Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 South & West

Taunton Town 4, Bishops Cleeve 2

TAUNTON Town leapfrogged rivals Tiverton into second place after seeing off Bishops Cleeve at the Viridor Stadium on Saturday.

Jordan Rogers continued his impressive recent form with a brace, while Josh Searle and Ed Palmer were also on the scoresheet for Leigh Robinson's side.

Town were in the ascendancy from the off and opened the scoring after just six minutes when Rogers latched on to Pierce Mitchell's through ball and rounded the goalkeeper before slotting into the empty net.

When Ed Palmer headed home from a corner to double the lead just eight minutes later, it looked as if another goal-fest may be on the cards for the Peacocks.

Bishops Cleeve did not go down without a fight, however, and got themselves back into the game when Shane Bumphrey fired in a volley just after the hour mark.

The hosts looked to have made the game safe when Rogers fired home his second on 79 minutes, and Cleeve were then reduced to 10 men when Olly Butler brought down Craig Veal when the striker was through on goal.

Josh Searle made the points safe when he curled home, and Shane White could have added further gloss to the scoreline but missed from the penalty spot in added time.

As it turned out, the visitors had the last word when Jacob Davidge scored their second just before the final whistle, but this was another satisfying day in what is proving to be an excellent season for the Peacocks.

Taunton Town: L Irish, Mitchell, Staley (Searle), Hoyle, E Palmer, Villis (B Palmer), White, Trowbridge, Rogers, Veal (Buse), Chamberlain.