Peacocks fail to ruffle Reds Feathers
- tricky291
- Sep 7
- 3 min read
Uxbridge remained unbeaten at step 3 following this entertaining 2-2 draw with Taunton Town on Saturday - although only a couple of interventions from the woodwork prevented The Reds from taking all 3 points. With regular keeper Mark Scott picking up an injury, Laurie Shala was signed on loan from Wycombe Wanderers to make his debut between the sticks.
Taunton started brightly with Alfie Moulden running the show from midfield, his low pass looked to have played in Josh Owers on seven minutes, only for a crucial intervention from Bernie Tanner to snuff out the danger. The trick was nearly repeated on the quarter hour mark, with Moulden again threading a pass through the Uxbridge midfield, but this time CJ Fearn was on hand with a superbly timed sliding tackle to clear the ball as Taunton looked to break. However, Taunton Town's pressure soon paid off. In the 16th minute, a well-placed ball into the box was headed home by Ben Seymour, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. Uxbridge responded well though, and just five minutes later, a fine low cross from Cole Brown on the right wing beat the visitors defence allowing George Moore to slide in and level the score from a tight angle, despite the keeper getting hands on the ball. Uxbridge then stepped up, and took the lead in the 27th minute following a corner. A clever exchange between Harry Rush and Casey Bocarro on the edge of the box resulted in a Taunton Town captain Nick Grimes putting the cross into his own net, making it 2-1 to the home side. As half time approached, both teams created more chances with a high cross from Nams Nwachucku volleyed narrowly wide by Moore for the home side, while a deflected Taunton Town shot just cleared the bar for a corner a few minutes later. The Peacocks though did find their equaliser just before halftime when a fine crossfield pass split the Uxbridge defence allowing Niall Thompson to put in a low cross that was tucked home by Jack Rice, sending the teams into the break level at 2-2.
HT 2-2
The second half saw Uxbridge go on the front foot with the superb Jo Lawal looking dangerous every time Uxbridge came forward, within the first 5 minutes he had made two dangerous breaks, firstly though the ball just got away from him as he closed in on goal, and then soon after having another shot well gathered by the keeper. In the 58th minute, Lawal's excellent forward play set up Moore, whose first-time shot narrowly sailed over the bar. The home side continued to press, and a powerful shot from Liam Prior-Tack just cleared the bar after the ball bobbled around in the box. The all-action midfielder went even closer in the 65th minute when he unleashed a thunderous strike from outside the box that dipped over Phillips in the Taunton goal but cannoned off the crossbar, narrowly denying Uxbridge a spectacular goal. The half continued with Uxbridge pushing for a winner, Lawal again going close with a fine curling shot that went inches over the corner of bar and post with Philips well beaten, Lawal was now running the show, with Taunton unable to contain him, and it was his cross on on 74 minutes that was fumbled by Philips at the near post, but the keeper was just able to recover his composure to gather the loose ball before any Uxbridge attackers could get to the ball. The game then started to drift towards an inevitable conclusion, but there was time for one last chance as KJ Osu got to the byline and pulled the ball back to Prior-Tack, whose shot from the edge of the six yard box smashed into the post, and was cleared away with virtually the last kick of the game.
The result means Uxbridge have drawn five of their six league games so far this season, they will be looking to maintain their unbeaten run when Berkhamsted are the visitors on Tuesday evening.
FT 2-2
Att: 309
Uxbridge: Shala, Brown (Osu), Bocarro, Fearn, Tanner, Nnadozie (Giamattei), Lawal (Wynter), Rush, Nwachucku (Thorpe), Moore, Prior-Tack
