A LIGHTNING start set the tone for Melksham Town’s big win at home to Bitton.

Top scorer Gary Higdon broke the deadlock inside 45 seconds at the Conigre and Dan Kovacs swiftly made it 2-0 with just two-and-a-half minutes on the clock.

Bitton saw Mike Baker sent off for a professional foul on the half-hour mark and Higdon fired home the resulting free-kick to seal the points and keep Melksham second in the table.

Boss Darren Perrin said: “We were very impressive. To be 2-0 up after about 150 seconds was beyond anyone’s dreams.

“We were professional, disciplined and should possibly have scored a few more.

“I’m delighted with the clean sheet and the three points.”

Melksham now finish the year with a Boxing Day derby at home to Bradford Town, a match that serves as a precursor to next month’s FA Vase fourth round clash.

“We’ve got one game left in 2014, which has been a quite incredible year for the football club,” added Perrin.

“It’s a 50-50 game. Bradford have done fantastically well and Paul Shanley has done an incredible job there.

“There’s so much respect between the two sides. It’s great that in the county we’ve got two sides doing incredibly well.”