Taunton Town rounded off a bank holiday weekend in style after picking up six points from two games. A first away win of the campaign at Lodge Road followed on from the home win on Saturday afternoon, writes Rich Smith.
First-half strikes from the attacking duo of Ben Seymour and Scott Robinson, as well as another from last season’s Player of the Season, Jack Rice, rounded off a dominant first half before Dan Koita, who was returning from suspension, added gloss in second-half injury time.
Manager Gary Johnson was able to name an unchanged team for the third match in a row, and this consistency proved its worth as The Peacocks put on a superb first-half performance and dominated from the off.
The away side took the lead as early as the 6th minute, with the two strikers continuing their great partnership. Robinson rose highest to flick the ball onto Seymour, who managed to curl the ball beyond keeper Aaron Sainsbury.
Yate struggled to get to grips with the constant attacking play thrown at them, and it took them a while to get into the game. Marcus Day, a former Peacock, shooting from distance on 16 minutes was their first effort on goal and their first encroachment into the Taunton half.
However, on 29 minutes, Taunton doubled their advantage. After the referee allowed play to continue following three possible fouls, a delivery from Alfie Moulden down the right found the head of Robinson, who headed home in front of the large number of travelling fans from Somerset.
And just three minutes later, two became three, as, like Saturday, Taunton found themselves three goals to the good. After Moulden had his shot blocked, the ball fell to Rice, who continued his goalscoring form.
And also, just like Saturday, Taunton weren’t able to go into the break without conceding, giving Yate hope of a comeback after Freddie Gooden lost sight of a tame effort from Rex Manning, allowing it to trickle through his hands and into the net.
3-1 at half time. Déjà vu!
It seemed that history could be repeating itself, as, for the second game in a row, Taunton came out for the second half and were second best for the majority of it. However, Yate weren’t able to capitalise on the high amount of possession in a half that lacked the entertainment and quality shown in the first 45 minutes.
On 83 minutes, Koita was brought on for Seymour for his first action since his red card on the opening day. And it was the striker who rounded things off in stoppage time. Receiving the ball from a great Niall Thompson ball from the right, Koita was able to lob the keeper to break the away-day hoodoo and bring three points back down the M5.
It was just the second away success for the team under Johnson, the first since Gloucester back at Easter. The result left The Peacocks 5th in the table with 12 points from sice games.
Our attention has now turned to The FA Cup, when we host Millbrook (Hampshire) on Saturday afternoon. Kick-off is at 3pm. If you can’t make it, make sure to tune into peacocks-radio.mixlr.com for live match commentary.