Taunton Town manager Richard Luffman reacts to FA Trophy win

Town face the National League side in the final qualifying round of the FA Cup against their Berkshire opponents who play two divisions higher than Taunton.

The Peacocks go into the game on the back of 10 unbeaten after more cup success last weekend in the FA Trophy against Basingstoke.

He told the club’s media that he was ‘the happiest’ he’s been this season with the performance.

Luffman said: “We’ve shown a different side to our game today – we’ve been outstanding with the ball for eight or nine games probably and I thought today we showed a different bit of character second half.

“They put us under a load of pressure the last half hour and I will say the game should have been gone by half time, we were that good first half. We should have had another couple to add to the scoreline.

“Second half they’ve huffed and puffed but we defended our box well and Lloyd Irish and made two or three unbelievable saves for us.

“You need lots of different strings to your bow to climb divisions and do well.”

Jayden Nielsen scored the winner curling in a shot from the edge of the box and Luffman called it a ‘moment of brilliance’.

He added: “We know he’s got that in the locker to be honest, we were disappointed to lose Evander (Grubb) in the week and we had to make a tough decision on that. Evander has been a great player for the club, but when you’ve Jayden Nielsen, Owen Brain and Atysa Corrick, it’s a difficult place to break into and Jayden showed everyone what he is about.”

Looking ahead to the Maidenhead contest, Luffman said he wants Taunton Town fans to pack out the Cygnet on Saturday.

He said: “We know it's David v Goliath when it's two divisions. We were the bigger side in the last round against Amersham and they run us close, we want to go a bit better than that of course and we’re going to have to take that dogged spirit into next week.

“It will be a great occasion for the football club, we’re really hoping to get a big support here.”