Sat. 24th Nov. Evo-Stik Southern Div. One Highworth Town 3 Melksham Town 1 Sat. 1st Dec. Evo-Stik Southern Div. One Melksham Town 1 Slimbridge AFC 0

MELKSHAM Town faced action at home and away this fortnight in the Southern League, with contrasting performances and mixed results, with one win and one defeat.

First up for Town was an away match to Highworth Town, where they suffered their second league defeat of the season, losing 3-1.

Manager Kieran Baggs told Melksham News, “I thought overall that our performance was very good, but perhaps we weren’t clinical enough in front of the goal and didn’t take the chances when they were offered to us.”

A goal from Warren Maidment in the first 10 minutes helped Town draw level with Highworth, and the scored stayed at 1-1 until the dying moments of the game.

“Unfortunately we were sucker-punched in the final few minutes with a free kick and a penalty,” explained Kieran. “We were disappointed to lose, but the ball didn’t fall for us in the final third and we left Highworth with nothing.

“It was a tight game – Highworth are a good side and they worked hard. We had a good shout for a penalty in the late stages of the match, but things didn’t go our way.

“We were missing Jon Davies, Neikell Plummer and Luke Ballinger – who are all our top scorers. So we were looking around to other players who have not had as many minutes’ play as the others. So without Davies, Plummer and Ballinger up front, we were missing that sharpness and ruthlessness that we needed to win. Unfortunately the goals evaded us.”

With their match against AFC Totton (scheduled for 27th November) called off because of a water-logged pitch, Town were given some time to rest before facing Slimbridge AFC at home at the InfiLED Arena at Oakfields.

Kieran said, “In comparison to the Highworth game, this performance at home wasn’t as good. It’s funny – we have a performance like the one against Highworth and we lose; and then we don’t perform well against Slimbridge and we win!

“So we were not at our best against Slimbridge – we had a lot of possession but no thirst to get the goals. There’s a real contrast in our performance from week to week. We only deserved a point against Slimbridge, but we nicked the three points in the final minutes with a goal by new signing Reece Rusher.”

Behind the scenes, Town has seen more changes to their line-up.

Kieran said, “Lee Davidson who has been with us for three seasons and Jamie Lyons, who has been with us for two seasons, have both left the club to play for Bradford Town – they were not playing regularly – and I wish them all the best for the future and thank them for all their hard work and support.

“We have signed defender Tom Warren from Mangotsfield United and Nuno Felix from Chippenham who is a great left-hand side player. I’m looking forward to seeing what these lads have to offer the club.

“Coming up we have Fleet at home (Saturday 22nd December) – I’m looking foward to this game, it’s going to be tough, but if we really throw ourselves at the match and the supporters show up on the day, we could pull off the win.

“The Town supporters are some of the best at our level – we have by far the best attendance in the Southern League at our level. I want to say a huge thank you to the fans and I hope that their support continues, we couldn’t do it without them.”