Taunton made a change at half time with Charlie Dashfield replacing Jacob Hodgson. Parkway started the half with intensity forcing an early corner with Taylor Scarff rising highest at the far post with his header being saved by Parkes under considerable pressure.

Taunton then broke away and won a corner on 50 minutes whipped in by Nielsen but well defended by Parkway. On 54 minutes good link up play on the right between Wragg, Armstrong and Wright ended with the latter heading narrowly wide.

Play continued at an intense pace from end to end and on 55 minutes Rio Garside became the first player cautioned after a clash of heads with Dashfield in midfield. Both sides rung the changes on the hour with Hall replacing Rio Garside and Owen Brain and Archie Ferris replacing Corrick and David Duru for the visitors.

Brett fired a free kick wildly over on 63 minutes as Parkway continued to apply pressure, but the visitors held firm with some resolute defending. Taunton’s Morgan Lewis then saw yellow after series of persistent infringements as the game became intense and feisty with several stoppages breaking up the rhythm of the game.

The game took a dramatic turn on 67 minutes with Ferris, having only been on the field for 7 minutes, shown a straight red card for a dreadful, retaliatory tackle on Carlo Garside. After a lengthy stoppage, Garside was assisted from the field and unable to continue with Gene Price taking his place in midfield.

Once play had restarted, Parkway continued to press but were still unable to create clear openings with Taunton defending in numbers and competing strongly in midfield. However, the Parkway pressure finally paid dividends, and they equalised on 72 minutes.

More neat play along the left saw Wright holds the ball up well in the 18-yard area and set up Jones whose low cross found Williams who swivelled sharply in the 6 yard box and fired high into the roof of the net from a tight angle. Taunton responded almost immediately and mounted a counterattack on 74 minutes with Tom Smith in the clear flicking on to Purrington whose close-range shot was superbly saved at full stretch by Griffiths for arguably his first meaningful action of the half.

On 75 minutes James Watts-Barciela replaced Wragg who had had a quietly efficient debut and showed promise for the future followed shortly by Crago coming on for Wright.

Watts- Barciela made an almost immediate impact with his pacy runs and trickery causing problems for Taunton down the right. On 80 minutes his cross into the danger area was blocked by Parkes feet and cleared as the Parkway pressure increased. Parkway thought they had taken the lead on 82 minutes after more good approach play had caused confusion in the Taunton 6-yard box with the ball being bundled home from close range but being ruled out for offside despite Parkway claims that the last touch had come off a Taunton player.

Parkway continued to press and on 85 minutes another Watts-Barciela cross was headed behind for a corner with the second corner seeing Crago’s header well saved. Taunton made their final changes on 86 minutes as they looked to run the clock down and break up the Parkway momentum with Moulden and Harris Feltham replacing Smith and Purrington.

With Taunton on the attack, Hall won the ball deep in his own half and powered forward releasing Watts-Barciela whose shot was blocked and cleared. Taunton were still looking to play on the counter and on 89 minutes broke clear with Scarff tidying up at the back and halting the attack.

With 7 minutes of added time being indicated both sides went looking for a winner and in the 3rd minute a pacy run from Watts-Barciela saw him jink beyond 2 defenders inside the 18 area and unleash a powerful shot forcing a brave save from Parkes. Jones then blasted over from distance in the 96th minute with the game ending in a tense, scrappy manner with a Taunton player shown a yellow card for delaying taking his own corner and Crago and Down then booked for a bit of silliness and afters.

An even, fiercely contested game with Parkway doing well to display resolve and a fighting spirit to come back from a careless start after conceding 2 poor goals and ultimately gain a hard-earned point. However, they will be disappointed not to take all 3 points after dominating most of the second half, creating the clearer chances and playing against 10 men for the last 30 minutes. The first league win still eludes them and with Tiverton Town winning tonight they drop a place to 21st.

Attention now reverts to the FA Cup on Saturday when Southern League Division 1 (South) (step 4) side Westbury United visit Bolitho Park in the 2nd round qualifying. The visitors beat Southern Premier Leaders AFC Totton 3-1 in the previous so must not be underestimated.