DARREN Perrin reckons that the ‘old Melksham Town’ came to the fore this week.

The Conigre side suffered back-to-back defeats last week but bounced back on Saturday with a 3-0 win at struggling Cribbs before earning a point in Tuesday night’s stalemate with promotion rivals Bristol Manor Farm, which Perrin described as the best goalless draw he’s ever witnessed.

The Melksham manager says that the reasons for his team’s early-season wobbles were plentiful but is hoping his charges are back on an upward curve.

“We’ve had a bit of a slow start to the season and there have been plenty of reasons for that but this week, we’ve looked a lot more like the old Melksham Town,” said Perrin.

“I’ll never cry about injuries because they’re part and parcel of the game but we’ve had our fair share and then over the last two weeks, we’ve had as many as 15 first-teamers missing.

“We’ve had two big stag dos that a lot of players were away at and we’re not in a position as a football club to say ‘you can’t go’, so we’ve had to deal with that.

“But we’re getting everyone back now and hopefully we can keep things going at Winterbourne this weekend.

“Tuesday was the best goalless draw that I’ve ever been involved in and it was a great advert for Western League football.

“It was played with a great pace and tempo and there were lots of goal-scoring chances. Dave Thompson has gone close for us, Shaun Benison has hit the post and their keeper has made one or two good saves.”

Last Saturday, Joe Stradling and Shaun Benison netted against Cribbs before Will Stead’s 90th minute goal rounded off a comfortable afternoon’s work for Melksham.