MELKSHAM manager Kieran Baggs says he was happy to take a point after admitting his side were well below par in their 2-2 draw with Bitton.

Baggs' team found themselves trailing 2-0 at the break after a dismal opening 45 minutes.

The Melksham boss says he gave his players a talking-to during the interval in order to boost their performance in the second half, as well as using all three of his substitutes.

The triple change had the desired affect as debutant Francois Allen got his first goal for the club to halve the deficit, before Gary Higdon completed the comeback in injury time.

“It was an eventful day to say the least and after the 90 minutes I was delighted to walk away with a point because our performance dropped well below what I expect,” said Baggs, who also had Ryan Bole and Jamie Lyons sent off, while Bitton also had two men red-carded.

“There was a discussion at half-time and I asked the players if they thought we were doing enough to win the game.

“I decided to make three changes. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn’t. Thankfully this time, it did pay off.

“We managed to get a point in the end, we got a point and we nearly nicked the win at the end of the game.

“Francois came on and made his debut, as did Mason Winter and they both did well. It is definitely a point gained, not two dropped because Bitton are a good side and they’ll take points off teams.

“You have to keep the positives and go into next week with Brislington and I hope we can produce a good performance.”

With the weather having an impact on the game, the Melksham chief admits he was surprised the game went ahead.

“The pitch was absolutely horrendous, you could barely stand up on it and it didn’t play into our hands at all,” added Baggs.

“We couldn’t get our wingers in the game, but I felt we just didn’t turn up enough in the first half, you have to take the positives.”

This weekend, Baggs will be without the suspended Bole and Lyons, the former guilty of picking up two bookings last Saturday, while Lyons was handed a straight red.