TAUNTON Town's undefeated sequence of games was stretched to 17 following their entertaining 1-1 draw at Yate Town in the Southern League yesterday.

However it was a close run thing, with the Peacocks grabbing an equaliser five minutes from time after playing against ten men for over half the match.

A high tempo opening saw an end to end affair develop without any clear cut opportunity until Ross Staley got behind the Town defence. From his cross Jake Jackson's shot was blocked and Jordan Ricketts fired the loose ball wide of an open target.

Joe Bushin was not far off from Jamie Price's cross before Yate's Andy Lewis was dismissed on 37 minutes after receiving two yellow cards in quick succession, both for fouls on Steve Murray.

Town got on top until the break, Price seeing his effort from Jamie Short's free kick tipped over at full stretch by home custodian Martin Horsell and Ben Carter firing wide.

Despite their numerical advantage, Town failed to grab the initiative after the interval and were forced on the back foot by a lively Yate attack.

Murray curled a shot past the far post before the hosts took the lead on 69 minutes when Jordan Rogers made a quick break in from the left and when his attempt was blocked, the ball fell to Brad Abraham to drive into Perry's left corner from 20 yards.

Perry then had to push a shot from Rogers past the post as Yate continued to outperform the Peacocks but it took an excellent Horsell diving save to deny Murray after he had latched onto a Brett Trowbridge flick-on to turn in the box and drill a shot towards the bottom corner.

Town eventually levelled things up on 85 minutes. Short's run into the area from the right was halted by Liam Knight's challenge from behind and Murray stepped up to confidently blast the penalty to Horsell's right as he dived the opposite way.

Taunton found a second wind and might even have clinched victory at the end, with Carter blazing over with a clear sight of goal and then Short weaving into the box but having his strike palmed away by Horsell.

Defeat though might have been harsh on a battling Yate outfit as Town retained their unbeaten record this season and also celebrated their first point at Lodge Road in eight attempts.

Manager Leigh Robinson said: “I thought it was a great game to watch and a fair result in the end. All credit to Yate who played really well with ten men and being a man down didn't seem to affect them.

“I'm really pleased with our lads though as they kept on going, looked a threat going forward all afternoon and it's a result that we would have happily accepted before the start of the game."