Parkway Close Gap to Safety with Dominant Marlow Win
Parkway v Marlow | Match ReportImage: Phil Mingo
Plymouth Parkway hosted bottom of the table Marlow in the Southern Premier League South on Saturday with a much needed three points being their target in order to reduce the four-point gap from safety.
Marlow have plenty of history having been founded in 1870 and they are the only football club in England who have applied for entry into the FA Cup every season since its inception in 1871. They reached the semi-finals in the 1881-2 season.
Situated on the River Thames just North of Maidenhead, Marlow were promoted from the Isthmian South Central League.via the play-offs last season when beating Leatherhead 3-1 in the final.
With this being the first meeting between the two strugglers, Parkway featured three changes from last week’s defeat against Merthyr with Callum Hall, Kieran Edworthy and Carlo Garside coming in for the injured Ryan Brett and Exeter youngsters Mitch Beardmore and Tom Dean who were on the bench and only allowed 30 minutes each due to their requirement on Monday for Exeter City U21’s.
Before the match, a minute’s silence was well observed by the attendance of 366 on Remembrance Weekend.
Plymouth ParkwayMarlow FC
5 - 0Full Time |
Full Match Report
An early raid on 3 minutes from Parkway down the left saw a cross from Jack Endacott cut out for a corner which came to nothing. On 5 minutes, Marlow’s Eli Oladunjoye displayed his long throw skills setting up an opportunity for Sebastian D’Aversa who could only stab the ball wide of the right-hand post.
Parkway came very close on 9 minutes when good work on the right from Mikey Williams provided a cross for Frankie Monk, only to see his effort cleared off the line by Momodou Jallow. Nevertheless, only seconds later, the home team forced a corner from Carlo Garside which was met by the head of Captain Shane White who put Parkway 1-0 ahead in this must-win basement battle.
Endacott was causing problems down the left side for the visitors in the early stages. But on 14 minutes, it was Monk who provided a cross from the left for James Watts-Barciela who powered a header towards goal from 8 yards and despite a great effort from visiting keeper Finn Rushton to keep it out getting a strong hand to it, it was 2-0 for Parkway.
On 16 minutes, Barciela, buoyed by his goal, the second in consecutive games, chased what seemed a lost cause but cleverly dispossessed the full back of possession and sent over a telling cross which was cut out. Another Barciela cross from the right on 19 minutes saw Edworthy unable to direct his header on goal when under pressure. Immediately Marlow broke away and a sharp intervention was needed from Taylor Scarff to end the danger.
On 21 minutes, a good run down the left from his own half by Callum Hall resulted in a cross for Edworthy who could only slot the ball wide of the near post, again under pressure.
Against a keen but poor Marlow side, Parkway were well in control and on 26 following a throw on the left, Endacott provided a tantalising delivery which Edworthy couldn’t quite get on the end of. A rare attack from the visitors soon after was ended by Mikey Williams cutting out a dangerous cross from Joshua Smith.
On 31 minutes, visiting Harry Hoath was yellow carded for a heavy tackle. Within seconds, Carlo and Rio Garside combined but the resultant header was comfortably saved by Rushton.
On 33 minutes, Marlow had their first real opportunity of the match when a cross from Rhys Harper found Harvey Maudner well placed 10 yards out, but he blazed the ball over the bar. A let-off for Parkway. A dangerous attack down the right saw another cross from Josh Smith cut out by Mikey Williams who was having a fine first half.
Marlow were enjoying their first period of pressure and on 38 minutes, Jose Sani broke down the left and into the left-hand side of the penalty area but his left-footed shot was weak and easily gathered by Harry Lee. On 40 minutes a great run down the left by Rhys Harper saw his cross find Maudner but the delivery was too heavy for a proper connection to be made.
Normal service was soon resumed though and on 43 minutes, Mikey Williams had a 25-yard curling effort easily saved by Rushton. There were no further incidents in the 2 added minutes.
A good first-half performance against a Marlow side looking out of their depth at this level. Taylor Scarff, the only player not to miss a match this season, was having another excellent game marshalling the defence when needed, keeper Harry Lee was commanding his area, but there was a feeling that Parkway had more goals in them today.
Within 10 seconds of the restart, visiting Sani hit a shot from 20-yards which was blocked by the back of a Parkway defender. On 50 minutes, a low drive from Watts-Barciela from the left side of the penalty area sailed just past the right-hand post.
On 55 minutes, an effort from Endacott was gathered at the second attempt by Rushton as the home side pressed for a third. A double substitution by Marlow on 57 saw Toby Raggett and Stefan Brown replace Sani and Maudner.
Barciela was causing a lot of problems on the right for the visiting defence and following good play from Callum Hall, he put in a good cross which had to be well gathered by the keeper. On 60 minutes, a Rio Garside cross saw an Edworthy header directed straight at Rushton. Parkway came close on 62 minutes when Barciela had another raid down the right and delivered the ball to Edworthy close-in but Rushton kept the ball out with his legs.
A triple substitution for Parkway followed on 63 minutes with the Exeter youngsters Tom Dean and Mitch Beardmore being introduced with Dylan Jones, just back from Egypt. They replaced Edworthy, Watts-Barciela and Carlo Garside. This had an immediate impact when on 65 minutes when good interplay between Mikey Williams, Dean and Beardmore on the right provided a cross for Dylan Jones who fired home for 3-0.
Good work on the left by Beardmore on 68 saw Hall shoot from 25 yards but the ball sailed over the bar. A Dean / Beardmore combination on 70 minutes resulted in the latter’s shot straight at the keeper from 18-yards.
On 71 minutes Gene Price replaced Frankie Monk, and for the visitors, Tom Jackson came on for Hoath. Parkway came close to extending their lead on 75 minutes when a left-footed effort from Beardmore from 20-yards was dragged just past the right-hand post following a period of pressure.
On 78 minutes Momodou Jallow was unfortunate to be booked for dissent following what appeared two successive fouls from Parkway. Marlow’s frustration was compounded the very next minute when Beardmore was played in by Jones from the left and blasted the ball home for 4-0 from 10-yards.
On 82 minutes Jackson for the visitors was yellow carded. On 88 minutes, Scarff played a long ball out to Jones who cut in from the left and delivered a perfect strike from 25-yards just inside the far post for 5-0. This was his tenth goal of the season.
In the final of 4 added minutes, Callum Hall, who had been instrumental all day for the hosts in midfield, cut in from the right but could only shoot wide and the referee blew the final whistle.
A competent display from Parkway against a willing but poor Marlow team who look destined for a quick return to the Isthmian league on this performance.
Parkway now sit 3 points from safety still in 20th position. Next up for Parkway will be a midweek trip to the holders Willand Rovers in East Devon in the Devon Bowl. This will be followed on the Saturday by a league visit to Swindon SM.
Match Info
Line-Ups:
Plymouth Parkway:
1 Lee, 5 Scarff, 6 White, 7 Williams, 8 Hall, 9 Monk (Price 71), 10 R.Garside, 12 Edworthy (Beardmore 63), 16 Endacott, 19 Watts-Barciela (Jones 63), 20 C.Garside (Dean 63)
Substitutes:
Dean, Jones, Beardmore, Price, McPhee (Unused)
Marlow:
1 Rushton, 2 Oladunjoye, 19 Jallow, 6 Salmon, 5 D’Aversa, 4 Hoath (Jackson 71), 7 Harper, 16 Smith, 17 Ramirez (Chitepo 66), 12 Maudner (Brown 57), 18 Sani (Raggett 57)
Substitutes:
9 Brown, 15 Jackson, 14 Raggett, 3 Chitepo
Attendance 366 (Est 10 away)