Corsham Town 1 - 2 Melksham Town

Corsham Town snatched defeat from the jaws of victory last night at the Southbank as bitter local rivals Melksham Town came from a goal down in the final few minutes to secure a 2-1 win in this Western Premier League fixture.

Corsham started the brighter of the two sides and were rewarded for their inventive play midway through the first half when captain Craig Gingell towered above the Melksham defence to power home Matthew Jenkins' corner from six yards. As half time arrived, Melksham had little to show for their efforts as Corsham went in a goal to the good.

However, with the away goalkeeper, and former Corsham number one, Luke McFarlane in continuing impressive form in the second half, Corsham found it difficult to add to their lead, with McFarlane most notably making a smart save from Simon Gray when the home striker found himself one on one with the keeper.

With Corsham, as they so often do, beginning to look shaken as they try to hang on to a slim lead with time running out, Melksham sensed that their chance to bring parity to the match was coming, and, when it came, grabbed it with both hands as they forced a scrappy equaliser with only a few minutes remaining.

And, when home goalkeeper Nick Gingell, who, despite the late Melksham onslaught, played another assured game between the posts for Corsham, could only parry a difficult shot into the path of the oncoming Melksham striker with one minute to go, he was left with the easiest of tap ins to send the Melksham players and officials into overdrive, with their celebrations worthy of a team that had just won the World Cup final on penalties.

Corsham will certainly look back on this game with a sense of “what could have been”, and will now be looking to pick up that elusive first three points in their next league game, a week Saturday at home to Street.