The Peacocks are now 21 Evo-Stik League games unbeaten following their 1-1 draw with Bideford at the Viridor Stadium yesterday evening (20th February). However, the result was disappointing from Town’s perspective given the number of opportunities not taken in front of goal while also hitting the wood work twice. The evening started off well, with Craig Veal and Keith Emmerson both coming close before Dan Sullivan got on the end of Veal’s flick to lob over Steve Oliver to put Town ahead after 18 minutes. Matt Wright’s header then crashed off the post and Shane White had a goal disallowed as the hosts deservedly led at the break despite not being at their best. Wright saw another header hit the bar while White and Sullivan both missed chances and they were made to rue that wastefulness when the visitors were gifted a way back into the game when Lloyd Irish brought down Kevin Squire and Ben Seymour fired home the penalty after 68 minutes. Neither side showed sufficient quality to conjure up a winner, leaving it all square and extending the Peacocks’ lead at the top to 13 points ahead of Saturday’s trip to North Leigh.
Reaction | Coach Rob Dray commented: “Another good point gained last night against a good Bideford side who will be in the play-off shake up. The squad kicked in a bit with Benno and Pierce injured and Les away in what was essentially a derby while there is a lot of familiarity on both sides which in itself makes it even more competitive. The boys were very disappointed afterwards,with Wrizz hitting the bar twice and another huge penalty shout not given. We all felt with the amount of those chances that we should have done better but sometimes we won’t be able to win every game we play, other teams will always raise their game when they come to the Viridor against the league leaders in front of a proper crowd on a proper surface! And as for the refereeing display last night , that’s enough said about that ….. So 21 unbeaten, four points from six against two of the better sides and if as a management team we are honest we were not at our best, but these lads dig deep with the pressure and expectation of winning every game which in itself is a different challenge. Support has been phenomenal again and Kev and Si have prepared another great surface for us. On to the next one, keep ticking them off to where we want to be in a few weeks time”.