DARREN Perrin was left to toast another glorious day in Melksham Town’s recent history after guiding them to their first-ever Les Phillips Cup triumph.

Melksham and Toolstation Premier Division rivals Cribbs played out a goalless draw in the final at the Tannery Ground in Street on Saturday but it was Town who held their nerve when the match had to be decided on penalties, edging to a 5-4 success in the shoot-out.

The win saw Melksham continue their trophy trail and they have now won silverware in each of the last four seasons. Perrin masterminded a Premier Division title triumph in 2015, with that success sandwiched between two Wiltshire Senior Cup victories.

A crowd of 402 saw the drama unfold in Somerset, with three-quarters of those having made the trip from Melksham, and Perrin cherished being able to savour the success with so many well-wishers.

“It was an immensely satisfying day for everyone involved with the football club,” said manager Perrin.

“To take 300-plus supporters at any level of non-league football is a great achievement and to see so many people supporting Melksham Town was unbelievable.

“To win the competition for the first time in the club’s history is even sweeter.

“It’s four trophies in four years and it’s been four great years along the way. The players deserve all the credit for that as they have been fantastic.

“Saturday night was messy and now we have our presentation evening on Friday, so we will enjoy that and savour everything we’ve done this season and over the last four years.”

Melksham looked like they would blow their chance in the final as Gary Higdon sent a penalty high over the bar in normal time, while they also finished the game with 10 men as Steve Hulbert was sent off after collecting a second yellow card in the second half of extra time.

The stalemate sent the contest to a shoot-out where Town goalkeeper Rob Brown proved the hero, pulling off a save from Cribbs’ second penalty, allowing Lee Davidson to step up and clinch a 5-4 success for Perrin’s men.

“It would have been a travesty if we hadn’t won it because we dominated the final. How it went to penalties I will never know,” said Perrin.

“We hit the woodwork three times, Gary missed a penalty and we had countless other chances too.

“The longer it goes on, you think it is just going to be one of those days, but fair play to the players, they kept going right the way through and when it got to penalties, all five of them took superb ones.

“Credit to Cribbs for having a go and digging in and Street too for their hospitality and putting on a great day for both clubs and both sets of supporters.”