Sat. 16th December Toolstation Premier Div.
Melksham Town 3 Hallen 0
Sat. 23rd December Toolstation Premier Div.
Odd Down (Bath) 2 Melksham Town 3
Tues. 26th December Toolstation Premier Div.
Bradford Town 1 Melksham Town 3
Sat. 30th December Toolstation Premier Div.
Melksham Town 0 Chipping Sodbury Town 1
MELKSHAM Town’s assistant manager, Luke Ballinger, has vowed that the team are ready to attempt to make history in the FA Vase this weekend, following a disappointing loss in their last match of 2017.
After three weeks away from the league, the second half of December saw Town focus their efforts on putting pressure on the top two teams in the Premier League, with a vaillant effort that saw them win three games out of four. Entering 2018, Town lie in fourth place in the league, 12 points behind leaders Street and 4 points behind Bradford Town in second place.
Before the club can continue with its campaign to put itself back in contention for promotion, the club will take on Crowborough Athletic in the FA Vase, where a win would see Town progress to the last 16 for the first time in its history.
The match will the be the first of the year for Town and the first since their home loss against Chipping Sodbury Town, but assistant manager Luke has said that the team will be ready for the challenge.
“This is where we are at our best, at big occasions like this,” he said. “We have a real chance to make history for the club and get the furthest we have ever been in the FA Vase. I’m expecting a big game and a big crowd to go with it. The disappointment of the loss against Chipping Sodbury should not be a problem, the team will be okay. Saturday will look after itself and what will be, will be.”
About the league matches in December, Luke said, “We won 3-0 against Hallen. This was one of those games, it took time for us to get going, but it was a comfortable win. Once the first goal came, the others quickly followed. We were the better team on the day and deserved the win.”
Next up was Odd Down, who made Town work hard for their 3-2 win. “There were tough conditions to contend with, the pitch wasn’t great, and both teams didn’t really play well,” said Luke. “But we were 2-1 up before half-time after a corner, which is something that we have been working on. So we were in a great position coming in to the second half. We made it 3-1 later on in the game and then had to hang on in there for the last five minutes after conceding late on. We really had to grind out the three points.”
Another three goals for Town saw the team walk away triumphant from their derby match away to Bradford Town. “The Boxing Day derby against Bradford was very satisfying. We stuck to our game plan and limited their chances, whilst making sure that we optimised all of our own chances. It was a well deserved victory.”
Hoping to continue their winning streak, Town took on Chipping Sodbury Town at home, but were defeated 0-1. “The less said about this game the better,” said Luke. “It was very disappointing after such a strong month. We didn’t show enough commitment to win, despite having lots of possession. We can’t afford to have one of these games. We need to be mentally stronger. This was a real chance to put ourselves back in the mix in the league, but we let ourselves down.”
The FA Vase match against Crowborough Athletic is this Saturday, 6th January at Oakfields and kick-off is at 3pm.
