Saturday 7th September, FA Vase First Qualifying Round Melksham Town 4 Devizes Town 1
The Town moved into the next round of the FA Vase to face a trip to Folland Sports after a 4-1 victory over local rivals Devizes Town.
Chairman Dave Wiltshire became the caretaker manager for the day and shuffled the pack around.
The Town got off to a dream start after 2 minutes when Dave Macey whipped in a free kick from the left flank, which was met by Matt Sharp whose header found the net. As the Town continued to press on 20 minutes, Dan Kovacs couldn’t get enough power on a header after a fine run and cross from Ian Jeffery, but the Town went 2-0 ahead on 34 minutes when Sayeed Ibrahim picked up a pass from birthday boy Josh Robinson and his left foot drive from 25 yards fooled the Town keeper and nestled into the bottom corner.
The game was effectively over on 41 minutes when Shaun Benison laid the ball into the path of Dan Kovacs who put the Town 3-0 ahead, which they held at the break.
The second half saw a weakened Devizes side gain more possession and they took the game to the Town without really pressuring home keeper Drewitt; until after 52 minutes, Devizes was awarded a penalty after a clumsy challenge by Dan Griffiths left the referee with no option than to point to the spot. Andy Brien’s initial spot kick was saved by keeper Tom Drewitt, but the rebound fell at the feet of Brien who calmly stroked the ball into the net to make the score 3-1 and give Devizes renewed hope. Melksham introduced Nathan Flower for Ibrahim and on the hour mark keeper Drewitt picked up a yellow card after the referee deemed him to be time wasting retrieving a ball for a goal kick.
Melksham finally laid the game to rest on 70 minutes when Kovacs latched onto Jeffery’s pass and expertly lobbed the keeper, to put the home side 4-1 ahead. As the game petered out, both Stu Greener and Ash Caws were brought on and the final whistle was reached with the Town delighted to claim their first win of the season.
Team: Drewitt, Ibrahim, Jeffery, Macey, Young Ibrahim, Griffiths, Robinson T, Benison, Kovacs, Robinson J.
