Recap
Report
There was nothing Good about this Friday from a Peacock perspective as they were comfortably beaten by a Weston side recording their first win in five games. Two goals in each half did the damage, with the Seagulls barely having to raise the gears against a lacklustre Town side which only woke up a little after the damage had been done.
With skipper Nick Grimes and Zac Smith both missing through injury, new loan signing Ben Acey was drafted into midfield, the only change from the previous game against Chelmsford, and he proved a rare positive on an afternoon when the rainbows adorning the North Somerset skyline proved more attractive than the first half that developed on the Optima Stadium pitch. With Weston occupying 15th spot and on a poor run, Town hopes were initially raised early doors when firstly Ollie Chamberlain cantered through the middle but saw his pass overhit to Ross Stearn before Stearn chested down a Cameron Evans pass to Chamberlain who dragged a shot wide.
The rot set in after seven minutes when the hosts took the lead. Reuben Reid dissected the Town left with a pass to Bailey Kempster who advanced to loft his finish over Lloyd Irish into the far corner via the underside of the crossbar. A rather dour contest began to develop with neither side creating anything of note with the Peacocks having a decent amount of possession but doing nothing with it. Two Lloyd James’ free kicks were defended competently while Zac Bell’s cross was safely claimed by Seagulls’ keeper Max Harris while at the opposite end Weston moved the ball around neatly in the final third but again without carving out a clear opening apart from Lloyd Humphries teeing up Keiran Thomas whose swerving shot sailed wide in the wind.
Acey’s strike from 25 yards then forced Harris into a smothering save which was swiftly followed by the visitors earning their first corner of the game. That proved fruitless and within a minute Town found themselves further behind when James Dodd’s ball pierced the defence for Reid to run through unchallenged and slot home past Irish on 37 minutes. Harris punched away Chamberlain’s cross before Nat Jarvis became the first entrant in the referee’s notebook, with the last action coming when Thomas sent a header over the top from Dayle Grubb’s cross to end the half with Weston in the driving seat.
The opening five minutes of the second half saw a shooting opportunity for each side, Grubb’s strike being blocked on the line by Dan Ball, with handball appeals by the hosts waved away, before Chamberlain found space but scuffed his effort wide. Former Weston winger and Peacocks’ debutant Jay Murray appeared on the hour to replace Marcus Day, but Weston were looking the stronger team and profited from a dominant spell midway through the half. Robbie Willmott’s ball across reached Reid who was able to turn too easily and force Irish to turn his shot aside while the roles were reversed when Reid’s centre found Willmott whose first attempt was blocked, and his tame follow-up was easily held by Irish who then found himself picking the ball out of the net twice in three minutes.
There were twenty minutes remaining when Jordan Bastin received Dodd’s pass to curl a sublime strike with the outside of his left foot over Irish from the edge of the box and home celebrations had barely subsided before Thomas added a fourth on 73 minutes, advancing into the Taunton half and with no challenge forthcoming he rifled home a superb diagonal strike from the right side to pick out the far top corner. Seb Bolton had taken over from Jarvis in between those two goals and after Chamberlain had drilled a shot narrowly over from a cleared cross, Rabby Tabu Minzamba became the final Town switch when he replaced Lloyd James.
Harris was finally called into activity in the final ten minutes, but the Weston donkey had long since bolted. Acey’s header from Zac Bell’s cross was held before the Bristol City loanee sent another one over the bar from Minzamba’s delivery. A sprawling stop from Stearn’s 18 yard strike was followed by a save from Evans’ shot after the ball had been recycled while Stearn’s powerful drive from the right was then turned wide for the last corner of the game, leading to a soft Evans header being clutched without fuss. The late flurry was far too late though and of no eventual consequence as the Peacocks suffered a fourth loss on the bounce. The only saving grace were defeats for the three sides immediately below and above them in the table, giving Town continued hope as they prepare for nine games in three weeks to save their season.
Line-Ups
Taunton: Lloyd Irish, Zac Bell, Lloyd James (captain) (Rabby Tabu Minzamba 78), Dan Ball, Ollie Chamberlain, Nat Jarvis (Seb Bolton 71), Ben Acey, Ross Stearn, Cameron Evans, Marcus Day (Jay Murray 59), Callum Dolman. Unused subs: Jaden Brown, Evander Grubb
Weston: Max Harris, Keiran Thomas, Jordan Bastin, Lloyd Humphries, Jason Pope, Raphael Araoye, Robbie Willmott (Jacob Jagger Cane 90), James Dodd, Dayle Grubb (captain) (Rex Mannings 78), Bailey Kempster, Reuben Reid (Jamie Soule 78)
Officials
Referee: Craig Scriven (Highbridge)
Referee’s Assistant 1: Adam Gregory (Swindon)
Referee’s Assistant 2: Cain Collins (Melksham)
Attendance
1436
Reaction
“Our quality wasn’t good enough and the goals were very disappointing for me……..” watch Rob Dray’s match reaction on Peacocks TV HERE
Highlights
To follow
Photos
Match photos from club photographer Debbie Gould can be viewed HERE
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance MOM
Ben Acey was named Taunton Town Man Of The Match, photo to follow