The Peacocks began life in the Evo-Stik League Premier with a convincing 4-0 victory over Staines Town at the Viridor Stadium this afternoon (11th August).
In the first ever meeting between the two sides, Town always had the upper hand as they scored twice in each half to stretch their unbeaten league run to 35 matches. Despite early pressure from the hosts, there were few clear opportunities until the deadlock was broken after 26 minutes when debutant Andrew ‘Rocky’ Neal converted from a tight angle via a deflection after the referee had played advantage following a foul on Dan Sullivan. Town doubled their advantage six minutes before half time when Ollie Chamberlain slotted home neatly from Sullivan’s pass before the points were effectively sealed five minutes after the break when Matt Buse tucked home the rebound for the third goal after Sullivan’s strike had hit the post.
The Swans enjoyed a better spell without really threatening, Brendan Murphy-McVey coming close when he curled a free kick wide, before the Peacocks had a Craig Veal header ruled out for offside and Staines keeper Louis Dixon made a fine save to tip over Sullivan’s drive. Veal then netted from Josh Nelmes’ cross in the fifth minute of stoppage time to round off proceedings and ensure Town maintained their winning habit from last season.
Reaction | Manager Leigh Robinson commented: “A perfect way to start the campaign with a home win, plenty of goals, a clean sheet and a good crowd to boot. I thought we were very comfortable in the game and never in any danger of not winning. Offensively we scored four goals without really playing as well as we can in the final third, often the final ball let us down a bit today but happy to keep something up our sleeves for the games to come.”
Club captain Matt Wright remarked, “A fantastic start to our Southern Premier campaign as we carried on from where we left off last season. The lads put the effort in in pre-season and it showed in the game yesterday. We were fitter, stronger and sharper then our opponents and felt comfortable for most of the game. We have goals in abundance as shown in pre-season which carried on into the game yesterday. On to Tuesday now which is a massive game for us to really stamp a mark on this league. Great support as always from The Peacocks and hopefully we will see a few of you there on Tuesday night. 35 unbeaten league games, let’s keep this run going! Up the Peacocks.”