Match Report: Not At The Races

Taunton Town 2-1 Uxbridge

On Grand National Saturday Uxbridge headed down to Somerset to face Taunton Town. Despite the hosts being in the relegation zone at kick-off, they had dispatched both champions Walton & Hersham and second placed Gloucester in recent weeks - meaning despite Uxbridge’s own good form, this was not going to be an easy match. There were returns to the starting eleven for both Liam Prior-Tack and George Moore, as the Reds sought to extend their unbeaten run to ten games.

However it was Taunton who came out flying, and for the first half-hour, it was a proper defensive shift from the visitors, Marco Underwood was being kept busy from the off as both Scott Robinson and Dylan Jones had shots that were just off target in the opening exchanges, Underwood then had a bit of a lucky escape as a clearance fell to Jack Rice, with the Reds stopper stranded out of his area - Rice lobbed him but Gabe Cuthbert was back quickly to there to block the shot and clear the danger. Five minutes later CJ Fearn followed suit with a great block on the edge of the box just as Taunton looked certain to score through Dan Koita - the ball being scrambled away for a corner. Uxbridge were struggling to make any inroads into Taunton, and the hosts took the lead in the 34th minute, as Robinson broke into the area and was clipped by Cole Brown as he shaped to shoot, giving the home side the chance to take the lead from the spot - which they duly did as Rice sent Underwood the wrong way for a deserved lead, which the home side held comfortably to the break.

HT 0-1

There was little change to the flow of the game in the second half, with Underwood being called on again to deny Taunton on 55 minutes as he pulled off a brilliant double-save to deny Taunton, with the Reds defence scrambling the ball away when it seemed destined to hit the back of the net. The reprieve was short-lived as Taunton caught The Reds with a fine break down the left and a cross from Harry Shield was bundled in by Robinson. Far from Uxbridge looking to get back in the game Taunton sensed they could get more, and Underwood was called into action again parrying well on 66 minutes, before Dylan Jones fired the rebound over the bar, Underwood was certainly earning his keep as he was called on again pushing a shot around the post on 72 minutes to keep the deficit at two. Just when it felt like the game was drifting away, substitute Ada Okorogheye got the visitors back in it in the 83rd minute. He won the ball on the left edge of the box, danced past his man, and curled an absolute beauty into the far corner for 2-1. With the clock running down Uxbridge got themselves a corner with Harry Rush whipped in and it just cleared the bar with Lloyd Irish struggling to get across in the Taunton goal. The home side actually finished with ten men after substitute Owen Brain received two yellows in quick succession for kicking the ball away, but there just wasn't enough time left for the Reds to take advantage of the extra man.

Ultimately it was a fair result, and it could have been more emphatic if it wasn’t for a fine display from Marco Underwood keeping the scoreline respectable.

FT 1-2

Att: 885

Uxbridge: Underwood, Brown (Jones), Martin (Bocarro), Fearn, Cuthbert, Rush, Lawal (Boorn), Perez-Duah, Okine-Peters (Keita), Moore, Prior-Tack (Okorogheye)