Basingstoke Town 0-2 Taunton Town in Southern League

Making their first ever visit to the Winklebury Football Complex, the visitors showed a number of changes from the replay loss at Maidenhead. Eddie Jones and Harris Feltham were absent with knocks while Opi Edwards, Archie Ferris and Jake Hodgson dropped to the bench. In came Tom Purrington, Aysa Corrick and the FA Cup-tied Jayden Nielsen, Jack Matthews and Jay Malshanskyj for a Town side which should have found themselves trailing after just 40 seconds when the hosts’ opening attack ended with a back heeled pass playing in George Reid who looked certain to score but instead drilled his shot against the post. Liam Ferdinand, with three goals in the past two matches, then fired narrowly over while some sloppy play on the edge of the box presented Rudy Allen with a shooting opportunity which he sent just wide as Basingstoke enjoyed most of the early possession.

Town gradually found their rhythm on the plastic surface and created their first chance after 20 minutes. Matthews blocked a Basingstoke shot and promptly gathered the ball to stride out of defence and find Tom Smith with a superb long pass. However Stoke keeper Simon Grant came out on top in the one-on-one, diverting Smith’s attempt for a corner from which Alfie Moulden’s delivery was flicked on to Matthews who stretched to direct his header onto the far post.

The Peacocks had now joined the party but were caught on the break to concede a free kick in a dangerous position, Sam Deadfield curling the set piece over. Momentum was swinging the other way though as an increasingly confident Taunton team looked for a breakthrough. A long Ollie Woodhouse throw was cleared to Nielsen whose shot was smothered by Grant who then readjusted to push Malshanskyj’s deflected effort wide. Nielsen rifled another strike over from Moulden’s short corner before the Peacocks took the lead after 36 minutes. Purrington released Smith who clipped the ball past the advancing Grant from the right side of the area, Stoke defender Jack Ball did well to cover back and clear off the line but only to Malshanskyj who tucked home his first goal for the club.

A great pass from Corrick then found Smith, who earnt another corner as Town searched for a second, but they had to stand strong in the dying seconds of the half when Ferdinand’s threatening cross led to a corner from which there was a brief flurry in the box culminating in Billy Upton sending an overhead effort harmlessly high.

In what was only the Peacocks’ second Saturday away game in the league this season, the intent continued from the Somerset side after the break, but several promising movements were let down by the final ball before Basingstoke were reduced to ten men after 53 minutes when Deadfield, who had already been booked in the first half, fouled Moulden and departed from the action following his second yellow. The visitors made their first change of the afternoon soon after, with Edwards replacing Corrick, before some trickery from Moulden earned Town a golden chance to put daylight between the sides after 63 minutes, his run curtailed by Curtis Angell’s challenge inside the box at the expense of a penalty. Smith was denied from the spot though as Grant dived to his right to palm away.

This setback for Taunton in turn galvanized the hosts who pushed forward with renewed enthusiasm. Ben Cook skewed wide from the edge of the box and D’Andre Brown’s shot deflected for a corner as the Peacocks found themselves under some pressure which they nearly relieved with a second goal. Smith played Nielsen in, but Grant proved a thorn in the side again as he blocked the shot and Morgan Lewis volleyed the rebound over the top. The warning signs remained as Brown fired narrowly over from Allen’s short free kick while sub Dan Warre got goalside, only to blaze high and wide. By now Hodgson and Owen Brain had joined the action, replacing Toby Down and Malshanskyj, and their combination nearly paid off when Brain’s corner saw Hodgson head into the side netting at the far post.

A decisive second goal finally arrived eight minutes from time to satisfy the cravings of the away support, a passing phase involving Brain and Ferris giving Smith a chance and this time there was no mistake as his finish picked out Grant’s left-hand corner from 15 yards. Taunton had to negotiate eight minutes of stoppage time with ten men themselves after Brain had to retire after seemingly falling awkwardly on his ankle, but this was done in relative comfort, a few late home attacks seen off before the whistle brought affairs to a close. Not quite though as there were several unpleasantries as the sides prepared to leave the pitch, resulting in a second yellow card for the hosts’ Marcus Johnson-Schuster. Quite how the match generated 11 yellow cards when there was hardly a bad tackle in the 90 minutes is another matter but that shouldn’t detract from a notable victory for a developing Peacocks’ team which lifts them to 11th place in the table.