The Peacocks return to Southern League Premier South duty for the first time in nearly four weeks when they travel to Basingstoke Town tomorrow afternoon (19th October), ko 3.00pm.
It was 24th September when Taunton last tasted league action, beating Swindon Supermarine 3-1 at the Cygnet Health Care Stadium. Since then of course, Town have been concentrating on both the FA Cup which they exited on Tuesday with defeat at Maidenhead United, and the FA Trophy where they knocked out tomorrow’s opponents earlier this month.
The Hampshire side have responded to that elimination by securing four points on the road in their last two outings, a 1-1 draw at Frome being bettered by a 2-1 victory at Hanwell Town in midweek with striker Liam Ferdinand bagging all three in those two games. Basingstoke remain the only unbeaten team in the division this season, their 20 points from ten games currently putting them in 4th spot and despite losing at the Cygnet a fortnight ago they showed what they are capable of with a dominant second half performance.
Although the Peacocks’ FA Cup dreams are over for another year, they are unbeaten in the league since losing at Hungerford in mid-August. A chain of four wins and two draws since has lifted Taunton up to 13th place and they will need to take all that confidence into tomorrow’s encounter. The Taunton squad welcomes back three players who were all FA Cup-tied, namely Jayden Nielsen, loanee Jack Matthews and striker Jay Malshanskyj who has been limited to just 27 minutes of football since arriving from Bishops Cleeve last month. There are fitness concerns however over Eddie Jones and Harris Feltham. Manager Richard Luffman said:” We know what a difficult game it’s going to be, the start of three tough ones on the road this week. They were good at our place in the second half two weeks ago, but we will be all out to try and end their unbeaten league record tomorrow to help us keep climbing the table.”
Traveller Info
Ground: Winklebury Football Complex, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG23 8BF
Ground to Ground: 106.4 miles
Admission: Tickets can be purchased online in advance priced Adults £12.50, Concessions (aged 65+, students with ID, registered disabled) £8.50, Under 18’s £5.50, Under 12’s £2.50 or at the gate
Match commentary: will be available on Peacocks Radio
Last meeting: a Jayden Nielsen cracker settled the game in favour of the Peacocks when the sides met in the Isuzu FA Trophy two weeks ago. Relive the match highlights HERE