AFC Totton
VENUE:
Snows Stadium, Salisbury Road, Totton, Southampton SO40 2RW
Tuesday 19 March 2024 | Kick-Off at 7:45pm
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THE 2021/22 SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE Champions Plymouth Parkway are playing catch-up this season, currently languishing within the drop zone of the Southern League Premier Division South but with as many as nine matches in-hand over some of their relegation rivals.
During one of the wettest winters on record, teams throughout the non-league game have struggled to stave off the rain to get football matches to go ahead as scheduled, but the problem has been particularly acute in the West Country. Parkway have had to postpone the vast majority of games at their Bolitho Park ground, while also facing cancellations from several of their away fixtures, too – not least their originally scheduled visit to the Snows Stadium, which was due to take place on Saturday 10 February until heavy Hampshire rain put the kibosh on that weekend’s football.
While Plymouth have fallen behind the rest of the division in terms of games played, the club’s hierarchy have been busily making alternative arrangements while frantic work continues on their own ground. Taunton Town were lined up to host Parkway’s home matches, and then an agreement was reached with Yate Town, all the way over in Gloucestershire, where Parkway entertained Merthyr Town on Thursday 14 March, before Saturday’s game at the same venue against Hayes & Yeading United also had to be postponed.
With the number of matches they still have in-hand over the likes of Tiverton Town, Sholing and Hayes & Yeading, the smart money would be on Plymouth climbing out of the relegation battle just as soon as they can get a steady run of fixtures together. However, they began the season with a seven-goal horror show at Hungerford Town, going on to lose all of their first four games of the 2023/24 campaign. They had only managed two league wins by the end of September, although the 5-0 thrashing of Dorchester Town would have done a lot to lift spirits.
Charlie Kennedy in possession during AFC Totton's 2-1 win over Plymouth Parkway in this season's Isuzu FA Trophy Third Round Qualifying tie at the Snows Stadium.
Frome Town ended Parkway’s involvement in the Emirates FA Cup after a replay at the Second Round Qualifying stage, and a 1-2 defeat on their previous visit to the Snows Stadium saw them exit the Isuzu FA Trophy in Third Round Qualifying during the first week of October. Willand Rovers compounded the cup misery by dumping them out of the Devon St. Luke’s Bowl, but a run of nine league games without defeat between 11 November and 27 January – which included a 4-0 thrashing of league leaders Chesham United and sweet revenge over Hungerford, to the tune of 6-2 – put a much healthier complexion on Plymouth Parkway’s season.
However, amid all the upheavel of postponements and re-arranged games, Parkway have since lost four league matches in a row to Beaconsfield Town, Basingstoke Town, Swindon Supermarine and last Thursday’s meeting with Merthyr at Yate Town, in which The Martyrs triumphed 3-1.
Under pressure from the Southern League to get their fixtures played before the scheduled end of the season, Parkway have already begun playing Saturday-Tuesday-Thursday, at least when the elements will allow them to do so, and The Stags are now scheduled to make the return trip to Devon on Thursday 04 April for a match that may yet have great significance at either end of the Premier Division South table.
Totton, meanwhile, will be looking to use back-to-back home games against Plymouth Parkway and Beaconsfield Town as an opportunity to bounce back from a disappointing performance and defeat at Chesham United on Saturday. Having just had their 12-match unbeaten run brought to an end by the league leaders, Jimmy Ball’s men will know that if they can achieve a similar run between now and the conclusion of the regular league season, they should be there or thereabouts in terms of the Promotion Play-Offs.
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By Ben Rochey-Adams
