Hanwell Town made the westward journey once more on Saturday (7 September 2024), and this time fought out an enthralling Southern League Premier South match against Taunton Town, which ended with the points being shared, yet it could’ve been a victorious afternoon for the Geordies.
Manager Chris Moore made one change, bringing in Joe Wilson in at right back, with Dan Carr switching to left back.
However, Hanwell were put on the back foot very early as Taunton’s Archie Ferris picked up a long ball over the top and finished neatly under Hanwell keeper Sam Beasant with just 5 minutes played.
The home side were not destined to hold their lead for long, as man of the moment Jordan Edwards’ first time shot from the edge of the box beat the dive of Taunton keeper Adam Parkes to fly into the bottom corner.
The game had barely settled down again before Hanwell took the lead on 17 minutes.
Following a poor clearance, Hanwell midfielder Callum Woodcock’s header back into the box was anticipated by defender Dwayne Duncan and he managed to nod the ball past Parkes just before the keeper could get there.
Taunton had only recorded the one win in their opening 5 matches, yet midway through the half, they had an equaliser; Jake Hodgson connecting cleanly at the back post to head home a corner kick.
It looked like the teams would enter the half time break all square but Jordan Edwards had other ideas.
The Geordies were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area, Edwards stepped up and curled the kick round the near side of the defensive wall, beating Parkes comfortably to send Hanwell in at the break with the lead.
The second half began with both teams pushing for another goal, Hanwell to extend the lead and Taunton to get back on level terms but it was the home team that were successful.
Just after the hour, the ball wasn’t cleared by the Geordies, and it ricocheted around the penalty area before Taunton captain Tom Smith was on hand to poke the ball into the net past keeper Sam Beasant.
The home side then forced the Geordies on the back foot, and ten minutes after scoring the equaliser, Smith let fly with a shot from well over 25 yards out. This time though, Beasant was able to fling himself across goal to palm it over the bar.
Taunton kept pushing for the winner, forcing Hanwell to defend deep, yet it was the Geordies who might have snatched it at the death, deep in additional time.
Hanwell won the ball deep inside their own half and broke forward quickly, the ball finding Nathan Boayke on the edge of the Taunton box, but his shot was blocked. It rebounded to Woodcock and as he let fly with the shot, a Taunton defender threw himself in front of the shot and it was deflected away, much to the home fans relief.
Post match, manager Chris Moore was a little frustrated with the final score.
“We’re going away disappointed, when you come down to a place like Taunton, you’re looking at would you take a draw? Potentially, but it’s a real shame that we couldn’t see it out, as other than the lapse in concentration for the third goal, we defended really well.”
“As I said in the dressing room just now, we’d could’ve lost a game like this last season, and yet we could’ve nicked it at the end.”
Hanwell now make the short midweek trip to Walton & Hersham for a Tuesday night matchup against the current league leaders, with the Geordies currently sitting in 6th place. On Saturday 14th, they then return to FA Cup action, with a home tie against Chertsey Town at the Powerday Stadium, kickoff at 3pm.
1 Sam Beasant, 2 Joe Wilson, 3 Dan Carr, 4 Callum Woodcock, 5 Dwayne Duncan, 6 Harry Seabrook, 7 Kameron English, 8 Mat MacKenzie, 9 Alfie Pendlebury, 10 Jordan Edwards, 11 Rod Orlando-Young (Nathenael Boayke 86′).
Substitutes
12 Kyron Richards, 14 Luis Le Paih, 15 Nathenael Boayke, 16 Leo Donnellan, 17 Ezekiel Coker.
