Saturday 4th March – Les Philips Cup
Warminster Town 2-3 Melksham Town
Monday 6th March – Toolstation Premier Div.
Melksham Town 2-1 Bristol Manor Farm 1
Sat. 11th March – Toolstation Premier Div.
Melksham Town 2-2 Chipping Sodbury
Town returned to form in the past fortnight with a win over Premier League leaders Bristol Manor Farm and at Warminster to clinch a place in the quarter-finals of the Les Philips Cup before a hard fought draw against Chipping Sodbury.
Two wins in a row were welcome for Town at the beginning of March following a bumpy spell with only one win from their previous four games.
The first – a 3-2 win over Warminster Town in the Les Philips Cup – was played despite bad conditions and saw Melksham progress through to the quarter final of the Western League cup.
After a goalless first half, Jake Hiscocks put Melksham ahead after 50 minutes, only to be met soon after by an equaliser from Warminster.
Two more goals from Joe Stradling and Leigh Rogers, and a missed penalty by Warminster put Town firmly in control on 3-1. A late goal for Warminster by Dan Jordan – younger brother of Melksham striker, Sam – was a consolation for the home side but Melksham took the win.
Town manager Darren Perrin said, “It was a farce that the game was played on a pitch in such terrible conditions, but of course we were delighted to get the win. It has set us up for a quarter final game against Buckland Athletic; if we make it past them I think we’re in with a good chance of winning the cup.”
Two days later, Town settled an old score on Monday 6th March when they beat Bristol Manor Farm at home in Melksham. Darren dubbed the game their best performance of the season.
In front of a weeknight crowd of almost 500 people, a brace from striker Dan Demkiv saw Town prevail 2-1 over the Premier Division leaders.
The Bristol side had previously been one of only two teams to defeat Melksham in the league this season, and had knocked Town out of the FA Vase in the first ever fixture at Oakfields in January.
Darren said, “The Bristol Manor Farm was our best performance of the season. We had four or five regular players out and were fielding a young side, but they were brilliant.”
The following Saturday, Town had a tougher run in a home game against Chipping Sodbury, but salvaged a point thanks to an 88th minute goal from top scorer Gary Higdon.
Luke Ballinger returned to play after serving a suspension incurred in a game against Willand Rovers last month.
Town went down 1-0 in the 27th minute but Sam Jordan equalised to end the first half 1-1. Chipping Sodbury scored again to lead 2-1 until the final stages of the game, when Higdon pulled Town back to a level score with minutes to spare.
Darren said, “We were tired against Chipping Sodbury and couldn’t really get anything going until the end of the game. If we’d played the whole game like we did the last ten minutes we probably would have won, but it didn’t happen this time.
“We’ve got a tricky game against Cribbs this Saturday and will have a few players missing, but I’m still hopeful about our prospects for the league and am confident we can finish in the top four.”
