Pre-season friendly match
Bitton 3, Taunton Town 4

TAUNTON Town fought back from 3-1 down to beat Bitton in their latest friendly match on Friday night, with new signing Owen Howe scoring twice in the last couple of minutes to win the game.

The Western League side took the lead after 21 minutes through Josh Egan's penalty, after he was brought down by Jake Mawford, but Gethyn Hill - another new striker brought in by Taunton boss Rob Dray this summer - levelled five minutes before half-time from Dan Sullivan's pass.

That equaliser did not prove a springboard for the visitors, and instead Bitton scored twice either side of the hour mark, as Alex Grimshaw headed in and Brandon Barnes lobbed Peacocks goalkeeper Lloyd Irish after a quick counter-attack.

Taunton pulled one back just two minutes after going 3-1 behind, as Sullivan's shot came back off the post and fell for Ross Staley, who netted at the second attempt on 64 minutes.

It remained 3-2 until the 89th minute, when Staley was tripped in the box and fellow substitute Howe stepped up to convert from the spot.

The visitors weren't done there, scoring the winning goal just a minute later, as Sullivan found Howe and the striker curled the ball into the corner.

Taunton Town: Lloyd Irish (c), Jake Mawford, Jay Foulston (Jordan Copp 52), Ben Adelsbury (Aaron Bentley 52), Jake Wannell, Joe Guest (Ross Staley 52), Lee Lucas, Toby Homes (Owen Howe 52), Gethyn Hill (Callum Watts 75), Dan Sullivan, Ollie Chamberlain (Luke Spokes 52).

The Peacocks continue their pre-season schedule with matches away to Tavistock tomorrow (August 18) and Exeter City on Friday (August 21).