Ian Pethick

A decent, confidence boosting win for Parkway against a youthful Exeter City in the St Lukes Bowl last night. They survived the scare of going behind in the second minute and went in at half time 5-1 ahead, mainly thanks to a 21 minute hat trick by ex City forward, Ben Seymour. The other goals on the night were courtesy of Austin Booth, Jared Lewington and Jack Crago (2). Ryan Lane and Mike Landricombe were both withdrawn early in the game through (hopefully) tactical or precautionary reasons.

Only knew him through this forum, where I very much enjoyed his dry, witty and insightful posts (especially the light hearted digs that were traded between him and the Falmouth contingent). When you got a "like" from Older, it generally meant that you were on the right track. He'll be missed on here.

Well done to Helston CC. (Sure a few Truro City fans would have spat out their tea when they saw that topic title though).

Ground sharing with Tiverton? Seriously though, does this mean that an official announcement is imminent? Early days yet, but perhaps the new (or upgraded) ground should be step 2 ready.

Nice article on the Southern League website. https://southern-football-league.co.uk/News/132320/Theyve-Played-For-Your-Cluband8230;Truro-City

The Chelsea managerial strategy sort of works though. In his 18 months or so in charge, Thomas Tuchel delivered a Champions League win.

It's catching at lower levels. Three managers in the Southern League have parted with their clubs "by mutual consent" in the last couple of weeks.

I go to football to avoid them... 😁

Spot on here Gary. The fear of having their turn on the Daily Mail ducking stool has driven a knee jerk reaction. Surely getting out and about, enjoying your life, is the best tribute possible.

Not sure why matches at non league level are being cancelled. Would have thought that 2 minutes silence as a mark of respect, the wearing of black armbands and also the chance for players, supporters and officials to come together at the game and share their thoughts and memories would be a fitting tribute.

Being saved, or invested back into club facilities?

Yes, was thinking non British born.

Difficult one. For example, Chris Morris. Born in Newquay, but an international for the Rep Of Ireland.

Not surprisingly, given it's geographic location, there haven't been too many non British players on the Cornish scene over the years, very interested to hear who the folk on here regard as the best they've seen. This has been sparked by the instant impact that Moussa Diallo has had at Mousehole (who have had several non Brits in recent seasons). My vote would go to Roger Bonaparte, a goalscorer over many seasons (for many clubs) and all round nice bloke.

Parkway beat Didcot 3-2 in what sounded like a thriller with a Ben Seymour goal in the 94th minute. Lee Hobbs' team got a much needed first win of the season, but they certainly jangled the nerves after being 2 up late in the game through Rio Garside and Seymour. Familiar story of not being able to hold a lead, and it also sounds concerning that Billy Palfrey was subbed off in the second half (hopefully not another injury for an already over stretched squad). Big boost though, and Bolitho Park must have been a happier place last night.

Would have thought that Stu Bowker would have been made for Buckland. Big personality, one for the big matches and lives locally. Dan Hart got the best out of Ben Waters last season at Launceston, so knows how to get the best out of these type of players. His decision though.

Round my way (East London), step 6 and 7 football is in rapid decline (many factors, the biggest one being lack of grounds because of eye watering property prices), but Saturday/Sunday park football is booming. Many reasons i guess, sheer population and lower average age of it. London Borough Of Hackney has a population of nearly 300k and an average age of 33, versus Cornwalls average of 44. Also several midweek leagues still going strong (have watched one or two in the local Turkish league, the games are very competitive, can get some partisan crowds watching and the tackling can be brutal). I work for Transport For London, their "in house" football league has 2 divisions of 10 teams each and plays on Wednesday afternoons. Some serious players and teams involved.

Valid point Box 2 Box, there just aren't the players anymore. Multitude of reasons, many complex, some straightforward, yet all discussed at length on this site before. For me, the golden age (if it ever existed) of Cornish football in terms of mass participation and strength in depth through multiple leagues, has gone. You could say though that in terms of progressive clubs off and on the pitch whether at step 5 (or aspiring to be this, or even higher), the picture looks really good. Would be interesting to see how step 7 or lower football is fairing in the rest of the country, suspect the story will be similar.

Find this a fascinating, and little talked about, part of Falmouth Town's history. Looks like they gambled everything on returning to the Western League glory days, it didn't work and they resigned from the league. Done a bit of digging around on this, appears that leaving the league was news to the manager (Hargreaves) and that they expected Liskeard and Saltash to follow (they didn't).

Parkway have to be very careful in criticising pitches given the state of Bolitho Park last season. Another clearly exasperated Lee Hobbs in the post match interview, and two more injuries for an already thin looking squad. Wonder if a few of these players are getting down to their last chances?

Somebody will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you can use all five. How far into the season will we get before you have a match between the "big budget" clubs in which all subs are made (32 players making an appearance), but another match is called off through a club being unable to raise a side.

Parkway certainly accumulating the dual signings. David Barker (Saltash) and Curtis Damerell (Torpoint) now joining the squad list. Barker has been a stand out performer at right back for several seasons, and Damerell is now a far better player than in his previous spell at Bolitho, but are they really step 3 quality, or just potential squad/bench fillers?

We're into the annual "Arsenal are back" phase of the season. Don't worry, they'll be back to underperforming and disappointing by the time the clocks change. Martin Odergaard will be the new Mesut Ozil by then...😉

Bodmin Town were always a club that punched well above its weight, this was all down to Darren Gilbert's hard work and passion for the club. Looking at the Western and Southern Leagues now, they contain clubs that Bodmin used to finish above in leagues and beat in cup finals, and have now all powered past them. Doesn't feel like they were ever the same once the FA pyramid system kicked in, and promition effectively became mandatory. The clubs that have moved forward get more people through the gate, have large groups of hard working volunteers and committees/chairs with a vision and strategy for both the commercial and playing side. The days of successful clubs being powered by one or two individuals (even with deep pockets) has probably gone.

Many people said that Darren Gilbert was the glue holding the club together. Sounds like they are gradually adding new blood behind the scenes, but it may take a few changes of manager to get things going on the field. Adam Carter and Levi Landricombe are great players but , painful as it may be, perhaps a long term rebuilding job around younger and more local players will be needed (as has happened at Liskeard and Falmouth).