Mitch Parker was still scoring goals this week – as he has for the past 14 years.
He bagged a brace in Binfield’s 3-1 win at Badshot Lea in the Isthmian League’s Velocity Cup as they bounced back from their shock FA Cup defeat at lower league side Lordswood on Saturday.
Parker put them ahead in the first half with a shot from a tight angle, but a series of bad errors in defence saw them capitulate to the Kent side in the second half.
It also didn’t help that Lordswood had two or three men marking Parker in the second half after he had run the show in the opening 45 minutes.
After the game, the 30-year-old revealed to Football in Berkshire that he had considered hanging up his boots, at least at the Step 4 level.
“I was going to stop playing this year, but after speaking to Rosco, I decided to carry on.”
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Of course, Rosco is manager Ross Weatherstone, who led Binfield’s Great Escape at the end of last season – with considerable help from Parker and several other new signings.
“At the end of the season, Rosco said he wanted to build on that (team’s improvement) and when he asked if I would stay, it was a no-brainer,” said Parker.
“I am still going strong, and as long as I enjoy playing, I will continue.
“At the moment, I have sore heels, but that is due to the hard ground and the new boots.”
Parker is providing valuable experience to what is basically a young squad at Binfield.
“There is a good group of lads here, and they want to learn and improve.”
Mitch has been on the local soccer scene since 2012 and played for a whole host of clubs, including Highmoor Ibis (later Reading City), Fleet Town, Bracknell Town, Basingstoke, Hartley Witney (Weatherstone’s old club), Flackwell Heath, North Leigh and Walton & Hersham, from where he joined Binfield last March.
In early 2015, he went to Portugal to play for second-division club Lousada.
“I had six months out there; it was a good experience. It was certainly a different style of football to how we play over here,” he recalled.
In 2018, Parker skippered an ‘ambassadorial’ England squad that went out to the Falkland Islands for games against the host nation and a British Forces XI. In the latter, played at the Stanley Community School field, Mitch scored one goal in a 3-2 win, with the other two coming from Liam Ferdinand, who was playing for Bracknell Town at the time.
Parker and the rest of the Moles are this week preparing for a particularly tough FA Trophy first-qualifying round tie at Horndean.
The Isthmian South Central rivals have already met once this season, just a month ago, when Binfield crashed to a 4-0 defeat at the Iconic Stadium.
The Moles are still seeking their first points, while Horndean have taken maximum points from three games, the latest being a 2-1 win at Badshot Lea on Bank Holiday Monday.
So the Hampshire side will start the hot favourites, but manager Weatherstone believes his side will show a big improvement at the Stanley Chase Stadium.
He said: “We will be fully ready for them this time. I’m sure you will see a much different performance and give them a good game in the Trophy.”
Binfield are hoping that Tyler D’Cruz will be available again following his holiday as he makes a big difference to the attack and takes some of the pressure off of Parker.
D’Cruz scored three goals and Parker twice when the Moles thrashed Longlevens 9-1 in the FA Cup last month.
