National League South: Taunton Town 1-0 Dartford

TAUNTON Town FC earned an impressive 1-0 win at the weekend over Dartford at home.

The match in the National League South was hotly contested but the Peacocks did what was required to get the three points.

It leaves them in sixth place in the league and leaves them unbeaten in the last four games.

In the match, there was a chance early on from Dartford which forced a save from Dan Lavercombe in net, but he made the save.

The goalkeeper was a key player once again in this win for Town as he made a number of impressive saves.

Taunton fans felt their side should have had a penalty in the 17th minute after striker Nat Jarvis appeared to be pushed in the back, but the referee waved it away.

There was chances for Lloyd James, Zach Smith and Austin Booth in the minutes that followed for the home side, however the opening goal was not found.

At the break the deadlock remained unbroken as neither side truly had the crucial edge in front of goal.

In the second half, the first piece of action to report on was a substitution as Dave Sims-Burgess came on for Ross Stearn.

Sims-Burgess was straight into the action too as he found some space in the box to launch a shot narrowly wide.

Dartford had an amazing chance in the 59th minute and looked certain to score but an incredible save from Lavercombe parried the ball wide.

Then, in the 62nd minute, Sims-Burgess put the Peacocks in front when he headed home from close range after Ollie Chamberlain crossed the ball in superbly.

It should have been 2-0 just minutes later after James played in Chamberlain but his shot skipped off the post from very close range.

Dartford pushed forward in search of an equaliser for the remaining two minutes or so.

And they did create some scoring opportunities but the visitors were unable to convert those into goals.

The back line of Taunton were up to the task at hand, as they have been a number of times this season already.

Captain Nick Grimes, Cameron Evans and Booth all had strong games at centre back which helped the hosts hold on to win 1-0.

Evans was in fact awarded man of the match for his performance at the back.

At the end of the day it is another important three points for the Peacocks and despite it being a gruelling match once again, Taunton are making a habit of getting a result.

Up next, they are away against Chippenham Town on Tuesday, September 5.