TAUNTON Town are gearing up for a ‘pivotal week’ against three of the league’s form sides.

The Peacocks hold a six-point lead at the top of the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division South standings, ahead of fixtures with familiar foes Wimborne Town (this Saturday, ko 3pm), Salisbury (Tuesday, 7.45pm) and Swindon Supermarine (next Saturday, 3pm).

The first two of those matches are away from home, and Taunton head of football Rob Dray is expecting his charges to be severely tested.

“It’s a pivotal week for us,” he told the County Gazette.

“Wimborne have a lot of dangerous players and game-winners, not just [top scorer] Toby Holmes but also Luke Burbidge.

“I speak to their manager [Matty Holmes] a lot, and what they’ve done this season, not knowing what league they were going to be in and having their pre-season thrown up in the air, has been fantastic.

“It’s this kind of game, with a small changing room and sloped pitch, where it might not be pretty but you’ve got to get the result.”

Opposition in focus

The Magpies are going well in 12th, with three wins from four games since the turn of the year.

The most impressive of those was a 4-0 dismantling of Methyr Town, Toby Holmes bagging a hat-trick.

Holmes is level with Taunton’s Andrew Neal, Jack Mazzone (Metropolitan Police) and Ricardo German (Hendon) on 17 league goals this season, and will no doubt be a constant menace to the Peacocks backline.

Wimborne's boss Matty Holmes has been full of praise for Taunton in the build-up to the match, telling the Bournemouth Daily Echo: “We have a lot of respect for Taunton.

"Last season, they went up as champions at a canter and we did well against them.

"They reinforced this season and kept the group together. At the moment, they are rightly top of the league.

“They have kept continuity over the past two-and-a-half seasons and are similar to us with a tight-knit group.

"As a club they are somebody we can look at and try to follow in their footsteps.”

Head-to-head

Taunton and Wimborne have had some exciting battles over the years, writes Alfie House.

The two sides last met on remembrance weekend this season, in a clash which saw Taunton come out eventual 4-2 winners after falling a goal down in the first 12 minutes.

Some closer contests came towards the end of the 2017/18 season, when the two sides met twice in three weeks around the Easter period and a winner couldn’t be found.

The first of the two affairs, on March 28, saw the teams battle out a 3-3 draw, in which Taunton were denied all three points following a Wimborne goal from the last kick of the game.

Dan Sullivan had looked like he’d earned his side the win after a goal in the last minute of normal time, but a superb free kick from Wimborne’s Billy Maybury drew the game level.

The fiery affair also saw a penalty awarded to Taunton, buried by Toby Holmes, in the first half, before Wimborne’s captain Scott Arnold was sent off in the second period.

Then, just weeks later, the two promotion chasing sides clashed again, this time ending with a 1-1 draw.

The result extended Taunton’s unbeaten run to 30 but displayed the tough test that Wimborne can put up.

Both teams were eventually promoted to the Evo Stick Southern Premier, but Taunton have kicked on more as they chase back to back promotions.

Taunton’s most recent loss came on New Years Day away to Merthyr Town, a team who Wimborne dismantled 4-0 just 12 days later.

If the game Saturday is anything like recent affairs, it will prove to be a tough test for Taunton and an end-to-end game throughout.