A FRUSTRATED Danny Greaves was keen to focus on the strides made by Bradford Town over the past couple of seasons in the wake of their Boxing Day derby defeat at the hands of Melksham Town.

The Bobcats were beaten 3-1 on home soil as Melksham maintained their impressive record in recent meetings between the sides, opening up a decisive lead through Chris Allen, Luke Ballinger and Warren Maidment before Matt Morris pulled one back late on.

In the process, Melksham became only the second team – after leaders Street – to overcome Bradford in the Toolstation League Premier Division this term and halved the gap between the teams in the table to three points.

Bradford boss Greaves had no complaints about the outcome and admitted: “It was a disappointing performance.

“We knew what a big game it was in terms of our league position, the rivalry between the sides and what it meant to our club and our supporters. We fell below our usual standards and that was frustrating.

“We had the majority of possession but didn’t create the chances we needed to and although one of their goals was a good free-kick, the other two came from mistakes we don’t usually make.”

However, Greaves said the post-match celebrations of the Melksham players and committee members – both at the ground and on social media – spoke volumes for Bradford’s current standing in the county’s footballing hierarchy.

“We’ve progressed massively from where we were,” said Greaves. “It’s only a few years ago that we were in the First Division and now we’ve got the chance to go into the new year three points ahead of a club like Melksham.

“There is still a long way to go. It’s a tough league and teams will drop points, but the first half of the season has been tremendous for us.”

Greaves admitted the Boxing Day display had given him “a few decisions to make” ahead of Saturday’s trip to a Bitton outfit he rates as being better than their league position suggests.

Bradford had gone into their meeting with Melksham on a high after hammering rock-bottom Longwell Green Sports 7-1 at Trowbridge Road last Saturday. Karim Rendall led the way with a hat-trick and Sam Jordan and Matt Morris added two apiece to pile on the misery for a visiting side who have picked up just two points from 22 matches this term.