Zamaretto League Division One South and West: Andover 3, Taunton Town 0.

TAUNTON Town’s slide down the table is gathering alarming momentum after a desperately disappointing defeat at fellow strugglers Andover on Tuesday night.

The Peacocks have now lost six out of seven matches, and will be fervently hoping for the return from injury of inspirational captain John Harris before Saturday’s visit to Hungerford in the FA Trophy – a competition that could offer some welcome relief from what is increasingly looking like another battle to avoid relegation.

A defensive mix-up gifted home captain Bobby Swayne the opening goal after just six minutes, and Taunton’s evening took another turn for the worse on the half hour when hard-working midfielder Danny Lane limped off injured.

Town failed to threaten in the first half, and were again on the back-foot at the start of the second as Kyle Juryeff and Sean Cook both went close. However, the visitors rallied and enjoyed their best spell of the match.

A good move down the left saw Darren Rice feed Leon Simpson whose shot on the turn was scrambled out – Town’s best chance of the night.

Infuriatingly, just when Taunton looked likely to level they conceded a sloppy goal to a counter attack. Jamie Green fired a low left foot shot past Simon Cooper after the defence had spurned a couple of opportunities to clear.

Nine minutes from time Owen Irish handled a through ball, and Jono Richardson drilled the resultant penalty past Cooper to conclude the scoring. Taunton pressed admirably for a consolation goal in the closing stages, with Shaun Anthony coming closest – curling a free-kick into the arms of Dave Tasker.

An utterly lousy evening was rounded off by the closure of the A303 resulting in a major diversion and very late return home for the Taunton players and fans.

Taunton Town: Simon Cooper, Kristian Miller, Nick McCootie, Danny Lane (Ben Newby 35), Owen Irish (captain), James Clough, Alexis Piper (Leroy Swaby 59), Dave Anthony, Shaun Anthony, Leon Simpson (Lewis Irish 80, Darren Rice. Unused subs: Dan Pepperell, Lloyd Irish. Att: 95.

TAUNTON Town are in FA Trophy action on Saturday when they travel to play league rivals Hungerford Town. Taunton were beaten 2-1 at Hungerford in the league earler this season.

WELLINGTON are home to Bristol Manor Farm in the league on Saturday.

In Division One, Minehead are away to Hengrove Athletic.