Sitting in mid-table, The Steelmen are almost equally clear from the foot of the table as they are away from the top and will take great positives from their efforts in their first campaign at this level.
But with less than half of the season in t
his unpredictable league to go, the threat of relegation or even the chance of promotion is not off the cards.
THE SEASON SO FARParkgate romped to the Division One title last season with a massive 120 goals scored in 26 wins from 32 games but suffered a massive blow when boss Vinnie Brady resigned less than a month after the campaign came to a close.
Brady's assistant Russ Eagle was handed the manager's job and set about preparing for Parkgate's Premier Division debut.
The departure of 50-goal striker Brian Cusworth to Blue Square North side Alfreton Town was another huge setback for the club.
Matters got even worse when the poor summer weather saw the cancellation of a host of pre-season friendlies, stunting preparations.
But Eagle quickly began to create positives with the signing of the experience Scott Somerville and the appointment of the newly qualified Darren Grady as his assistant.
The pre-season was largely disappointing for the Steelmen with just one win sandwiched between four defeats.
However, like all pre-seasons, it was all forgotten when two goals from Caine Cheetham fired them to a 2-1 victory over Arnold Town in the campaign opener at Green Lane.
The FA Cup campaign began well with a 3-2 win at Brodsworth Welfare in the extra preliminary round but the triumph over Arnold was the solitary league win in August.
Eight goals were conceded in the following three games with defeats to Winterton Rangers, Glapwell and Armthorpe Welfare, but Cheetham continued to look bright with two more goals in the barren period for Parkgate.
A month of misery was met by a month of success with an undefeated spell of five games as well as further glory in knockout competitions with wins in the FA Cup and FA Vase preliminaries.
The did however exit both the Presidents Cup when they lost out to Selby Town and the FA Cup with the defeat to Colwyn Bay but the worst news was the injury of Cheetham after a late tackle in the win over Lincoln MR.
October saw The Steelmen exit the FA Vase in the first round proper after a heavy defeat to Lancashire side Kirkham & Wesham and pick up just one win with the 6-0 mauling of Brodsworth Welfare.
What followed was an odd period for the Green Lane side as they produced disappointing performances to slip to four defeats in five but split the results with a superb 4-2 win at Thackley and successfully started their League Cup and County FA Senior Cup campaigns.
Goals in the league began to dry up and it appeared as though a season of struggle was on the cards for Parkgate.
But the Christmas period produced the magical festive spark that has ignited The Steelmen's season with three wins out of three and 16 goals.
Ryan Johnson and Gavin Allott have been in near-free scoring form in recent weeks while the return of Cheetham has been another positive in the recent run.
A Boxing Day Rotherham derby 5-0 thrashing of Maltby Main was the highlight of the period with Johnson grabbing a hattrick and Allott adding a brace.
The nine points have pushed Parkgate well away from the relegation zone and they look well on course to establishing themselves in the Premier League.
The full article contains 646 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
