Town manager ‘confident’ team will get back on track

Weds. 21st Oct. Southern League Div. One Slimbridge 4 Melksham Town 2 Sat. 24th Oct. Southern League Div. One Thatcham Town 3 Melksham Town 0

Town manager, Richard Fey, says that he is confident that the club can turn its fortunes around after a run of bad luck.

A string of injuries, players unavailable to play due to scheduling conflicts, suspensions, and Covid-19 scares, have left the club without a stable team and a run of four leagues losses, including two this fortnight.

“I am confident we can turn it around,” said Richard speaking to Melksham News. “We’ve lost our last four matches, but all clubs have these spells during the season, and we are having ours now. We just need to get through it and come through the other side.

“We are only six games into the season – the time to worry will be at Christmas if we are still in the same place  – which we won’t be!

“We have only played the same team twice this season – when we beat Moneyfields away on a Tuesday night, which was unbelievable; and drawing against Wimborne, who are in the league above. 

“When we do get a settled side we will be fine – but it’s one thing after the other at the moment. Hopefully after this Saturday (31st October) we should have everyone available and the squad can settle down.

“I’m not trying to make excuses, but we’re not getting any luck with injuries; no luck with Covid tests – we’ve had people missing games because they are showing symptoms and then finding out they’re negative; and players’ availability. 

“It’s a season like no other – it feels like the season should be coming to an end, but we’ve only just started! The amount of games we are playing is also hard, but it’s hard for everybody – but other teams seem to be coping better with it than us at the moment.

“But that’s football – these things happen. We had the plaudits last year and the supporters were behind us, just like they are this year. The number of messages I have had from supporters has been unbelievable, and I have got to thank them all because they know how hard it is, especially during this pandemic.

“I hope they all turn up this Saturday (31st October) against Basingstoke Town –  they are one of the top teams – and really get behind the lads and help us get a positive result, because we will need them as the twelfth man.”

Reflecting on the games of the past fortnight, Richard said about the 4-2 loss against Slimbridge, “This was a game against a team that are flying high at the moment – and we were low in confidence. We had a few chances in the first half and played well. 

“But in the second half it was the same old story – they hit us on the counter-attack. We managed to pull it back to 3-2, thanks to two great goals from Felipe Barcelos, but in the last minute we pushed on to try and get an equaliser, but Slimbridge broke away and they scored.

“Unfortunately at the moment we are leaking goals, and we are a bit low on confidence, but it will change – we just need to keep working hard.”

About the 3-0 loss against Thatcham Town, Richard said, “This was the same old story – for an hour we were outstanding. The first half was the best we have played all season. We created chances but just couldn’t put the ball in the net. After an hour, the referee gave Matt Hurley a second yellow card and a penalty against, which after watching the highlights, it was never a penalty or a second yellow.

“Thatcham scored from the penalty, we were down to 10 men for the last half hour. We tried to get an equaliser, but again we got hit on the counter-attack, and the sucker punch was that they broke away twice and scored. It’s just our luck at the moment – we aren’t getting any at the moment. I really feel for the boys because confidence is getting knocked.”