‘Spirits high’ as Town see Vase and league wins

Tues. 18th October – Toolstation Premier Div. Street 2 – 2 Melksham Town
Sat. 22nd October – FA Vase Bournemouth 0-3 Melksham Town
Sat. 29th October – Toolstation Premier Div. Bridport 0-1 Melksham Town

MELKSHAM Town kept up good form in October, winning four of six games  and are up to  second in the league. They also progressed to the next round of the FA Vase.

Town suffered only their second loss of the season on 1st October but quickly got back to business last week beating Wessex League side Bournemouth 3-0 to progress to the second round of the FA Vase.

Either side of the cup game Town saw pleasing results in the Toolstation Western League, with a 2-2 draw at Street and 1-0 win over Bridport last weekend.

Melksham remain a side to beat in the premier division as they sit firmly in the fluid top five with 39 points from 17 games.

Town only have three away league games left to play this season and will  soon begin a mammoth run of home games running from November to March.

The matches will be played at The Conigre until the club moves to its new ground, Woolmore Farm, at the end of the year.

Manager Darren Perrin is pleased with recent results and looking forward to knuckling down at the new ground.

Darren told Melksham News, “Team spirit is very high at the moment and I’m pleased with how things are going. We’re all still tired of being on the road every week but we’re slowly getting the injured guys back and we’re getting good results.

“Bournemouth was a pretty faultless game, helped by the fact we were one nil up after 14 seconds. We then got two more from Higdon and Kovacs before half time which sealed the deal.

“I think we had a 50/50 chance going into the game and on paper it was a tough match.”

Gary Higdon scored the opening goal in the FA Vase match, making the most of a through ball from Mike Perrott immediately after kick-off. The shock start put Bournemouth on the back foot and Melksham kept on the pressure to finish the game with a clean sheet and a ticket to the second round.

“Our next FA Vase fixture is against Hartley Wintney, who are ten points clear at the top of the combined counties premier league,” Perrin said. “It’s going to be a very, very tough game and we’re going to need to produce something truly special if we’re going to progress any further.

“Whether we do or not, I’m happy with how things are going in the league. I’ve said all season I’d like us to finish in the top four, but I’m not getting carried away by how we’ve done so far. It can all change very quickly, so we need to keep working hard.

“The Street result [2-2] was a good one because they’re a strong team competing at the top of the table with us.

“Then Bridport on Saturday was, arguably, one of the more pleasing results of the season for me. It was a bit of a nothing game and we didn’t play very well but we ground it out for the win.

“Sometimes, as a manager, games like that are more pleasing because it shows we’ve got the strength to get the results even when we don’t play well.

“Woolmore Farm is inching ever closer now – the facilities look unbelievable and we’re delighted to be getting near to moving in. My biggest concern is that we’ll have the best non-league ground in Wiltshire and other teams and players will really step up their game because of it. It’s something I’m more than happy to experience, and hopefully it’ll have the same effect on our own side!”