Sat. 11th November – FA Vase 2nd round Wantage Town 1 Melksham Town 4 Tues. 14th November – Wilts FA Senior Cup 2nd round Chippenham Town 2 Melksham Town 1 Sat. 18th November – Les Phillips Cup 1st round Melksham Town 2 Odd Down 0

MELKSHAM Town is celebrating after two cup wins and being named the Toolstation Team of the Month for October, following on from their highly successful match against Manchester United Legends.

Taking a three-week break from the league, manager Kieran Baggs has praised the team’s performance in a trio of cup games that saw them progress in the FA Vase and the Les Phillips Cup, whilst losing valiantly to Chippenham in the Senior Cup.

The team is also celebrating being awarded ‘team of the month’ for October by the Toolstation Western League and goalkeeper Rob Brown’s ‘Safe Hands’ award. Kieran said, “This is well deserved and a superb achievement for Rob who has not conceded any goals in the league in the last two months.”

Town first took on Wantage Town in the FA Vase second round, winning 4-1. “This was an emphatic win, with a fantastic hat-trick from Jake Brown who has been plagued with injury since we signed him this year,” said Kieran. “It’s great to see him fully fit and performing so well.

“It was a difficult and challenging game with a boggy pitch, but we took our chances and came away with a very pleasing win.”

Next up was National League South’s Chippenham Town in the Wiltshire FA Senior Cup second round. “The match against Chippenham was always going to be a difficult one, with about three or four leagues’ difference between us. And with this being a mid-week game, I needed to rest some of the team. With two games so close together it’s good to keep the team fresh, so it was a great opportunity to give players like Ryan Bole and three of the under-18 lads some minutes on the pitch.

“The team gave a good battling performance and I am very happy with the commitment that they showed. This is our first loss in eight games and if you are going to lose, I’m happy to lose to a team like Chippenham. There were lots of positives about the team’s performance to take away from the game.”

Back on home turf, Town squared up against Odd Down in the first round of the Les Phillips Cup, which Town won last season for the first time in its 141-year history.

“As title holders it was important not to go out in the first round and I didn’t want two back-to-back  losses. It was great to have Higdon and Perrott back on the team after their break from the Chippenham game, and they didn’t disappoint. Perrott rewarded us with a fantastic goal and Higdon set up the shot for Stradling to make it 2-0.

“Next up, we have our first league match in three weeks against Cribbs, which is going to be a massive game. We have to make sure that we keep up the high standard of football. We don’t want to fall away from Street and Bradford, who are ahead of us in the league – we need to keep in touching distance of them.

“And then we have Bridgwater Town in the FA Vase. The club has a coach going for any fans who want to support the team, leaving at 12 noon. Please contact Darren Perrin (darrencperrin@icloud.com to book a place.”