Recap
Report
The Peacocks battled through to the 1st Round Proper of the FA Trophy with victory over their Southern League counterparts. A terrific strike from Jayden Nielsen had given the hosts a deserved advantage at the break before sterling defensive work plus a superb display from emergency goalkeeper Lloyd Irish saw Taunton progress as Basingstoke piled on the pressure in the second half.
The Town side showed numerous changes from the one that had advanced in the FA Cup a week earlier, with new loan signing Jack Matthews handed his debut while recent recruit Opi Edwards also made his first start and Jayden Nielsen returned. The most notable amendment though was at No 1 where the retired Irish, now Vice-Chairman of the club, had to dust off his gloves due to the withdrawal of the ill Adam Parkes.
With a gusty wind playing its part, the early passages of play were somewhat frantic with both sides having possession and then losing it as the game swung from end to end. Basingstoke skipper Billy Upton headed over at full stretch from James Clark’s free kick for the visitors’ opening attempt while Eddie Jones was proving a valuable outlet down the right for Taunton, a fantastic long ball from Matthews finding him and his cross ran loose for Edwards to fire the wrong side of the post. Owen Brain then glided in from the left to force Stoke keeper Simon Grant to turn aside his strike from 18 yards before a sloppy pass at the other end presented Liam Ferdinand with a shooting opportunity which Irish palmed down to gather.
A goal of real quality saw the Peacocks make a breakthrough after 27 minutes. Edwards’ cross from the left went askew and Nielsen retrieved on the opposite flank before moving inside, executing a neat 1-2 with Tom Smith and curling a peach of a finish into Grant’s bottom right-hand corner. Brain beat two men but saw his shot hit an opponent as Taunton looked to eke out a second which they should have achieved ten minutes before half time when Jones’ low cross was deposited over the bar by Edwards from six yards. Brain had another tame shot easily held by Grant before the Hampshire outfit provided a sample of what was to come, Ferdinand heading narrowly over from Cook’s cross and a swift break down the right ending with Ben Cook firing onto the terraces.
Taunton had given the visitors plenty to think about defensively in the opening 45 minutes but that reduced significantly in the second half as the momentum increasingly swung Basingstoke’s way. Irish, a club veteran with nearly 400 appearances to his name, made his first vital intervention with just four minutes played when he blocked Nnamdi Nwachuku’s shot after the Stoke man had found space on the left side of the box.
A low effort from Nwachuku proved a routine stop for Irish before Town made their first switch, Jake Hodgson replacing Edwards. The defensive capabilities of Hodgson were to prove crucial during the next half hour as Basingstoke turned the screw. Upton volleyed over following a Clark corner and Irish again defied them brilliantly when pushing wide Ferdinand’s strike from the edge of the area. In between those moments the Peacocks had enjoyed a brief moment, a long Morgan Lewis throw falling loose for Brain. However his goalbound shot was blocked and attention soon switched back to rearguard duties.
The remaining four Taunton substitutions were all made with just under 20 minutes to go as the visitors continued their attacking onslaught, piercing the defence to put Dan Warre in but Irish stood defiant to keep the attempt out with his leg and then clutching Upton’s centre from the left. With the minutes ticking away the Peacocks’ defence were doing an excellent job repelling Basingstoke pressure and when Ferdinand headed wide from George Reid’s cross the home side looked to have done enough. Four minutes of added time nearly provided a late twist though, Reid finding room on the left, only for Irish to yet again parry away his powerful strike to preserve the Taunton lead and extend their unbeaten run to ten games. They know they will need similar guts and determination in a week’s time to continue their run in another national cup competition.
Line-Ups
Taunton: Lloyd Irish, Eddie Jones, Opi Edwards (Jake Hodgson 59), Toby Down, Tom Purrington (Ollie Woodhouse 72), Tom Smith (captain), Owen Brain (Harris Feltham 72), Alfie Moulden (David Duru 72), Jayden Nielsen, Jack Matthews (Archie Ferris 72), Morgan Lewis
Basingstoke: Simon Grant, Marcus Johnson-Schuster, D’Andre Brown (Brody Peart 45), Jack Ball, James Clark, Billy Upton (captain), Ben Cook (George Reid 45), Rudy Allen, Nnamdi Nwachuku (Dan Warre 71), Liam Ferdinand, Max Smith (Simon Dunn 77). Unused sub: Aleks Kokoszka
Officials
Referee: James Long (Truro)
Referee’s Assistant 1: Luke Fabry (Salisbury)
Referee’s Assistant 2: Luke Fletcher (Poole)
Attendance
735
Reaction
“That’s the happiest I’ve been all season because we’ve shown a different side to our game today…..” watch the reaction of manager Richard Luffman on Peacocks TV HERE
Highlights
Match highlights can be seen on Peacocks TV HERE
Photos
Match photos from club photographer Debbie Gould can be viewed HERE
Taunton Town MOM
Morgan Lewis receives the Taunton Town Man Of The Match award from Football Operations Manager Karl Lindsay
Many Thanks To Our Match Mascot
Beau Hills