MELKSHAM Town manager Darren Perrin was brought back down to earth with a bump when his team travelled to Bishop Sutton on Monday night.

Melksham moved back to the summit of the Toolstation League Premier Division with a 3-0 victory but playing in front of 31 people in Somerset was a far cry from turning out in front of a monster crowd of 407 during their FA Vase third round win over Shepton Mallet two days earlier.

Dan Griffiths, Dan King and Leigh Rogers all scored as Perrin shuffled his pack and the Conigre chief was thrilled by the strength-in-depth demonstrated by his side.

“If they say that there were 31 people there, they must have doubled the attendance. It was like a chalk and cheese compared to Saturday,” said the Melksham boss.

“We had no Dave Thompson, Ben Thomson, Mike Perrott, Gary Higdon, Dave Kovacs or Dean Flockton but the players that came in were fantastic and it’s made things interesting going forward.

“Bishop Sutton had beaten some good sides and they even brought in Josh Klein-Davies from Frome to play against us.

“But we were absolutely magnificent.”

On Saturday, Gary Higdon netted either side of half-time against Shepton before Rogers tapped home to restore the hosts’ two-goal lead, with Melksham holding on despite Mallet reducing the deficit late on to set up a tense finale.

Perrin’s men face another testing cup clash this weekend when they travel to Hellenic League outfit Highworth Town in the quarter-finals of the Wiltshire Senior Cup.

Highworth have also enjoyed a show-stopping run to the last 32 of the Vase.

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