Sat. 12th October. FA Trophy Preliminary
Melksham Town 2 Wantage Town 0
Sat. 19th Oct. Southern League Div. One
Basingstoke Town 4 Melksham Town 2
Mon. 21st Oct. Southern League Div. One
Melksham Town 4 Moneyfields 6
MELKSHAM Town FC has been left ‘lost for words’ following a shock 6-4 loss at home – conceding five goals in less than 15 second-half minutes.
Playing Moneyfields at home on Monday 21st October, Town led 4-1 at half-time with a first half performance described by player-coach Luke Ballinger as ‘outstanding’. Goals for Town came from Tom Warren, Luke and two from Jack Ball.
But in the second half Town collapsed, conceding five goals in less than 15 minutes, with a 6-4 defeat inflicted on Town.
Speaking to Melksham News, Luke said, “We were lost for words, the fans were lost for words, everyone was lost for words!
“This was a game of two halves. We were outstanding in the first half – probably the best we have been this season. But in the second half Moneyfields got an early goal in, and the momentum took over and we couldn’t deal with it.
“Mistakes like this keep costing us and we need to learn how to deal with this. To go from very good in the first half to what happened in the second half is very hard to explain. I’ve never been involved in a game like it!”
Prior to their shock defeat, Town also faced Basingstoke Town in the league, losing 4-2. “It’s frustrating, difficult and annoying, but we have got to move on and keep going,” said Luke.
“We need to get the right players in the right positions – we have a good honest bunch of lads, who are all trying. We are not going to get too panicky. There is a long way to go in the season and we need to keep looking forward.”
About the loss against Basingstoke Town, Luke said, “This was a disappointing game for us – we gave goals away. In the first half we did manage to get back in the game with two goals, so we should have taken the game by the scruff and gone with it. But we gave a free kick away and Basingstoke scored from it.
Goals for Town came from Joseph Romanski and Jack Ball.
“The second half was dull,” said Luke, “and there were no real chances for either team. But Basingstoke got a penalty, which in my opinion was not a penalty – but that’s the way things are going for us at the moment. Overall a disappointing performance and result.”
There was also action for Town this fortnight in the preliminary round of the FA Trophy as they faced Wantage Town at home, progressing to the next round with a 2-0 win, thanks to an own goal by Wantage and a goal from Phil Ormrod. “It was one of those games,” said Luke. “Wantage have been on a bit of a bad run recently. We had a few chances in the first half but didn’t make anything of them. It wasn’t until the second half when the dead-lock was broken. The game seemed more of a training match than a proper match.”
This Saturday, 26th October, Town face Basingstoke Town in the next round of the FA Trophy – the same team who beat them last week 4-2.
Luke said, “It’s going to be a difficult game. If we play like we did in the first half against Moneyfields it is going to be a great game. But if it’s anything like the second half against Moneyfields, it’s going to be a long 90 minutes.”
The game is at infiLED arena at Oakfields. Kick-off is at 3pm.
