Taunton Town are back in action across the weekend, with two matches for The Peacocks to get stuck into, starting on Saturday with Basingstoke Town heading to Wordsworth Drive before the Peacocks make the short trip up to North Bristol on Bank Holiday Monday to face Yate Town.
Staff and supporters left London with mixed feelings after the 5-4 defeat at Uxbridge. Ultimately disappointed with the goals conceded, the team’s desire to score four goals and come close to salvaging an unlikely point gave hope that there is a strong side there, with the Peacocks having already won two matches and sitting just one place outside the play-off positions.
Forward Scott Robinson extended his goal tally to three for the season, producing a brace last weekend with two strikes inside the area, and he will be looking to build on that positive start. Also amongst the goals were Alfie Moulden and Jamie Richards, with the latter scoring twice last campaign – including the Goal of the Season-winning strike against Farnham Town to secure our Step 3 status. It was great to see the stand-in captain hit the net again on the road.
Looking ahead to the Bank Holiday, Town’s Head of Football, Lloyd Irish, previewed both matches:
“We go into the bank holiday weekend with confidence despite the defeat at Uxbridge. It’s disappointing to score four away from home and come home with nothing, but we had some really good moments in that game. Ultimately, some really bad moments cost us the match.
“We can’t dwell on that, though. The lads put in a good shift and, on another day, we’d have come away with all three points.
“We hope to bounce back this weekend. Our home form has been great this year and we need to continue that on Saturday. As with every team in this league, Basingstoke are a good side and we will need to be on our game to win this one.
“On Monday, we head to Yate. They’ve had a good start to the season and it’s a tough place to go. We need to start picking up results away from home now to give us a chance of challenging at the right end of the table.
“We’re really looking forward to the bank holiday weekend. It’ll be great to see as many Peacock supporters cheering us on as possible this weekend. We really appreciate your support.”
The Opposition (Basingstoke & Yate)
Basingstoke Town FC started the new campaign eager to push up the table after a 17th-place finish. They opened the season with a disappointing 4-2 home defeat against Evesham United, where a late rally via goals from Lewis and Zbigniew Kokoszka was not enough to salvage anything from the game. They stumbled again in their first away fixture, falling 2-1 to Hanwell Town despite a goal from O’Loughlin.
However, ‘The ‘Stoke’ bounced back brilliantly in mid-August. They secured an impressive 2-0 away win at Poole Town, driven by a fantastic second-half brace from loanee Miles Obodo. They followed that up with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against high-flying Bath City.
Yate, too, have made a strong start to the new campaign. Under the guidance of manager Darren Mullings, the Bluebells successfully retained their place in the division last year following an incredible late-season upsurge in form.
That resilience appears to have transitioned into the new season, opening their account at Lodge Road with a gritty 1-0 victory over Gosport Borough. They quickly backed that up on the road, battling to a tough 1-1 draw against a recently relegated Chippenham Town side. Sitting on four points from their opening matches, they look structured, highly disciplined and difficult to break down.
Match Tickets:
Tickets for Saturday’s home match are available to purchase here.
Here are the admission prices for Monday’s trip to Yate Town.
PLEASE NOTE: We have been informed that Yate Town will be cashless, so only card and contactless payments will be accepted.
Adult: £14 Concessions: £10 16-21-year-olds & Students: £8 EFL Season Ticket Holder: £12 Next Generation (12-15, accompanied by an adult): £6 Under 12 (accompanied by an adult): £2
Match Coverage
We will provide match updates across our social media channels throughout each match, as well as post-match interviews and reaction after the final whistle.
Make sure to tune into Peacocks Radio to keep up with all the action from both games.
