Sat 26th Mar. Southern League Div. One. Att: 416 Melksham Town 1 Paulton Rovers 0
A PERFECT afternoon for football loomed large over Oakfields as Melksham hosted Paulton.
The two sides are battling it out in the table, however a convincing 3-0 win for Paulton in the reverse fixture would give them the belief they can do the league double over the hosts. Town, however, have had a decent run of home form of late, winning 3 and drawing twice of the last 5 home fixtures.
The first half was a fairly quiet affair, with neither side threatening early on. However, an injury forced Will Christopher off after just half an hour, and Jay Malshanksyj was brought on to bolster the attacking efforts of the side. This had an impact for Town as they started to create chances in good areas with a feeling that a goal was coming. Just before the half time whistle, they thought they had it, but Sam Hendy’s effort was deflected behind from close range as it looked to be heading in.
The two sides went in level at the break, with Town exciting in periods and certainly had more to give, but the result was still in the balance as the scoreline remained goal-less.
Despite it only took 5 minutes for Town to take the lead after half-time; some liquid football from Melksham ripped open the Paulton defence and Kyle Tooze was on hand to tap in. A lovely one-two between Sam Hendy and Jay Malshanskyj meant the latter could square the ball into Tooze who was in the right place to finish.
Paulton were in search of an equaliser for the rest of the half, but a stern Melksham defence limited anything that was thrown at them. Fey’s side controlled the game well and held their nerve; deciding when and when not to hit on the counter. As the clock ticked down, Town were on course for a back-to-back clean sheet at home, with a solid performance from the centre back pairing of Jaiden Pearce and Aaron Parsons.
The full time whistle sounded and the squad walked off to the appreciation of the Town faithful. Another great home win, and some much needed momentum to carry on a tough away trip to Evesham on Saturday 2nd April.
