Sat. 16th February. Evo Stik Southern Div. One Melksham Town 2 Blackfield & Langley 3 Sat. 23rd February. Evo Stik Southern Div. One Mangotsfield United 1 Melksham Town 2 Mon. 25th February. Evo Stik Southern Div. One Melksham Town 2 Bideford 1
Town climbed back up the Southern League into seventh place after two straight wins – but manager Kieran Baggs is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.
Speaking to Melksham News, Kieran said, “We are probably a bit above our station at the moment in the league. I’m sure we’ll win more games, and we are sure to lose some. So we are trying to not get too excited or too disappointed as the season progresses. We will keep ticking off the games and we will see what happens at the end of the season.”
This fortnight, as well as the two wins against Mangotsfield United and Bideford, Town also lost at home to Blackfield & Langley.
About the 3-2 defeat against league leaders, Blackfield & Langley, Kieran said, “If could have caused an upset against the league leaders, it would have been a real bonus – but unfortunately on the day, Blackfield & Langley scored some good goals and it wasn’t meant to be.
“We did start well – we went ahead with a goal from Matt Smith, who scored on his debut. But after that we gave away cheap possession and sloppy free kicks and Blackfield capitalised on this. That’s the risk with a top side like this, if you give them chances they will take them and run away with them. We did get a chance with a penalty, that Jon Davies scored, but in the second half we didn’t create any more chances and we just couldn’t find that equaliser.”
Next up for Town was a 2-1 away win against Mangotsfield United. “With goals from Neikell Plummer and Jon Davies in the first half this was a comfortable win,” said Kieran, “but it could have been more comfortable if we had taken our chances.
“The performance was good and this was an important three points for us. We were probably expected to win looking at where we both are in the league – but Mangotsfield is a difficult place to visit. The pitch is bad and we couldn’t get the ball down in play like we would normally do, so we had to change our style of play, and our approach. We got away without too many problems.”
There was another win for Town at home against Bideford. About the 2-1 win, Kieran said, “This was our first Monday night match under the lights of the season and we had a great crowd at the InfiLED arena to watch us win against Bideford.
“We were very poor in the first half and deserved to go 1-0 down. Bally (assistant manager Luke Ballinger) changed up our tactics at half time and our performance improved – it worked well.
“Ollie Webb, on his birthday, scored two goals, so it was a great day for him. However, he did later get sent off, which I thought was a bit harsh – it got a bit hot and heated and I think the players’ reactions may have influenced the ref’s decision. But that won’t take the gloss off Ollie’s superb performance, which won him man of the match.
“Overall this was a big win for us and a boost to moral. We now look forward to a home match this Saturday (2nd March) against Thatcham Town.”
