TAUNTON Town boss Rob Dray hailed man of the match Nick Grimes after the defender's first goal for the club helped the Peacocks defeat high-flying Truro City on Wednesday night.

The visitors could have gone top had they avoided defeat but the Peacocks were the better side from the outset and thoroughly deserved their 2-0 victory.

Taunton went ahead on 14 minutes when Dan Sullivan's 20-yard effort was deflected in by Harrison Davis and the points were made safe just past the hour as Grimes rose highest to head home Ryan Brett's corner.

The centre-half also impressed with his defensive duties alongside Ben Adelsbury, the pair combining to negate the threat of in-form Tyler Harvey, who had scored five goals in four games since rejoining Truro from Bath City.

"I am very pleased for Nick tonight as he had a tough start with us," Dray said.

"He was sent off twice [one of which was later rescinded], he had a nasty knee injury and we've nursed him back.

"His performance tonight shows the sort of player we've brought here, he was outstanding.

"That desire for the second goal typifies him.

"He is still very young for a centre-back and he will be a top, top player.

"Tyler Harvey, for me, is the best striker of his type in the league and we tried very hard to bring him here in the summer, so Ben and Nick did a great job."

Grimes, whose older brother Matt captains Swansea City in the Championship, was one of seven former Truro players in the Taunton starting XI, something Dray felt gave his side a little extra edge.

"There's a lot of chit-chat down in Plymouth and Cornwall that we don't see up in Somerset," he said.

"They naturally want to do well against a former club and there are a lot of friends among them.

"It's bound to give them a bit of a lift and you can see that by who came out on top tonight.

"Our boys had the hunger and desire to get on the end of things, and did the basics better.

"I did expect a little bit more from them but I thought they were a good side, I could see why they are second in the league.

"That was more like us tonight. The clean sheet was massive and we managed the game well in the last 20 minutes."

Town's strength in depth was also in evidence, with three first-team regulars (Jamie Short, Ed Palmer and Lewis Hall) on the bench along with promising youngster Noah Coppin.

"It's a 16 or 18-man game now," Dray said.

"I think by the end of November we will have played 30 games.

"You can't flog everybody. On Saturday we left out Jamie Price and Chambo [Ollie Chamberlain] because they can't play every single game.

"Everybody wants to play but they have to understand the higher we go, the more professional we go, they will come in and out for certain games.

"Now we've got everybody fit, we don't have to play anybody out of position - long may it continue."