Clevedon Town put up a tremendous fight before bowing out of the FA Vase against favourites Plymouth Parkway at Newton Abbot on Saturday.
After a difficult first half when Town seemed to give their physical opponents too much respect and acres of space to dangerous winger Mikey Williams, some adjustments saw a much improved second-half performance, but could not prevent defeat.
Liam Dempsey passed a fitness test for Town and both sides settled quickly, but there was an indication of what was to come as early as the first minute when Williams teed up Matt Wright for a shot which was well saved by Harley Wilkinson.
A Williams shot was pushed wide by Wilkinson, while at the other end Syd Camper found Jay Murray in the area but he was crowded out and Will Gould burst through the middle, but his shot from distance went wide.
The frenetic pace continued, and the opening goal arrived on 13 minutes when a long ball out wide sent Williams racing into the area and he curled his shot round Camper and wide of the diving Wilkinson into the bottom corner.
Two minutes later Matt Wright put a free header wide, and then Wilkinson pulled off another great save to keep out Ryan Richards as he cut in from the left.
Rob Farkins saw his header cleared off the line, River Allen fired over and then Town defender Glen Hayer needed treatment for a head injury after blocking a shot.
In a rare Clevedon break Callum Gould put a free kick high and wide, but the action was soon back at the other end when Wright’s chip was too high.
Williams was also soon at it again, forcing Hayer to bravely head away a searching cross, then seeing another cross scrambled away, before Camper stopped another Williams charge into the box on the half hour.
The pressure was relentless and when Williams set up Allen, Hayer was on hand again to clear under pressure.
Clevedon finally forced Parkway keeper Kyle Moore into a save on 37 minutes when Liam Dempsey burst through the middle, but Parkway delivered a killer blow when Farkins sent a long crossfield ball to Williams, who got to the byline and pulled the ball back for Allen to tap in for a 2-0 half-time lead.
The Seasiders brought on Ethan Feltham and Sam Iles for Callum Gould and Finlay Biggs, but Parkway were first to show as Farkins headed wide from a corner.
But Clevedon started to fight back and Dempsey hit the side netting and a Will Gould cross was cleared for a corner as Feltham challenged the keeper.
Richards set up the irrepressible Williams on the hout for a shot which produced another good save from Wilkinson.
But Camper showed great determination to win the ball in midfield and set up a good spell for Town, as Murray shot just wide and a powerful Elliot Nicholson shot was blocked for a corner, which Feltham headed back only for Camper to see his shot saved.
Parkway were now looking less composed at the back but were still dangerous on the break and Wilkinson produced another magnificent save to push a clever Williams shot round the post on 75 minutes.
Five minutes later Will Gould and Camper combined well to set up Hayer but his shot just cleared the bar and it looked like Town would never score.
The last throw of the dice came in the 84th minute when Morgan Williams replaced Camper and Will Gould found Feltham who blazed over before a strong run and shot by Dempsey was cleared for a throw.
Finally, a goal came three minutes into added time, when Will Gould set up substitute Williams to tuck the ball under Moore, and there was one final chance for Feltham, but it was not to be as Parkway went through o meet Hellenic League leaders Flackwell Heath.
A disappointed Micky Bell said: "It was a game of two halves and we gave them too much respect in the first half. But I thought we won the second half and when we were on top, we looked good, but the goal didn’t come early enough for us to put them under further pressure."
Clevedon: Wilkinson, Nicholson, Camper (Williams 84), Kingdon, Hayer, Hedges, Dempsey, C Gould (Feltham 46), W Gould, Murray, Biggs (Iles 46). Unused subs: Bayliss, Davies, Yarde.
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