TAUNTON face a daunting 350-mile round trip on Tuesday night after their brave rearguard action brought them a replay and a place in the FA Cup 1st Round draw, writes Kerry Miller.

The National League South side dominated for large periods but the home defence, in front of man-of-the-match Lloyd Irish, held firm and in front of the biggest crowd at Taunton for 14 years, could even have snatched the win.

The Hertfordshire side has a wealth of Football League experience and it showed as Jordan Parkes and Mitchell Weiss went close and Irish was forced into acrobatic stops from James Kaloczi and Parkes before Town’s first chance when Matt Wright nodded wide under pressure.

Within 20 seconds of the restart, Irish again somehow kept out an effort from Lewis Taafe and David King saw his effort come back off the bar as Hemel went for the win . . . but Taunton held on.

Brett Trowbridge had a shot blocked just past the hour before manager Leigh Robinson introduced pace with Craig Veal and they could have snatched the win with six minutes left when Ed Palmer launched a volley from more than 40 yards which was inches wide with Jamie Butler scrambling.

Ollie Chamberlain and Palmer both had efforts deflected for corners but they all do it again on Tuesday night at Vauxhall Road.

The draw has however meant the Peacocks will be in the hat for the First Round draw, and will be number 67, with the draw taking place at 7.10pm on Monday night, live on BBC 2.

Taunton Town 0 Hemel Hempstead Town 0

Att 1,282