Evo-Stik South West

Paulton Rovers 2, Taunton Town 2

KEITH Emmerson scored twice in the space of two second-half minutes to rescue a point for Taunton Town at Paulton Rovers on Tuesday evening.

Town were 2-0 down inside the opening 12 minutes, but defender Emmerson netted his first two goals for the club in the closing stages to stretch the Peacocks' unbeaten league run to 18 matches.

New signing Josh Nelmes was thrown straight into Town's starting XI, with Toby Down moved to left wing-back and Shane White pushed into midfield, but the leaders started slowly and conceded a penalty after six minutes.

Dale Evans kept his cool from the spot, and the mid-table outfit doubled their advantage soon afterwards as former Peacock Omar Simpson volleyed past Lloyd Irish from the edge of the area.

Matt Wright had missed a chance to equalise between the two goals, sending a header inches wide, and Toby Down fired a great opportunity over with five minutes of the first half remaining.

Down was replaced by Les Afful at the interval and Taunton improved after the break, with Shane White seeing a shot saved before the rebound was scrambled away.

The Peacocks continued to push and set up a grandstand finale when Emmerson drove home from distance to open his Taunton account with 13 minutes to play.

Moments later the defender had his second to level the scores, and Nelmes then came close to ending his debut in style but saw his header cleared off the line as the shares were spoiled.

Taunton's point was made to look better after the final whistle by Salisbury's defeat at Didcot - the Peacocks now hold a nine-point advantage at the summit with two games in hand.

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