Taunton Town made it through to the second qualifying round of the FA Cup after a comfortable home victory over Didcot Town.

Goals from Eddie Jones, David Duru and Jake Hodgson sealed victory of the Peacocks against their Southern League Division One opponents at the Cygnet Health Care Stadium on Saturday (August 31).

It was also Taunton’s first home victory of the season in front of a crowd of 588 fans.

The only sour note for Taunton was an injury to defender Tiago Sa who was stretchered off the pitch and it has been confirmed by the club that he suffered a broken fibula which requires surgery.

The match started off with both sides battling to control possession and either side craft opportunities.

On 11 minutes Owen Brain showed trickery and skill to get past a couple of defenders down the left and his low cross was met at the far post but could not be converted. At the other end, an effort from outside the box went tamely wide before minutes later Didcot got in behind and Adam Parkes in goal had to save smartly.

Then Tiago Sa went down with an injury, stopping play for some time while the stretcher was brought out. Jake Hodgson came on to replace him.

From that point on, Taunton took control of the match and on 29 minutes thought they had scored when Eddie Jones got in down the right, looped the ball over the Didcot goalkeeper and Tom Smith headed home but the referee blew up for offside.

But within 60 seconds, Taunton did have the lead when Eddie Jones got his reward for his persistent pressing when he was in down the right hand side and his low drive found the bottom corner.

Didcot tried to respond before half time with Jenson Wright and Adam Learoyd frustrated as their efforts ended up off target.

In the second half, Taunton started at a higher tempo and were rewarded on 55 minutes as the Didcot goalkeeper could only palm a corner away and that led to Tom Purrington cushioning a header back into the danger area where David Duru headed home.

Taunton looked like they were enjoying themselves and wanted to score more goals. The Peacocks looked decidedly dangerous from corners in particular.

With 20 minutes to go, Didcot had a big chance as substitute Josh Davis was through on goal but couldn’t find the net. At this point, manager Richard Luffman made three changes as Alfie Moulden, Evander Grubb and Aysa Corrick all came on.

With 15 minutes to go, Taunton added their third and again it came from a corner Didcot failed to clear as the ball fell to Hodgson in the box and he put into the top corner.

From that point on, Taunton were happy to hit Didcot on the counter and they could have scored a few more with sub Evander Grubb twice getting in on goal.

Next up for the Peacocks is Hanwell Town at the Cygnet Health Care Stadium on Saturday (September 7) in a league encounter.

Taunton: Adam Parkes, Eddie Jones, Tiago Sa, Oliver Woodhouse, Toby Down, Tom Purrington, Tom Smith, Owen Brain, David Duru, Harris Feltham, Charlie Dashfield. Subs: Archie Ferris, Jake Hodgson, Alfie Moulden, Evander Grubb, Aysa Corrick, Sam Naylor