FA Cup preliminary round
Taunton Town 3, Larkhall Athletic 0

TAUNTON Town booked a place in the FA Cup first qualifying round and £1,925 in prize money with a 3-0 home victory over 10-man Larkhall Athletic.

Goals for Matt Wright, Pierce Mitchell and Ben Adelsbury sent the Peacocks through, with Josh Egan sent off for the visitors in what was largely a cagey and often bad-tempered encounter.

Manager Leigh Robinson made three chances from Tuesday's win, with Ollie Chamberlain, Matt Villis and Les Afful starting in place of Mitchell, Owen Irish and Ross Staley.

The visitors were sharper at begin with, but after a shaky opening the chances began to come for the Peacocks.

Lewis Powell was denied by a point-blank save from goalkeeper Shaun Semmens after Wright's flick-on, and Ryan Brett's shot drifted wide of the right-hand post after Wright again won an aerial ball and headed it down into the wing-back's path.

The opening goal was not long in coming, as the hosts constructed a good move down the right, and Shane White's cross from the touchline was headed home by Wright on 17 minutes.

Things got worse for Larkhall within five minutes of the goal, as Egan caught Wright's leg with his studs and was shown a straight red by referee Stacey Pearson.

The remainder of the first half was largely incident-free, with the Peacocks lacking tempo and accuracy in their passing, and the away side unable to profit from several set-pieces.

There wasn't much to write home about in the second half either, aside from some Larkhall theatrics that saw yellow cards given to Brett Trowbridge, Wright and Powell.

But after Matt Guy passed up a presentable chance from a free-kick at one end, Peacocks substitute Mitchell made it 2-0 on 69 minutes as he steered the ball home from White's effort.

With the wind against them in the final 45 minutes and their passing still out-of-sorts, the Peacocks rarely threatened to add to their lead.

But they still managed to wrap it up with a third in the 89th minute, as substitute Joe Charles was brought down just outside the box and Adelsbury curled home the free-kick - despite Semmens getting a good hand to it.

So the Peacocks progress in the FA Cup; it was far from a vintage performance, but they're in the hat for the first qualifying round draw.

Taunton Town: Lloyd Irish, Ollie Chamberlain, Ryan Brett, Arran Pugh, Matt Villis, Ben Adelsbury, Shane White, Brett Trowbridge (Pierce Mitchell), Matt Wright (c) (Joe Charles), Lewis Powell, Les Afful (Ross Staley).
Attendance: 368