The Peacocks were beaten for the first time in seven BetVictor Southern League games when they lost 2-1 to Weston-super-Mare at the Cygnet Health Care Stadium this afternoon (26th December).
A goalless first half had seen neither side able to break the deadlock on a heavy pitch made worse by constant rain falling throughout the 90 minutes. The visitors eventually went ahead six minutes into the second half when Town failed to deal with Bradley Ash’s pass allowing James Waite to advance into the box and drive his shot into the far corner. The Peacocks levelled on 65 minutes when Zac Smith was upended by Weston keeper Luke Purnell and Andrew Neal did the honours from the penalty spot but Weston were back in front nine minutes later when Waite glided all too easily through the Town defence to pick out Ash to sweep home what proved to be the decider. Despite Town pressing they were unable to find an equaliser as they suffered their first home defeat in any competition since August.
Head of Football Rob Dray commented:” We weren’t quite at it yesterday especially in the first half. We can all talk about the conditions and the referee but that doesn’t interest me. We have a proven group of players who have performed magnificently for several months now and have been incredibly consistent. It was our first home loss since August and first league loss since October so yes, we didn’t reach our high standards yesterday but we will train on Monday and come back the wounded animal next week.”