was short lived as they fell at the first hurdle at home to 1st division leaders Wincanton Town.
Manager Andy Jones took the opportunity to utilise his squad, with nine positional and five personnel changes from the starting eleven in the previous match, and understandably it took the home side a while to settle into the game, unlike the visitors who looked the more co-ordinated unit from the start. Former Shepton player Ren Turnock had a couple of long range efforts early on for Wincanton,and his colleague Matt Chant headed just over the home crossbar in the 20th minute. Shepton's only half chance early on came from a Dan Lock shot that the youngster dragged wide, but James Billing went close for them after half an hour as they now came more into the game. Ten minutes before the break Jordan Townsley should have given Shepton the lead after good work between Lee Davidson and Ash Willmott, only for Townsley to miscue a header from close range directly in front of goal, and two minutes later Wincanton capitalised by going ahead when Chant fired in from Turnock's cross. Townsley soon atoned for his earlier miss though, when he shot home two minutes before half time, and the home side started the second period with more conviction after the manager introduced two of his substitutes. Five minutes into the half Shepton almost took the lead after a slick move involving Ryan Mitchell, Billing and Townsley, before Joe Morgan raced onto Townsley's lay off and shot for the top corner, only to see the hitherto under worked Wincanton stopper John Hill pull off a fine save. Hill then saved from Townsley who was put in by the lively Kailan Gould, but after riding out the home side's spell of pressure, Wincanton made the decisive strike on the day after 65 minutes when Dan Golden took advantage of a slip by Davidson as he went to cut out a crossfield pass, for Golden to calmly hit a low drive past Phillips and into the net from the edge of the box. Mitchell missed a good chance to equalise two minutes later, and 12 minutes before the end Dave Stone was most unlucky to see his side foot strike curl against the inside of a Wincanton post before being scrambled away, after Stone had been put away by a pinpoint pass from Ross McErlain. Townsley headed into the side netting late on, and Stone missed another good chance for Shepton in the last minute, but the visitors held out for a deserved win to go into the hat for the next round draw.
Bills was the Shepton pick, with Ash and young Kailan also doing well, but individual mistakes at the back are mounting up and continue to bedevil the side. Sort these out quickly and we will be fine, as we always look capable of scoring at the other end.
Not a great match from Shepton's perspective, but at least a number of players who have warmed the bench a bit this season had a longer run out, so we will hopefully get some benefit from the exercise in weeks to come. For sure we should see a different game today

Team

1. S.Phillips
2. A.Willmott
3. D.Lock
4. L.Davidson.....cautioned
5. N.Hudson
6. L.Watson
7. J.Billing
8. J.Vincent
9. J.Townsley....scored one goal
10.J.Morgan
11. R.Mitchell

subs used
R.McErlain, K.Gould and D.Stone