Peacocks Chase Cup Prize – Taunton Town Football Club

The Peacocks play tomorrow night (31^st (July) when they meet Brislington in the final of the 2023-24 UES Somerset Premier Cup competition, at 7.45pm.

The final, which takes place at Bath City’s Twerton Park, offers Taunton the chance to claim some silverware before the action officially begins on 10^e August, the Premier Cup semi-finals and final were postponed from last season. As it turned out, the semi-finals were unnecessary due to the withdrawal of scheduled opponents Larkhall Athletic and Weston-super-Mare, giving the Peacocks and Western League Brislington a bye to the final, who sent a message of intent at the weekend when they kicked off their season in earnest with a crushing 8-0 home win over St Blazey.

Taunton have played nine pre-season friendlies in the meantime, fielding a large number of players. Tomorrow will be a different story, however, with just 16 on the teamsheet as the Peacocks look to secure their first Somerset Premier Cup final win since May 2017, when they beat Weston-super-Mare 4-2 at Bridgwater Town. The two sides met again in July 2019 in another match carried over from the previous season, with Weston winning 2-1 in what was Town’s most recent appearance in an SPC final.

Manager Richard Luffman is expecting a tough game and said: “We are very excited about the opportunity to play our first competitive game in a cup final, which is a unique opportunity for us as a management group and team to win some silverware in our first season. It will be a very tough game against Brislington, who have some top players who have played at this level and above and we know we have to play hard from start to finish to win. We have worked very hard over the last six weeks and we are all excited to get going and look forward to hopefully seeing large numbers of Taunton fans come to Twerton Park and support the team.”

Taunton are set to receive a boost from summer signing Tom Smith, who is set to make his debut for the Peacocks. The Town manager said: “We are delighted on the team news front that Tom Smith is set to make his first start for the club, which is ironic for him as his last game for Bath City was at Twerton Park and his first for Taunton will be at the same ground. We are very excited to get going in a game that means something.”

COMPETITION INFORMATION

Ground: Twerton Park, Bath BA2 1DB

Directions: Travel to Bath via the A39, through Corston. At the roundabout “The Globe” take the 3rd exit (Combe Down, Newton St Loe). After 1 mile turn left at the bottom of the hill signposted Twerton (Newton Road). Follow this road for 1 mile into Twerton. The stadium entrance is on the right, the access road is next to Morrisons.

Recognition: Adults £10, under 16s £7. Payment by cash or card.

Commentary on the match: live commentary will be available on Peacocks Radio

Last meeting: The Peacocks’ last match against Brislington was in November 2012. The home side drew in the second round of the same competition at Wordsworth Drive. Second-half goals from Simon Ingram and James Blake put the team 2-0 up.