DARREN Perrin is aiming to pull off the perfect plate-spinning exercise as he looks to keep Melksham Town battling on all fronts across a vital two-week period.

Melksham are still in with a chance of finishing as high as second in the Toolstation League Premier Division and also have next week’s Wiltshire Senior Cup final against Salisbury, as well as a Les Phillips Cup semi-final clash with Cribbs, left to contend with.

Rotation will be key for Perrin but the Melksham chief is also wary of the important commitments his club’s secondary teams are simultaneously tackling.

“It’s a long shot, but we’re still in with a chance of finishing second and as well as those cup games, we also play Barnstaple on the 30th – it’ll be our final Western League game at the Conigre and Barnstaple may need to beat us to win the league,” said Perrin, whose side host Street tonight.

“It’s a massive two weeks at the club and I’ll need to rotate but I’m wary that our reserves could still finish second or third in their league and the U18s could win their league, and are also in the county cup final on Sunday.

“I’ll have to try and get things right.”

Melksham maintained their impressive recent form with a point at Gillingham Town on Tuesday night.

Perrin’s side, who have suffered just one defeat in their last six outings, took the lead late in the first half in Dorset, with the dual-registered Luke Ballinger crossing for Kovacs to sweep home, but Harry Baker notched Gillingham’s equaliser with 15 minutes to go to make it 1-1.

On Saturday, Melksham claimed a fine 2-0 win on the road at top-five rivals Buckland Athletic.

After a goalless first period, Gary Higdon squeezed a free-kick under the body of Buckland keeper Tom Buckler and then Joe Stradling seized on a misplaced pass to score Melksham’s second.

Perrin said: “Buckland beat us 4-0 earlier in the season and I was thrilled on Saturday – it was arguably our best performance of the season.

"On Tuesday, I thought that we looked a bit tired.

"Maybe it was because the players enjoyed a few beers on the way home on Saturday; I don't know.

"But a draw was fair a result on the day."