Evo-Stik South West

North Leigh 1, Taunton Town 1

TAUNTON Town were forced to share the spoils for a second league match in succession as struggling North Leigh held the runaway league leaders in Oxfordshire.

Ben Adelsbury returned to the back three in place of Josh Nelmes in the visitors' only change from Tuesday night's 1-1 draw against Bideford, and the opening exchanges brought chances at both ends.

Matt Wright and Craig Veal each came close for the leaders, who were then indebted to goalkeeper Lloyd Irish for keeping out George Seacole from a one-on-one at the other end.

Veal's persistence paid off as he slotted home the opener on 14 minutes, and the same player then sent a header narrowly wide before Ollie Chamberlain's shot flashed past the post soon afterwards.

North Leigh stayed in the contest and, having rattled the crossbar on the stroke of half-time, found the equaliser eight minutes after the restart through Declan Sheppard.

The Peacocks were then frustrated by the woodwork twice in a matter of minutes, as Ryan Brett's shot was pushed onto the post and Matt Wright - who hit the upright twice in midweek - headed Veal's cross against the bar midway through the second half.

Wright was then inches away from connecting with Shane White's cross, but that was the last real chance for Town as the game ended with a point for both sides.

Salisbury's 3-1 win at Bishops Cleeve means Taunton's lead is back down to 11 points at the summit - next up for Leigh Robinson's men is a re-arranged trip to Barnstaple Town on Tuesday night.

Taunton's unbeaten league run, meanwhile, now stands at 22 matches - avoiding defeat in North Devon this week will see the current Peacocks match a 23-game undefeated streak from the 1999/2000 season.

Taunton Town: Lloyd Irish, Matt Buse (Les Afful), Shane White, Ben Adelsbury, Keith Emmerson (Josh Nelmes), Toby Down, Ollie Chamberlian, Ryan Brett, Matt Wright (c), Dan Sullivan (Joel Randall), Craig Veal