Late goal seals a vital point for Thatcham Town at home to Melksham

Thatcham Town battled to a much needed point at home to Melksham Town on Saturday.

It felt like a familiar story early on however, as the visitors went 1-0 up within the opening minute thanks to a strike from the edge of the box.

Conceding early goals has been a theme of Thatcham’s results as of late, regularly leaving the young side on the back foot.

Thatcham fought their way back into the match, but had to survive some scares up until the break.

Keeper Matthew Pullinger did well to claim a corner and a free-kick, before a mix-up at the back allowed Melksham’s goal scorer to break through on goal.

Pullinger was there to save the day again, helping to see Thatcham through to half-time.

They created far more in the second period, Callum Willmoth’s deep free-kick finding Mo Ceesay after just five minutes.

He missed the target however, before Harvey Flippance followed suit and missed a half-chance on the hour-mark.

Christian Johnson hit the side-netting, and it felt like it was another one of those days.

Oli Bourne had other ideas however, coming off the bench to bag the equaliser in the 93rd minute.

A 1-1 draw leaves Thatcham stuck second-bottom, but a point is a useful addition to any survival hopes.

“It’s the story of our lives at the minute, going 1-0 down early doors,” said manager Yashwa Romeo.

“It’s something we’re trying to rectify.

“To get something out of the game was good.

“We pretty much dominated it. We had better chances than they did.

“We kept probing and the second-half was much better.

“To get the goal in the 93rd minute was pretty sweet.”

Romeo knows that any survival hopes will be built on resilience, and he’s keen to cut out mistakes.

“Trying to limit our mistakes is the motto,” he said.

“We couldn’t do that within a minute.

“If we limit our mistakes, we’ll get results, we’re trying to drill that into a young side.

“We’re getting there slowly but surely.”

Defender Ben Portbury made his debut for Thatcham, providing much needed reinforcement.

“The Sheewater manager said he was one of their best players,” he said.

“He’s a centre-half by trade, but we had an absence at right-back and he filled the gap.

“He was good, he did what I asked and he’s athletic.”