The Peacocks travel to Paulton Rovers for their rearranged Southern League Challenge Cup 3rd Round tie tomorrow evening (7th January), kick-off 7.30pm.
The game was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch in the week before Christmas, with the winners of the tie hosting either Winchester City or Sholing in the Quarter-Final. Town returned to winning ways on Saturday when they beat Gosport Borough and they will hope to maintain their interest in another competition when they take on their old rivals tomorrow.
Town have already negotiated three rounds to reach this stage, overcoming Willand Rovers on penalties in the Preliminary Round after a 2-2 draw before beating Bideford 5-2 in North Devon and then edging past Truro City in the last round courtesy of that titanic 13-12 penalty shoot-out following another 2-2 result. Rovers have played one tie less but have made progress in emphatic style so far, both games being at home as they dismissed Salisbury 4-0 in their first outing before blitzing an albeit understrength Weston-super-Mare side 12-1 in the last round.
Rovers are well-placed in the Southern Division One South table, lying in fifth spot with 32 points from their 18 games. They have however lost their last three league games, with defeats to Mangotsfield, Melksham and most recently a 2-0 reverse at Cinderford on Saturday.
There will again be squad changes, with a number of Bridgwater and Taunton College students set to be involved along with a familiar face in centre half Owen Irish who has signed forms and will again pull on the Peacocks strip tomorrow. Nick Grimes and Andrew Neal are out due to injury niggles. Head of Football Rob Dray said:” It’s a great chance to go further in a cup competition and also a chance to cast our eye over some promising BTC students. It will be a good test for our younger players but we will be going there to win.”
On The Road – Paulton Rovers
Ground: The Athletic Ground, Winterfield Road, Paulton, Somerset BS39 7RF
Directions: From Wells take A39 towards Bristol. Turn right at traffic lights in Farrington Gurney and follow the A362 (signposted Radstock) for 2 miles. Continue straight over the first roundabout (by Tesco) and at the second roundabout turn left onto the B3355 (signposted Paulton). The ground is on the right hand side just past the La Campagna (Italian Restaurant).
Admission: Adults £9, Concessions £7, Under 18’s £2, Under 12’s Free
Most recent meetings: The sides last met during Town’s promotion-winning season two years ago. A wintry night at the Athletic Ground in February 2018 saw the Peacocks two down inside 12 minutes after a Dale Evans penalty and Omar Simpson strike but two second half goals from Keith Emmerson salvaged a point. Back in August 2017 Town had won the home encounter 3-0 thanks to a Les Afful penalty plus further goals from Ollie Chamberlain and Olly Mehew.