It will not exactly be a fixture between two of the leagues form teams when the Dolphins travel to Wordsworth Drive to take on Taunton Town on Saturday. The sides are currently 20th and 21^st in the league form table, both sides having a return of one win, one draw and four loses from their last six matches. We will not need reminding that we come into the match on the back of a second half capitulation last week at home to Merthyr. Tuesday’s planned fans forum was postponed to give Steve Tully more time to prepare the team for this important fixture.

One of the positive aspects of the match last week was the performance of new signing Christos Batzelis. Although the game was effectively lost by the time that he came on he showed great determination and no lack of skill when running the channels trying to get the ball into the box for the strikers.

We have achieved three away wins so far this season at Marlow, Frome and most recently Basingstoke so we desperately need to make it four. We have only failed to score in three away matches at Sholing, Swindon and Bracknell and have earned more points on the road than we have won at the Black Gold. We took all three points in the first home game of the season against the Peacocks, the only goal coming from a Charlie Davis strike. However, they put us out of the Emirates FA Cup in September with a 3-2 win at The Black Gold Stadium.

Taunton, who play in front of an average league crowd of 647, have won just two home league matches, the 5-2 win over Marlow and the 3-1 victory over Swindon, both matches were played in September. They lost their last two home matches against Merthyr (3-2) and Chertsey (3-2) and are currently in 15^th place in the league (P18 W5 D6 L7 21 points). They will be disappointed with their recent form and will be looking to climb to the middle of the table. They were relegated from the National League South last season after finishing in 22^nd place winning ten of their 46 matches, ending the season four points from saftey.

The club captain is Tom Smith who was signed in the Summer of 2024 from Bath City where he made 260 appearances with 50 goals and 35 assists in that time. Tom first joined Bath City on loan from Swindon Town in October 2017. He also spent the latter stages of 2016-17 season out on loan with League of Ireland First Division outfit, Waterford, scoring once in ten outings. He enjoyed a successful spell at Bath City, scoring 11 goals in 31 games, before returning to Swindon but was released in May 2018. He signed for Bath City in 2019 and enjoyed a remarkably successful 2019/20 season, scoring 17 goals, and was named the National League South player of the year.

The Peacocks are managed by the very experienced Richard Luffman who previously led Southern League Division One South side, Cribbs F.C, to incredible achievements. During his tenure at Cribbs F.C, Richard steered the team to unprecedented heights, securing their highest-ever position in the football pyramid. His remarkable managerial skills translated into an impressive record of 76 victories out of 114 league games managed. Richard’s spell at Cribbs F.C was marked by extraordinary accomplishments, including clinching the uhlsport Hellenic League Cup in the 2021/2022 season and capturing the Hellenic League title in 2022/2023.

So, with plenty at stake, both teams will be determined to take all three points and put their disappointing run of form behind them.

Enjoy the game

Neil Wellington.