TAUNTON Town head of football Rob Dray insists last weekend's impressive victory at Poole Town must be followed up by three more points at home to the league's bottom side this Saturday (3pm).

The Peacocks sank the Dolphins thanks to Andrew Neal's second-half winner last Saturday, giving the visitors a crucial win over one of their likely promotion rivals come the end of the season.

Dray told the County Gazette: "Poole are a good side, and we had to be at our best.

"We defended so well, and to get a clean sheet at Poole is very hard to do.

"They dominated the last 15 minutes, but overall we made the best chances on a very difficult surface.

"It's not season defining for us, but to beat Poole on their own pitch is a great win, and I'm very proud of the players.

"I'm encouraged by how we've done against the top eight sides [Taunton have beaten Chesham United, Tiverton Town, Truro City and now Poole already this season] - it's been better than last year."

Dray also took issue with post-match comments from Poole boss Tom Killick, who said: "We were trying to move the ball, they obviously go from back to front very quickly to the targetman they've got up there, so it was a contrast in styles.

"They do what they do and it's effective, they just smash it from back to front and play for set-pieces, and they scored from one."

Dray retorted: "He said we're a one-trick pony and we hoofed it.

"That's quite typical of Killick; you've got to take a beating when it comes your way."

Attention now turns to this weekend, and the visit of Beaconsfield Town to the Cygnet Health Care Stadium.

The Rams are bottom of the table, with just two league wins to their name, but Dray does not expect it to be an easy ride for his fifth-placed side.

"We've got to follow it [the win at Poole] up," said Dray.

"People might think we will roll them over 4-0 or 5-0 but it doesn't work like that.

"Their league position doesn't show what they're about - anything can happen.

"It comes down to mindset; our work rate and intensity - in and out of possession - have to be on it, and we have to pass the ball with tempo."

Taunton should have a full squad on Saturday, with midfielder Ollie Chamberlain returning to fitness.

"Chambo is nearly there, and he trained last [Tuesday] night," Dray added.

"We have some decisions to make on Saturday, as our squad is very strong at the moment.

"We had 19 who trained on Tuesday, and all of them could start on Saturday."

Among Dray's options are on-loan forwards Jake Jackson and Owen Windsor, who made their Town debuts off the bench at Poole, and who were described by the boss as "a good fit".

"Owen is an exciting player, you can see his quality and why he's at a Championship club [West Bromwich Albion].

"Jake is hungry for minutes after injury and he did OK on Saturday."

Opposition in focus

THE last two weeks of September were good ones for Beaconsfield Town - but that's about it, so far this season.

The Rams will arrive at the Cygnet Health Care Stadium on Saturday lying bottom of the Premier South standings, having lost 11 of their 17 matches.

Their only league wins came as a pair in late September, as they beat Harrow Borough 2-1 and Blackfield & Langley 2-0.

They haven't won since, drawing four games but losing the other four, so they are seven points adrift of 19th-placed Yate Town.

Last season saw them finish comfortably in mid-table (12th), having scored 65 and conceded 65.

Brendan Matthew got 17 of those, but overall the Rams have only scored 12 in 17 games this term.

Manager Gary Meakin has at least tightened up the defence after conceding six to Tiverton Town and four against Wimborne early on.

They haven't conceded more than two in a league game since September, drawing 0-0 with play-off hopefuls Gosport Borough and Swindon Supermarine.

The Rams also showed their ability to frustrate 'bigger teams' in a 1-0 win over Hemel Hempstead Town (of National League South) in the FA Cup.

Ticket offer

You can benefit from two-for-one tickets to this match with the voucher on page 99 of this week's County Gazette.