Home | 8 August 2026
Not a step too high: Villa beat Taunton 2-0 in season opener
By | Abhishek Ramesh
Hanworth Villa began their first-ever campaign in the Southern League Premier South with a 2-0 home win over Taunton Town.
New signings Michael Harding and Ethan Light scored either side of half-time, while Dan Koita was sent off for the visitors from the South West.
Villa boss Simon Haughney fielded a new-look side with eight newcomers in the starting XI alongside seasoned warhorses Tyla Dickinson, Guy Ansah-Palmer and skipper Josh Casey, who was stationed as a left centre-back in a back three.
"I just feel that the level we've gone into, you need young, hungry players that want to improve, that want to train and work their nuts off, and that's definitely what we've got," Haughney said of his recruits.
"They've either come from academies or just started their careers now at non-league. So yeah, just to get some young boys in, energy, quick across the ground and comfortable on the ball because we want to play football."
The early phase of play saw Villa’s right wing-back Louis Gates in the thick of action with darting runs, albeit without end product.
At the quarter-hour mark, Harding found himself one-on-one with Freddie Godden, but the keeper denied him expertly.
Dylan Jones hit wide of the post before the half-hour after neat build-up on the edge of the box by the away side.
Then, in the 34th minute, Harding tapped home after a penalty area scramble caused by Gio McGregor's cross from the left.
Reflecting on his side's early dominance on the ball, Haughney noted: "How we controlled the game in terms of possession and the choices of passes that we made, that was the most pleasing. The decision making around possession is probably the most pleasing thing for me."
Harding could have doubled the lead five minutes after the restart, but his lobbed effort over Godden also cleared the crossbar.
A couple of minutes later, Haydon Vaughan went even closer with a direct free-kick from the edge of the box past the far stick.
The hosts finally doubled their lead when Light rose highest to nod in McGregor’s cross in the 63rd minute.
McGregor should have scored a third himself two minutes later but missed a golden opportunity to put the game to bed.
Jay Murray somehow spurned an even bigger chance to get Taunton back in the game, but headed tamely straight into Dickinson’s hands from close range.
Despite the missed chances at both ends, Haughney was quick to respect the opposition. "They've had a shot at 1-0 there at the edge of the box, and at 2-0 they've had a free header that they would be very disappointed not to have scored," he acknowledged.
"I didn't think it was a 5-0, 6-0 game personally, but yeah, I thought we deserved to win, and we've done enough to win it."
Substitute Remi Onabanjo’s shot then missed the near post by a whisker after he cut in from the right.
Taunton’s chances of a late comeback disappeared instantly when Koita, just on as a substitute, was given his marching orders in the 80th minute for a rash challenge on Dickinson while contesting a long ball.
Villa wasted two further openings late on, first via a Billy Nutbeam cross that evaded Onabanjo and then by Harding blazing well over from a cutback.
In the end, it didn’t matter as the Rectory Meadow outfit got the campaign underway with three points on their Step 3 debut.
Following the historic victory, Haughney credited his backroom staff for the result. "Sometimes I feel a bit of a fraud up here, you know, where we've won a game. But in terms of the pre-season set-up, Paul's been brilliant at the training. We couldn't have done this without Dean's organisation," he said.
"Sean and Ben as well, so it's all about me coming out here on a win, but I couldn't do it without the management team, and they've been brilliant."
He also saved a final word for the home faithful: "I'd like to thank all the supporters that have turned up today. I don't know what the crowd was, but it was noisy.
"So thank you, everyone, from Hanworth for turning up, and we're going to need a lot of that this season. It doesn't go unnoticed."
