MELKSHAM Town manager Darren Perrin was disgusted with his team after they produced an abysmal performance to lose 1-0 at home to Gillingham Town on Easter Monday.

The Toolstation League Premier Division side had a mixed Bank Holiday weekend after they were 3-2 winners at local rivals Bradford Town on Good Friday.

Gary Higdon, Jake Hiscocks and Ben Thomson were all on target in that victory as Perrin admits it was a tale of two halves for his troops this weekend.

“It was a mixed weekend. We went from the highs of Friday, where we were comfortable winners, to Monday’s performance,” said Perrin. “I’ve been managing Melksham on and off for around eight years and arguably that was the worst performance I have been associated with.

“We can’t have any complaints about the result because we were dreadful, we got what we deserved.

“Obviously now we have made it more difficult for ourselves with two games to go. There will be changes next week.”

While Perrin was unsure what caused his team to under-perform, he demands his players show a reaction in next week’s fixture with Longwell Green Sports.

“I don’t know if it was because we were tired or lethargic, or whether it was our egos. We were just second best all round,” added Perrin.

“It’s not a performance I’ll accept. They have been brilliant all season but they let themselves and the club down on Monday.

“Now we have to improve massively next week against Longwell Green.

“If we play like that again, we won’t win anything.”

The result leaves Melksham in third place with a total of 79 points, 12 points ahead of Danny Greaves’ Bradford Town, who are fifth.  
Greaves’ troops had a weekend to forget as they lost both of their Easter fixtures. After their derby defeat, they went down 4-1 to high-flying Street on Easter Monday.

It was a less than ideal start for the visitors, who were reduced to 10 men within the first 15 minutes of the game when Kevin Davies picked up his second yellow card.

Ross McErlain was on hand to make the most of the numerical advantage to put the hosts 1-0 up.

Shortly after, they doubled their lead when Steve Murray netted his 32nd goal of the season from the spot to take a 2-0 lead into the interval.

The second half saw a brief renaissance from the visitors when Alex Monks made it 2-1, but that would turn out to be nothing more than a consolation as Street piled in another two goals in the second half.