Hampton & Richmond will look to get back to winning ways as Taunton Town continue to battle through a horrific fixture pile-up amid financial and relegation worries.

Where They Stand

After drawing at home to Tonbridge Angels on Good Friday and falling to defeat to Worthing on the road on Easter Monday, the Beavers have dropped down to sixth. With just five games remaining, every point will be crucial to Mel Gwinnett and his players. Sam Dreyer continues to be a doubt after picking up a knock against Tonbridge, whilst Midfielder George Hunt looks set to gather more minutes in his return from injury. Alfy Whittingham has been recalled from his loan move to Havant & Waterlooville and is available for selection.

National League South League Table At Start of Matchday

Position	Games Played	Team	Points
4	42	Maidstone	74
5	42	Worthing	72
6	41	Hampton & Richmond	68
7	41	Bath City	66
8	42	Farnborough	66

 

Taunton arrive at Beveree with a mountain to climb, as a horrid winter has caused several postponements at their ground as well as others. As a result, Taunton still have seven games to fulfil by April 20th. Recently, the pile-up has begun to take it's toll, with the Peacocks recording five straight defeats. No one at Beveree should get carried away, however, as they have performed well despite the results, only losing out to Chelmsford in the dying seconds, and holding Maidstone back for large periods of that 1-0 defeat.

Taunton Town Last Five Results

Maidstone (H)	0-1 (L)
Bath City (H)	0-2 (L)
Weston Super Mare (A)	4-0 (L)
Chelmsford (H)	2-3 (L)
Chippenham (H)	1-2 (L)

 

Last Time Out

The Beavers secured three wins in a row and a first away clean sheet of the season with a 0-1 result against second placed Taunton in front of 843 vocal fans. 

It was a dream start at Wordsworth Drive for Hampton & Richmond, as Mason Bloomfield tapped in a well-crafted goal that involved some high pressing from Jordan Thomas. After picking up the ball on the right-hand side of the goal, Jake Gray fizzed it across the box for Bloomfield to give Hampton & Richmond a 0-1 lead in the first minute of the match

The second big chance involved Gray once again who, this time facing the goal with the ball at his feet, had a shot from outside the box that was dealt with comfortably by Dan Lavercombe.

Appeals for a handball were made after Ollie Chamberlain crossed the ball towards the edge of the box only for his teammates shot to be blocked by a sturdy Hampton defence. 

Dan Wishart, having found himself in a constant battle with Chamberlain, struggled to catch-up with the speedy winger who cut inside to force a sensational save from Adam Desbois.

Despite a string of efforts towards the end of the half, mostly from Chamberlain, Taunton were unable to trouble the centreback pairing of Luis Fernandez and Dean Inman, as both of whom maintained a tight backline to remain 0-1 up. 

As the second half got underway, Bloomfield clashed heads with a Taunton defender in an areal 50-50. The goalscorer then stayed down for a considerable amount of time before getting subbed off for Alfy Whittingham 

In an Instant impact, Whittingham picked the ball up on the byline and delivered a cross in for Ben Seymour - a new strike partnership linking up following Bloomfield’s injury. 

Then, as some of Taunton’s chances began to materialise, Desbois made his second eye-catching save of the match; visibly playing with confidence after his highlight-reel penalty stop against Dartford. 

With the more clear-cut chances coming from Hampton, Seymour found himself through on goal to force a quick hand from Lavercombe at his near post and Gray, having arrived for the followup, dragged his shot wide from a mid-distance effort.  

The match did not end without trepidation, however, as 10-added minutes felt like a lifetime. But the beavers saw out the game with composure and headed back to the Bev with their heads held high.

Fixture History

The two encounters last season bookended the March 2023 fixture list and, to add to the symmetry, both ended in a 3-1 victory to the Beavers.  

A brace from Luis Fernandez and a goal from Jake Gray saw the TW12 side over the line in the first match. Back at the Beveree, it was another brace, this time from Ruaridh Donaldson, that secured the three points with a third goal from Alfy Whittingham for good measure. 

The first and only other encounter between the two sides, marked the Beavers’ first ventures across the hills of Somerset to Wordsworth Drive. It came in 2016 in the FA Cup 3rd Round Qualifying with the Peacocks able to steal a 2-1 win.