IT has been a momentous week for Taunton Town, as they extended their record winning run, but the 10th and 11th victories on that trail could not have been more different.

Last Saturday they travelled to play the then-unbeaten league leaders Hereford in front of near 3,000, and came away with a tremendous 2-1 triumph.

After a stunning first-half display, which saw Matt Wright and Pierce Mitchell fire them into a two-goal lead, it was all hands on deck after the break as the hosts besieged Lloyd Irish’s goal – but Town held on.

Tuesday’s frankly unbelievable game at home to Larkhall Athletic could not have been more different.

After trailing early on, the Peacocks struck five times in each half to maul the Larks 10-2 – one goal short of their all-time Southern League record – and jump up to fifth in the table.

And it was the latter match which, perhaps surprisingly, was the most pleasing for manager Leigh Robinson.

He said: “We know in the big games we have upsets in us, but [Tuesday] was a different challenge, as coming back down to earth you can get caught out.

“It was a professional job, with a lot of changes – showing the strength of our squad.”

And, with hindsight, going behind to the visitors was not such a bad thing.

“We’ve not been behind often, so it was another box to tick, that we didn’t panic but carried on and created chances.”

A statement to the rest of the league? Not a bit of it.

“It’s been pleasing to raise the profile of the club and create memorable weeks for supporters, but for the playing staff we know there are bigger challenges ahead – these are baby steps to what we want to achieve.”

Somerset County Gazette:

SHARPSHOOTER: Jordan Rogers strikes against Larkhall Athletic. Pic: Tim Norbury

The Peacocks, now in the playoff spots with four games in hand on the sides above them, have another match at the Viridor Stadium tomorrow (ko 3pm), against Wantage Town.

Wantage are second bottom in Division 1 South & West and were stuffed 9-0 on their own patch by Taunton only last month.

Owen Irish and Ross Staley scored a hat-trick apiece in that match, and they showed their taste for goals again versus Larkhall – centre-back Irish now has 10 for the season.

They may have to see off Wantage without leading scorer Jordan Rogers though, as he limped off on Tuesday night.

Robinson said: “He’ll be desperate to play, but we have a big squad so we’ll take no risks.”

The boss is not taking any chances with the opposition, either, as he added: “They were very open against us [in the 9-0 game] but we expect them to be more defensive this time.

“The game starts at 0-0, there’s no head start for scoring 10 [in the last match], so we need to do a professional job and score goals.”

Watch out for a live blog from the Taunton Town v Wantage Town game tomorrow on somersetcountygazette.co.uk/sport.