Usual kicker Barrett was forced off with injury in the opening ten minutes, and Taylor responded superbly with the added kicking duties.
In the first 40 minutes Makos captain Andrew Goodman put in another classy shift scoring all of his side's firsthalf points.
Goodman kicked his side to an early lead with a penalty in the 5th minute to go in front 3-0.
He scored a try three minutes later after hooker Quentin McDonald ripped the ball off an opposition player before making a charging run. Tasman spread the ball down the shortside for Goodman to sneak over in the corner.
He converted his own try to stretch the lead to 10-0.
Taranaki hit back through young winger Jackson Ormond after lock James Broadhurst tiptoed down the sideline before popping the ball back to his supporting player who ran 30 metres untouched to score in the 24th minute.
Taylor converted.
Goodman and Taylor traded penalties to take their teams to the break.
Trailing 13-16 at the halftime break, Taylor made no mistake in slotting two 40 metre penalties to give his side a 19-13 in the 61st minute.
It was a lead that they didn't yield with the winger extending their advantage with a 55 metre try in the 65th minute.
Taylor received the ball off the ruck before wrong footing Mark Bright, and he ran down the sideline with no Tasman defender in sight.
He handed the kicking duties to Jack Cameron who nailed the sideline conversion for a 26-16 lead.
With 10 minutes remaining Tasman's chances of scoring two tries for an unlikely win didn't occur, with a losing bonus point their only reward in a match they had led for 51 minutes.
Replacement lock Hamish Cochrane muscled over from close range for a consolation try on the fulltime hooter but it was too late for the visitors.
Taranaki 26 (Jackson Ormond, Andre Taylor tries; Taylor 4 pen, con; Jack Cameron con) Tasman 23 (Andrew Goodman, Hamish Cochrane tries; Goodman 3 pen, 2 con). Halftime: 13-16.
- HERALD ONLINE
