Betvictor Southern Div1 South: Sat. 28th Sept. Melksham 0 Evesham 1 Sat. 5th Oct. Cinderford 1 Melksham 1 Mon. 7th Oct. Southern League Challenge Cup Melksham 1 Frome 3
MELKSHAM Town have set their sights on an FA Trophy run as they face bottom of Southern Division One Central league, Wantage Town, this weekend, following a run of tough league games.
On Saturday 28th September, Town welcomed Evesham United to the infiLED arena but went down to a 1-0 defeat.
Manager, Richard Fey said, “Evesham are going to finish second or third in my opinion, so it was always going to be tough. The first half we weren’t quite there but in the second half the team played absolutely outstanding football and we deserved at least a point.
“We would have had the point too if we hadn’t have hit the post in the 15th minute. I couldn’t fault the guys’ commitment.”
On Saturday 5th October Town travelled to Cinderford and came away with a point in a 1-1 draw.
Richard added, “This is another team that are sat in the play-off positions. We were a few players down due to illness and unavailability but the players that we put out could have nicked all three points, but sadly Lady Luck wasn’t on our side. Again, we hit the post which could have got us the win.
“But now we have played all of the teams in the top 10 bar one in the league and it’s reassuring that we haven’t been disgraced by them. For a relatively new team we are still competing at this level.”
On Monday 7th October Town faced fellow Division One South team Frome Town in the Southern League Challenge Cup, but went out 3-1.
Richard said, “Frome put out their strongest team; however, we left out a number of our usual players to rest them up for our upcoming FA Cup game, which I saw as more important than this game.
“Again, we hit the post which is the fifth game on the trot that we’ve done that. I don’t feel that we deserved the loss. We made one mistake to give Frome their second goal but I don’t think they troubled us. Our keeper didn’t have to make too many saves.
“I can’t knock the lads especially new players including Tyrone Tucker-Dixon, Shea Bennington-Mannings and also William Thompson from the reserves.
“We obviously wish Frome the best in the next rounds but we need to iron out the mistakes in our game and put more of our chances away.”
Town’s next game is on Saturday in the FA Cup Preliminary Round against Wantage at the infiLED arena, with kick-off at 1pm.
Looking ahead to the match Richard said, “This is where Melksham’s season really starts. We have played all the top 12 teams bar one. Wantage are the bottom of their league so this is going to be a really important game and an important £3,000 for the club if we make it through. It will be great to put in a good performance.
“Then we go on to play Basingstoke, who are below us in the league. This is when we start to compete in our own mini league at the lower end of the table. As long as we top that league it will be a great season for us. Also, to have a decent run in the FA Cup would be a real success.”
Town currently lie 14th in the league with 8 points from 8 games.
