TAUNTON Town boss Rob Dray said that a failure to take their chances cost his side last night, as they went down to an unfortunate 2-1 defeat away to perennial promotion rivals Salisbury.

A Lloyd Irish own goal and Nathaniel Oseni’s header – deflected in off Matt Wright – gave Steve Claridge’s side the points, despite Andrew Neal’s late consolation for the Peacocks.

The defeat ended Taunton’s nine-game unbeaten run in the league, which had stretched back to August, and sees them drop to seventh in the Premier South table.

The silver lining is that fellow promotion contenders Chesham United, Gosport Borough, Poole Town and Truro City all drew (the latter two with each other), and Weston-super-Mare lost at Blackfield & Langley.

READ MORE: Town's unbeaten run ended by Salisbury

Head of football Dray told the County Gazette: “The lads came in very disappointed at the end there.

“We tweaked our shape [to 4-3-3] as we knew how they play, and it was working.

“We were dominant, but you’ve got to score when you’re on top at Salisbury.

“When they [Salisbury] scored just before half-time, it was like they’d scored two goals, because it was such a massive lift for them."

On Lloyd Irish’s costly mistake (the goalkeeper spilling a cross into his own net), Dray said: “It’s just one of those, and five minutes later he made a fantastic save.

“Every one of our outfield players made a mistake in that first half and got away with it.

“Lloyd made one and was punished.”

He added: “We’ve only lost two in 15 games, two in 10 in the league, and it is a tight league.

“You see that in the results last night – only one team in the top eight won, and that was Salisbury.”