Brentham 3 - 3 Old Parkonians (Southern Amateur League)

After a promising string of pre-season friendlies, where we won three and lost one (scoring thirteen in the process) the new look 1st XI kicked off the new league campaign at Brentham. Missing some first team regulars who were away in Las Vegas only for Crazy's 40th (good timing, thanks) - the mixture of very young (Keogh, Jamieson), young (Sharkeys, Bernstein) and very mature (Turner) started sharply creating several chances for Parmenter and Pascoe.

However, on 20 minutes, Parks fell behind to a breakaway goal - while pressing high up in the opponent's half, a long ball dropped short of Turner and the forward rounded the Parks' keeper to finish into an empty net. With Bostock and Jamieson pulling the strings, it didn't take long for the equaliser to come - the impressive Jamieson sliding a through ball into the path of Chris Sharkey, who drilled home from 15 yards. The rest of the half was a scrappy affair, with Brentham capitalising on some very sloppy defending to go into the break at 3-1 in front.

The substitution of Gaughan for Mike Sharkey, who had been clubbing for a week in Crete, seemed to spur Parks into action in the second half. Defending more solidly and keeping possession for long periods at a time, Parks halved the deficit when an excellent Mason corner was headed home at the far post by Bernstein. With their tails up and Gaughan at his destructive best, Parks pressed hard for the equaliser. It soon came on seventy minutes with Jamieson coolly finishing after Keogh, Mason and Parmenter created the best move of the game down Parks' left flank. Soon after, with Parks on top and squandering a couple of chances to take the lead, the game degenerated into a midfield dogfight. Paul Celotto, after being fouled after a strong run, was singled out by their centre half for a Mick Kenny special. With the opposition down to ten men, Parks looked confident, but the best chance of the last five minutes fell to Brentham. A clever run and fierce shot saw the ball cannon off the Parks' bar and Turner reacted magnificently to keep out the rebound.

The points shared then seemed a fair conclusion to the opening game of a season where the 1st XI must be pushing for an immediate return to the Second Division.

Scorers: Chris Sharkey, Bernstein, Jamieson
Man of the Match: Celotto (for his ability to take a head-butt)

Report by Tim Cross