Sat. 14th Sept. Toolstation Premier League Willand Rovers 1 – 0 Melksham Town
The Town went agonisingly close to securing a well deserved point at Willand in Darren Perrin’s first game back at the helm but were undone by an injury time winner from the home side.
Melksham welcomed back much travelled Matt Cooper for his first game back at his home town club and he formed a three man partnership at the back with Tom Stocks and Matt Sharp. Willand nearly caught the Town cold after only four minutes when Stamp found himself clear on goal after a quick free kick, but Tom Drewitt in the Town goal produced a great save and tipped the ball over. On 20 minutes Melksham created their first opportunity when Dan Kovacs dragged his shot just wide after being set up by Higdon. On the half time whistle a Willand striker tumbled theatrically in the box looking for a penalty, and the referee had no hesitation in booking the striker for diving, and with that the interval was reached with the sides level at 0-0.
The second half was only minutes old when the very same home striker who was booked earlier deliberately handled the ball, and with the expectation he would have been shown a yellow card and a resulting red, the ref decided to give the player a talking to, much to the amazement of all at the ground.
Melksham began to settle into the game and after Gary Higdon latched onto Jeffery’s long ball over the top the home keeper saved his effort on 57 minutes. On the hour mark Town keeper Tom Drewitt produced a fantastic save by firstly keeping out a header, and then with the help of Stocks pawing the rebound over the bar and away to safety.
On 73 minutes the Town created their best opportunity of the game when Higdon rounded the keeper and looked for a pass to Shaun Benison which was cleared when in hindsight he might have taken on the shot from the angle.
Further efforts from Kovacs, Benison and a left foot effort from Sharp came and went, and with the game seemingly destined for a draw, the Town were undone in injury time when the home substitute went on a mazy run beating four defenders before squaring the ball for a Willand striker, to crash the ball home from six yards as the game entered injury time.