The Peacocks made it nine Evo-Stik League games unbeaten with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Barnstaple Town at the Viridor Stadium yesterrday evening (5th December).
It was a solid rather than spectacular performance from Town in an often scrappy and sometimes niggly affair. An early goal from Ollie Chamberlain after ten minutes was disallowed when the referee spotted an infringement but Town overcame that disappointment by grabbing the lead on 33 minutes, Matt Wright passing to Dan Sullivan who made space in the box before driving into the net past Grant Fisher. A second goal arived two minutes into added time at the end of the first half when Wright’s header from close range was kept out by Fisher, Ryan Brett pouncing on the loose ball to slot home. The scoring was concluded four minutes into the second half after Chamberlain had been pulled down by Chris Ibbeson. Although Fisher saved Ben Adelsbury’s penalty, the rebound was played back in by Wright for Matt Buse to convert. Lloyd Irish pulled off two excellent saves from Ibbeson to keep a clean sheet while Town came close to adding more via Brett’s flicked header which hit the base of the post and Omar Simpson and Chamberlain who were both denied by Fisher. The victory extends the Peacocks’ adavntage at the top of the West Division to seven points as they prepare to face promotion rivals Salisbury at the Viridor Stadium this Saturday.
Reaction | Assistant manager Michael Meaker remarked: “I thought it was a professional performance and the boys played some attractive football at times but also kept a great shape when defending. We could have won the game by a lot more but with some strange decisions from the ref and great goalkeeping kept the scoreline down. However with a 3-0 win we are all pleased and the lads did superb yet again.”
Goalkeeper Lloyd Irish said:” A good result and another important three points. It would have been easy to get frustrated with a few bizarre decisions from the referee in the first 30 minutes but we stuck at it and kept our heads. This is the kind of fixture we slipped up in last year but we have more experienced heads now and more energy across the pitch. Chambo and Busey were fantastic again and Dan Sullivan has been a great signing. We have a busy schedule until the new year and plenty of points to play for but we need to just take each game as it comes.”