)

Substitutes:

12 Stephens, 14 Hall, 15 Hulbert (unused), 16 Rhead, 17 Goulty (unused)

Attendance:

1,234

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