Hall's Double Strike Secures Draw for Parkway at Swindon
Swindon Supermarine v Parkway | Match ReportImages: Dave Harry
Plymouth Parkway returned to Southern Premier South League action away to Swindon Supermarine following their midweek penalty shoot-out victory at holders Willand Rovers in the Devon Bowl.
The Wiltshire club were established in 1992 when Swindon Athletic and Supermarine FC merged. Their Webbswood Stadium is on the site of the old Supermarine Aircraft Company who manufactured the famous Supermarine Spitfire fighters during the Second World War. There would be no roar of the Rolls Royce Merlin engine overhead today though, but Parkway would feature their own bird with Andrew Sowden-Bird making his debut in goal. Shot-stopper Ewan Griffiths had received a late call-up for Wales Under 19 versus France.
A total of seven changes were made by Parkway with Tom Dean, Callum Hall, Rio Garside, Mitch Beardmore, Jack Endacott and James Watts-Barciela joining Bird in the starting eleven. Taylor Scarff would miss his first match of the season following his ankle injury midweek and was expected to be out for a while.
Despite winning both home matches versus Swindon, Parkway had succumbed 0-3 on both previous visits to Wiltshire. Parkway knew they had to keep danger men Harry Williams and Michael Fernandes quiet if they were to get anything from the game. They had already managed 18 goals between them this season.
With the two managers being Fleetwood and Macca, one wondered if they should form a tribute band Fleetwood Macca.
 Swindon SupermarinePlymouth Parkway 
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Full Match Report
Swindon began on the front foot and on 3 minutes good play between Michael Fernandes, Zack Kotwica and Sam Turl forced a corner on the right. Kotwica met the corner but could only shoot over the bar from 15-yards.
On 6 minutes Parkway went in front after an attack down the left which saw Dylan Jones slide the ball into Callum Hall who just managed to get the final touch from close range. On 8 minutes, Mitch Beardmore and James Watts-Barciela combined well before the Swindon defence conceded a corner on the right. A good delivery was well cleared at the near post.
Callum Hall was almost played in on 11 minutes after good play from Barciela and Tom Dean but the backline covered well. Play then switched to the other end and on 14 minutes an effort from Swindon ricocheted off Jones’ face for a corner which came to nothing.
On 17 minutes Swindon forced another corner which led to a brief scramble in the Parkway box before being cleared. Almost immediately though Fernandes, who had caused Parkway much trouble in previous visits, broke into the box on the right-hand side and was deemed to have been brought down for what appeared a fairly soft penalty. Fernandes fired home himself and despite Sowden-Bird going the correct way, his dive could get nowhere near the well struck penalty and the scores were level at 1-1.
On 24 minutes, brilliant work again by Fernandes saw him swivel and lose his marker inside the box and only a good intervention by Jack Endacott saved the situation for the visitors.
Whereas danger man Harry Williams had looked anonymous up to now, Fernandes was on fire and on 30 minutes, another raid by him was only ended by a good tackle from Rio Garside.
On 37 minutes, a fine run by Watts-Barciela on the right saw him link with Callum Hall who in turn played in Rio Garside who shot well curling the ball just past the far post. Two minutes later, another Rio curler from 20-yards but this time it was easily saved by Luke Purnell.
A scare for Parkway on 42 minutes when Harry Williams featured for the first time when he struck the crossbar from close range only to be pulled up for a high foot anyway. The one added minute produced no further incident.
An even first half with Parkway competing well with both defences generally in control. Callum Hall in particular stood out for Parkway.
On 46 minutes Fernandes collected the ball on the left and cut inside but his weak shot was easily gathered by Bird. On 50 minutes, Tom Dean received a knock to his face and a two-minute delay ensued which necessitated a change of shirt for him due to the blood. He was given a No.9 shirt and the Parkway fans must have wondered if this is the No.9 they had been craving all season.
