In-form Brandon Goodship made the difference on Tuesday night with a brace against Taunton Town which moves us up to 16th-place.
The in-form Terra grabbed his ninth and 10th of the season in all competitions, netting in the 33rd and 71st minute, the second coming from a sweeping Teddy Howe pass.
His brace now puts us 16th in the National League South table, 10 points off the play-off places.
In addition, Tuesday’s result gave us our THIRD win in just six games.
In the buildup to the game, Bobby Wilkinson said that we needed to “stay positive and keep picking up points.”
Our performance at Wordsworth Drive proved that we were capable of doing exactly that.
Wilkinson made two changes to the starting line-up following our home win against Slough Town.
Charlie Rowan returned to the XI in place of Elliott Bolton, and Malachi Linton made his first start since joining on loan earlier this month.
With only two points separating both teams before kick-off, this would be a match that we could not afford to lose.
Despite the final scoreline, we would be the side with our backs to the wall early on.
The hosts had the first opportunity inside just four minutes, Zac Smith attempting a 30-yard curler toward Gerard Benfield, who was forced to make a save.
Our goalkeeper would be called into action five minutes on, producing a heroic save from close range to deny a Nick Grimes header from giving the Peacocks the lead.
Taunton would have one more notable early opportunity three minutes later when Nat Jarvis struck straight at Benfield.
The striker’s chance was blocked by our brave defence before heading towards the hands of our shot-stopper.
Our first opening would occur after the quarter-hour mark, when Leo Hamblin attempted an ambitious effort from outside the box.
The in-form left-back was, unfortunately, not quite able to test Dan Lavercombe.
However, Hamblin’s effort kick-started a series of opportunities for our players.
Goodship would be the next to fire towards goal just three minutes later, and would have perhaps done so had Grimes not managed to get in the way of his shot.
We were then heading toward 25 minutes when Calvin Brooks was unable to get his header on target.
It would then be Taunton’s turn once more, as Ollie Chamberlain laid off to Zac Bell following some quick counter-attacking play.
The Welsh defender’s shot looked to be going in, instead smacking against the crossbar.
After our let-off, the first half chances for both sides suggested a goal would be coming soon.
Luckily, though, it would be in our favour.
It all started when goal machine Goodship brought Rowan’s header onto his chest, before striking from 20 yards.
The ball, again, hit the woodwork, although this time it bounced beyond the goal line.
With 33 minutes gone, the man of the moment gave us a 1-0 lead.
Harry Parsons then almost doubled our lead when he attempted an audacious long-range effort five minutes before halftime.
After his curler versus Slough Town in the previous match, Parsons beat Lavercombe from approx. 30 yards out, only for the ball to strike the woodwork once more.
Taunton did not end the first half without a fight, though, as Chamberlain had the chance to draw level from inside the box in stoppage time.
However, the midfielder somehow dragged the ball wide.
With both sides having a vast number of chances, the first half managed to end with only one goal between the teams.
The second half failed to start as brightly as the first, with both sides appearing to be affected by the adverse wind.
The first big chance, though, would come our way, Goodship cutting in from the right and firing towards goal.
However, he was unable to grab a second as Lavercombe held firm.
The number 10 would have another chance to double our lead 19 minutes from time.
It all started when Howe, from within his own half, somehow found Goodship with a perfectly-weighted long ball, allowing him to carry the ball into the box.
The Taunton keeper proved no match this time round, as our goal machine side-footed into the bottom-right corner to make it 2-0.
Parsons then had the chance to extend our lead, and would have perhaps done so had Lavercombe not been able to hold onto his effort.
The hosts’ misfortunes would further increase when Bell was unable to return to the pitch following an injury, forcing them to play the final 10 minutes a man down.
As the game headed into stoppage time, we were now fully in control.
Lavercombe would be forced to make a double save from both our substitutes, first from Dan Roberts, then from an Elliott Bolton header.
That proved to be the final action of any note, as we finished the game with our first back-to-back league win of the season.
Match report
By Jack Webb
