Sat. 29th April – Toolstation Premier Div.
Melksham Town 5-1 Wells City
Mon. 1st May – Les Phillips Cup Semi Final.
Gillingham T 0-1 Melksham Town
Sat. 6th May – Les Phillips Cup Final.
Melksham Town 5-4 Cribbs FC
MELKSHAM Town have ended the season on a high after winning the Les Phillip Cup in a dramatic penalty shoot out over Cribbs FC.
For the first time in the club’s history Melksham Town stormed to victory to lift the Les Phillips trophy following a nail biting final which ended 0-0 at full time plus 30 minutes of extra time.
Goalkeeper Rob Brown proved to be the hero after saving Cribb’s second penalty; Town won the shoot out 5-4 with Gary Higdon, Luke Ballinger, Jake Hiscocks, Mike Perrott and Lee Davidson all scoring from the spot.
Manager Darren Perrin said, “We totally dominated the game and I don’t think the fans could complain about the level of drama. Of course, when you’ve played 120 minutes of football, hit the post twice and missed a penalty you do think to yourself, it’s going to be one of those days but credit to the lads, they held their nerve.
“Emotionally it’s difficult as well. Gary Higdon was the best player on the pitch for 60 minutes of the game but then he missed the penalty and it really affected him; you could see he was so disappointed. But to be fair to him, he showed great guts and character to then step up to the spot to take another penalty in the shoot out.”
Town finished third in the league having thrashed Wells City 5-1 at home the week before the cup final.
Darren said, “Our last game against Wells City was fantastic and the lads put in an exceptional performance. And the goal from Sammy Jordon was probably the best I’ve ever seen at this level – it was magnificent.
“Then at Gillingham the lads produced a disciplined, professional and strong performance to send us to the final. I’m immensely proud, not just of the players but the whole club, from the committee to the catering staff, everyone works so hard to make club what it is and everyone should feel immense pride in what the club has achieved this season.”
Now the club wait to hear from the FA whether they will be promoted to the Southern League next season.
“Fingers crossed now we get the good news about being promoted but we’ve not been told anything so we just have to wait and see. There’s a glimmer of hope and it would be a fantastic way to cap off a brilliant season, but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.
“We have our presentation evening on Friday night which I’m sure will be a great celebration and then we’ll take a break which everyone deserves. Then we go again and our aims and objectives will depend on which league we are in.
“We’ve got a mouth watering friendly on Saturday 8th July as we host Bristol Rovers at The Oakfield Stadium. We’re expecting a huge crowd for this game so we are looking at possibly selling tickets beforehand, but nothing is finalised yet.”
