Jack Matthews

Loan Watch | January 2025

It was a busy January for young defender Jack Matthews, who continues to be a regular starter for Taunton Town in the Southern League Premier South.

The Peacocks remain in the hunt for a play-off place, after a run of just one loss in eight, which came in their most recent fixture against runaway table-toppers Merthyr Town.

Matthews has been impressive in his time in Somerset, and his month began with an extension to his loan, through to the end of the season.

Taunton’s January started with a pair of draws, to Gloucester City and Gosport Borough, before a victory over Gosport in the reverse match just three days later.

A draw with Wimborne Town followed, before a pair of defeats - firstly, in the Somerset Premier Cup to Weston-super-Mare, before the aforementioned loss to Merthyr.

Will Jenkins Davies featured throughout the month for Torquay United, as they had mixed fortunes in the Vanarama National League South.

The Gulls began with a perfect 1-0 win over promotion rivals Truro City on New Year’s Day, and a 3-1 home victory over Welling United. These were either side of a 5-1 loss to Worthing in the Isuzu FA Trophy.

Since the Welling result, Torquay have had back-to-back draws, against St Albans City and Slough Town, before a defeat to Hampton and Richmond Borough in which Jenkins Davies did not feature at all.

Ben Waine has been a regular in the match-day squad for Mansfield Town, but has found Sky Bet League One minutes hard to come by.

The New Zealand international only featured off the bench this month, in three of the Stags’ five league matches, and didn’t play in their Emirates FA Cup defeat to Wigan Athletic.

Midfielder Josh Bernard received only limited minutes from the bench for Tiverton Town in January, before returning to Home Park and being sent back out on loan to Mousehole.