The referee was beginning to lose control of the match with a string of poor decisions infuriating both benches. Hall was yellow carded for dissent following the latest of these on 54 minutes.
On 57 minutes, Swindon went 2-1 in front when a stray pass by Beardmore set up an attack on the left and the cross was headed back across goal by Harry Williams for Gabriel Rievers to head home too easily. On 60 minutes Kotwica entered the book for a pull-back on Rio Garside. Kieran Edworthy replaced Watts-Barciela on 61 minutes.
On 62, a 30-yard free kick from Tom Dean forced Purnell into turning the ball over the bar for a corner. The corner was headed out for another which this time came to nothing. Further dubious refereeing decisions saw McPhee become the latest yellow card on 65 minutes. It was easy to sympathise with him though.
Parkway came close on 66 minutes to an equaliser when a fine effort from Rio from 20-yards took a slight deflection just past the left post for a corner which was well defended. The very next minute saw a long run through the middle by Callum Hall and he unleashed a left-footed 30-yard shot which the keeper saved diving to his left. The visitors were now well on top forcing their hosts to defend deep.
However, on 69 minutes, a break by Fernandes saw him one on one with Sowden-Bird but the keeper was equal to the task saving well low-down to keep Parkway in the game. On 70 minutes, Reivers was replaced by Anton Dworzac.
On 75 minutes, Parkways spirited performance was rewarded when Tom Dean crossed from the right and this was met by Hall who side footed home from 10-yards for 2-2.
On 78 minutes, the unusually quiet Jones was replaced by Joe Wragg. At the same time, David Sims-Burgess replaced Mehew for the hosts.
Parkway were now in search of a winner and Callum Hall again shot from 20-yards only to see it deflected just past the far post for a corner. Rio Garside picked up a yellow for a tackle on 84 minutes.
On 86 minutes it was the turn of Jack Endacott but his 25-yard effort was straight at Purnell. Harry Williams was then replaced by Lucas Vine for Swindon.
A Parkway break on 89 minutes was ended by a yellow card for Sims-Burgess who took one for the team. On 90 minutes there were calls for a Parkway penalty but this was declined and play continued with Edworthy shooting wildly over.
In the first of 6 added minutes, Mikey Williams was yellow carded for a mistimed slide tackle. Parkway now seemed to have run out of steam and the final two chances fell to Swindon. Firstly, on 90+3, Vine shot weakly straight at Bird after Parkway lost possession. And secondly, the very last play of the match 45 seconds after the 6 added minutes were up, saw a corner from the right met by the head of the large outfit of centre-half Nicholas Peare who could only head over the bar when well set.
A well-deserved point for Parkway and their second half performance probably merited more but they continue to battle away and have now moved above Tiverton Town into fourth from bottom 19th place but still in the relegation zone.
Next up will be a very tough home match against Bracknell Town who crept into the play-off positions when they inflicted the first home defeat of the season on Gloucester City. Bracknell have lost just once but have been held back by too many draws but they are starting to get up a head of steam and will start as favourites.
Match Info
Line-Ups:
Swindon Supermarine:
1 Purnell, 2 Turl, 3 Campbell, 4 Lee, 20 Peare, 6 Ibrahim, 7 Kotwica, 8 Reivers (Dworzak 70), 9 Williams (Vine 87), 10 Fernandes, 11 Mehew (Sims-Burgess 78)
Substitutes:
12 Sims-Burgess, 13 Brabham (Unused), 14 Vine, 15 Edge (Unused), 16 Dworzak
Plymouth Parkway:
1 Sowden-Bird, 2 Dean, 6 White, 7 Williams, 8 Hall, 10 R.Garside, 11 Jones (Wragg 78), 14 Beardmore, 16 Endacott, 19 Watts-Barciela (Edworthy 61), 20 C.Garside
Substitutes:
3 Armstrong (Unused), 12 Edworthy, 15 Price (Unused), 18 Wragg
Attendance: 319 est (25 Parkway)
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