Mon 18th Apr. Southern League Div. One. Att: 194 Larkhall Athletic 0 Melksham Town 2
TOWN have secured an 8th place finish in the Southern League – the highest in the club’s history.
In the last fixture of Town’s fourth season in the league, they came away with a win from the visit to local rivals Larkhall, to end an impressive campaign on a high. The reverse fixture came just a few weeks prior, with the Larks travelling to Oakfields to play out a goalless draw.
Town would be looking to put the weekend’s defeat behind them and finish the season on a high, and were boosted with the return of Luke Ballinger in the starting XI. The game was off to a relatively quiet start with no real chances for either sides and both defences standing firm against the attacking intent of their opponents. It wasn’t until late on in the first-half that Town came the closest to scoring; Ryan Morgan had an effort from range that skimmed the top of the bar.
The two sides went in at the break without troubling the scores, the second half would require a much more clinical display if they were to avoid a repeat of the goalless draw a few weeks back.
The second half certainly started on a more promising note for Town, as Jay Malshanskyj sent a volley narrowly over. And it was to get a lot better for Town as they managed to break the deadlock with Sam Hendy finishing from Albie Hopkins’ cutback. This opened the game up as Town started to create more chances for themselves, working the ‘keeper into a couple of decent saves.
As the clock ticked down the hosts were in search of an equaliser, and had a couple of good chances that were denied by a stern Melksham defence, with Jaiden Pearce and Aaron Parsons putting on a superb performance. A big tackle from Will Christopher won the ball for Melksham, and Albie Hopkins beat the on-rushing ‘keeper to the ball and slot home to win the game for Town. A sublime second half performance gave Town an impressive 2-0 win and confirmed their place as a top-half side.
The season also saw Town’s youth side compete with the sides at the top of the table, and a couple of academy graduate get first team debuts in Jaiden Pearce and Sam Dowell, with the future looking bright for Town.
By Lewie Simmons
