Taunton Town provided supporters with an encouraging glimpse of the season ahead with an emphatic pre-season victory at Bishops Lydeard.

The Bishops put up a brave fight in the first half and only fell behind to a lovely goal from the Peacocks, Tom Purrington delivering a sublime assist for Archie Ferris to convert.

Ferris then doubled the Taunton lead five minutes before the break, as manager Richard Luffman made a raft of changes at half-time. The third goal arrived with a sweet strike into the corner from trialist Jeffrey Forkuo, who played in the Academy at Plymouth Argyle.

A minute later, Evander Grubb made it 4-0 and it was soon five, thanks to Ollie Sully. Taunton completed the scoring with a delicious lob from David Duru three minutes from time.

After the game, Luffman said: “The first half was a bit more challenging than we would have liked but a great goal from Archie Ferris, who produced a really good performance.

“We perhaps weren’t as direct as we should have been but when we got the ball into Archie, we created a number of opportunities. The boys worked hard, standards were good and were building some momentum.”