One last challenge facing Parkway before they end
AFTER being crowned champions of the Southern League Division One South last weekend, you could have been forgiven for thinking Plymouth Parkway would be on their sun loungers by now, resting up and reflecting on a quite outstanding campaign.
A brilliant end to the season, which saw them playing twice a week from March right through to the last game of the season, saw Lee Hobbs’ side rack up a stunning 14 wins from 15 games and leap from mid-table to the top of the league and ultimately crowned champions.
What is more, this was Parkway’s first ever season at Southern Division One level, the highest they have ever played in their history. Now, they are going one step further and can look forward to Southern League Premier football next season, where they will rub shoulders with the region’s top non-professional sides such as Tiverton Town and Truro City.
However, before all that – and before they head of on their summer vacations – the Parkway players have one last challenge facing them before the season can officially draw to a close, even if it is a game that Hobbs is not really looking forward to.
The winners of the Southern League Division One South must play the winners of the Central division, Bedford Town, in the type of game that has the feel of an unwanted third/fourth place play-off game at a major tournament.
However, Hobbs and co will treat it with respect, unlike Taunton Town, who have pulled out of their scheduled Championship clash with Banbury, claiming they can’t raise a team. Hobbs feels the game could be better served as a competitive pre-season fixture, rather than an end of season clash where tired bodies and weakened teams are the norm.
“We only found out about it about two weeks ago, so I am not sure if something got lost in communication or what but, for us, we will be professional and go up there and see how we do,” Hobbs said.
“We are going up there very depleted because of injuries and it is not a game we want, if I am being honest, but it’s a game we will go and try to win.
“Obviously they have home advantage and I don’t see that as being fair. I have never ever moaned about travelling but a six hour coach journey, 12 hours there and back, doesn’t really seem fair at the end of a gruelling season.
“I don’t understand why they couldn’t make it the week before the new Southern League season starts and make it a competitive pre-season friendly and a weekend away.
“The game is treated like a Cup game and you share the gate receipts and a neutral venue probably wouldn’t attract as big a crowd. But we will have our usual loyal fans travelling and they get good crowds – they get between 700 and 1,000 – so hopefully there will be a good gate.”
On the Parkway injuries and unavailabilities, Hobbs said: “Tom Bath has obviously done his Achilles, Adam Carter has done ligaments in his ankle, Matt Andrew has an ankle problem, Harrison Davis has a problem with his hamstring, Callum Hall – knee – and then Ethan Mitchell has been called back by Argyle, as has Finley (Craske) so we are going up there with a bare eleven and calling on three or four of our Under-18s.
“It’s a perfect game for them (Under 18 players) and will be a fantastic experience for them. Young Jake Smith will probably get his first start, so it’s a good experience for them. But, knowing the workload we have had in the last nine months – and especially the last eight weeks – its game we could have possibly done without. Especially on a Bank Holiday weekend.
“We finished our campaign last week, obviously it was a successful one – now, we just want to rest, recover and go on our holidays. But it is what it is, we are contractually obliged to be there and play, so we will go and give it our best shot.”
Bedford have home advantage as they finished with more points than Parkway. They achieved 91 points from 38 games, losing only three times all season and scored 100 goals in the process. The reason for that is the quality of their frontline where they boast former professionals in ex-Torquay United striker Rene Howe and the 38-year-old one-time Peterborough, Brighton and Luton striker Craig Mackail-Smith, a sevencap Scotland international.
Howe finished the season as top scorer in the division with 27 goals, but their threats don’t stop there. Twenty-year-old Connor Tomlinson, Luton Town’s youngest ever player at the age of 15 years and 199 days, also chipped in with 18 for the free-scoring Eagles.