Southern League Premier South Division – Saturday 10th August 2024
Plymouth Parkway 1 v 3 Basingstoke Town Attendance 529
Where: Bolitho Park, St Peters Road, Manadon, Plymouth, Devon PL5 3JG
Dan Brownlie’s first starting line-up was: 1. Simon Grant, 2. Markus Johnson-Schuster, 3. Curtis Angell, 4. William Upton, 5. James Clark, 6. Simon Dunn (Capt), 7. Robbie Gallagher, 8. Max Smith), 9. Daniel Warre, 10. Ben Cook, 11. Alfie Bridgeman
On the bench: Jonathan Efedje, Liam Ferdinand, George Reid, Paul Hodges, Rudy Appiah-Allen
Referee – Dan Frizzell
Stoke’s opening game of the 2024-25 season got underway at Plymouth Parkway’s Bolitho Park and it was the homeside who pushed forward in the opening minutes as the they found space down our right but due to a good block, a good save by Simon Grant and a shot pulled wide of the right-hand post, mean’t all three attacks left the game goal-less, as we hit the fifteen mark.
Stoke’s first chance came when the ball was fed through to Dan Warre, but his shot was tame and the keeper had no problems making the save.
Parkway were still the team on top, and their good play finally resulted in them taking the lead, as another attack down our right, and two passes later they found the back of the net. Parkway 1-0 Basingstoke
Parkway were still stifling anything Stoke were trying to do, and despites call for a Parkway penalty, Stoke started winning one or two battles in the middle of the pitch just after the half-hour mark, as we started to push forward forcing a couple of corners which came to nothing.
Parkway then failed to take a golden opportunity to double their lead as another attack saw them miss what seemed an open goal.
Stoke then forced another corner this time on the left, and from the resulting kick Billy Upton met the corner and headed the ball back across the face of the goal, where Dan Warre got to it first and helped it on and into the bottom corner of the net. GOAL! Plymouth Parkway 1-1 Basingstoke Town (Warre 38 mins).
This appeared to spur Stoke on and we pushed forward over the remaining minutes of the first-half, but Parkway held firm and the referee blew for the break.
Halftime Score: Plymouth Parkway 1 v 1 Basingstoke Town
With Stoke fans mostly congregating behind the goal at the other end of the ground, the second-half got underway, and it was Stoke who started the brighter, but in the fiftieth minute it was Parkway who broke from our attack and two passes later a cross from the left came over which required a defender to clear the ball off the line.
Stoke were now finding some rhythm and a nice passing movement allowed Max Smith to hit a shot just over the bar from 28 yards.
Good work from Curtis Angell then set up Warre, who shot was blocked out for a corner. Nothing came from it, but Stoke soon pressed forward again through Robbie Gallagher and then Bridgman, but both attacks were thwarted on the edge of the penalty area.
Stoke continued the team on top as we hit the hour mark and two minutes later we made two changes with Dan Warre replaced by George Reid & Jonny Efedje for Alfie Bridgman.
The change worked instantly as a free-kick from Ben Cook, was headed once again by Upton and Efedje got a head to it and it scraped off the post and out for a goal-kick. Parkway’s keeper then messed up the goal-kick, allowing Efedje to make a tackle for the ball on the keeper, and he was first up and slotted the ball home from three yards GOAL!! Plymouth Parkway 1-2 Basingstoke Town (Efedje 63 mins).
Stoke continued to dominate possession, pushing forward each time, and some neat passing the ball came to George Reid who cut inside and curled a shot that the keeper made a strong diving save.
Parkway almost hit back as a corner resulted in us blocking a shot close to the line and we were able to clear.
Stoke then made their third change as Paul Hodges replaced Ben Cook (70 mins).
Stoke were still the team looking to find the next goal, but under the new rules, we made our fourth change with Simon Dunn being replaced by Rudy Allen (76 mins).
Then there was a slight interruption as our dug-out had to deal with a Parkway fan who clearly had said something that our Manager did not like.
Our fifth change came with less than ten minutes remaining as Liam Ferdinand replaced Robbie Gallagher (81 mins).
The next chance fell the way of Stoke as good work from Angell who finds Efedje who takes a nice touch, then finds Hodges, who slides the ball across the face of the goal, where a full-length stretch from Ferdinand and can only touch the ball onto the post and the Parkway keeper recovered the rebound.
Stoke were still pushing forward as we reached the final minute, and then Parkway were awarded a dubious free-kick just outside our penalty area. The kick was smashed against the bar and rebounded down, and the ball was forced over the bar for a goal-kick. The referee then indicated a minimum of eight added-minutes.
From the resulting goal-kick we pushed up field and the ball was fed to Ferdinand inside the penalty he turned his defender and then slid the ball across to where Allen ran onto the ball and neatly slid the ball between two defenders on the line and into the net GOAL!!! Plymouth Parkway 1-3 Basingstoke Town (Allen 91 mins).
All hope for Parkway was gone and Stoke played out the final few minutes before the referee blew the final whistle on an opening day away win for Basingstoke.
Full-time Score: Plymouth Parkway 1 v 3 Basingstoke Town
Beardmore 19 mins, Warre 38 mins, Efedje 63 mins & Allen 91 mins
Match Thought’s
Well twenty minutes in and things were not looking good, however this Stoke dug in and once Dan Warre had got us back level, we were by far the better side for the final hour of the game. Good to see all three goals coming from our new players. Lots of nice passing moves once we got going and it was good to see a number of players, getting valuable playing time.
A great day and start to the season.
Up Next:
Following the three points at Plymouth, we now have two home games in a row, with the first being Tuesday night with Swindon Supermarine visiting Winklebury.
Match Report by Martin French..
English 
Polish 
Another good report on what sounds a good comeback.
Good win on opening day, especially on road.