After a disappointing result in there previous league the parkway were back in action in the county cup against the unknown Jack & Jill. The conditions were not good for either team to try and play football, particularly in the centre of the pitch which had large patches of water. The parkway once again had numerous changes to the starting eleven, which has caused problems with consistency this season.
The parkway had plenty of chances in the first half despite not really dominating in terms of possession, but only managed to go into the break with a one goal lead. This was mostly due to the efforts of the opposition keepers who pulled off a string of good saves, the best of which being a close range effort from Carling following a corner and an even better stop from Bradley who directed Lavender’s cross back across goal only to see the keeper get a strong hand to it. The lead came on around the half hour mark when Walker received an awkward pass on the edge of the area which he managed to control on his chest before firing a volley at goal. It was kept out by a mixture of cross bar and keeper, but the loose ball fell to top scorer Bradley who found the net on his second attempt after another heroic effort from the keeper.
At half time the Parkway had to withdraw their keeper McCabe who had also made a couple of good saves in the first half. This was not due the usual mundane reasons given in write ups around country each weekend, but due to the fact he had noon tea off at the local golf club. This meant the Parkway had to shuffle the pack with Dixon going from upfront to play in goal for the second half, the introduction of Pape at full back and Trattles being pushed into midfield, this was definitely going to be a turning point in the game, but at this point most people didn’t which team would benefit more. Thankfully for the parkway Trattles did quite well with his three touches of the ball in the second half even getting involved in one of the goals (that’s enough talking about myself now, back to the real football).
In the second half the Parkway continued there dominant display with Walker and Ellis getting control in the centre of midfield. The lead was extended when Walker went on a mazy run and finally went down in the box following a couple of attempts to stop his advance towards goal. The spot kick was calmly converted by Bradley making him 3 from 3 for spot kicks this season. The Parkway really extended the lead in the final ten minutes of the game when the opposition started to tire, with Bradley setting Walker away to from the defence to slot home and minutes later Ellis putting Bradley through to finish off his hatrick.
Bradley grabbed his four of the day when a quite throw when to Trattles who managed to find Walker in the box, who kept his head to square for Bradley. The game was wrapped up with a solo effort from D.Lavender who collected the ball on the left before cutting inside and finishing smartly in the corner. The game also saw the Parkway collect there first clean sheet of the season, and centre half partnership D.Trattles and Carling looked solid throughout the later getting Man of the Match for his performance. (How good must Waldo have been to get MOM when Dez scored four and Richie set 3 up!)
