DARREN Perrin says Melksham Town have not thrown the towel in on winning the Toolstation Premier Division after putting in a five-star display to close the gap on leaders Bristol Manor Farm.

Despite visitors Sherborne Town being reduced to 10 men early on when Lee Clark received his marching orders for a two-footed challenge on Stephen Hulbert, Melksham were unable to break down a stubborn defence before half-time.

However, the floodgates opened just two minutes after the break when Sam Jordan got off the mark, followed by a Gary Higdon strike three minutes later from the penalty spot.

Jake Hiscocks made it three before Mike Perrott converted a free-kick inside the penalty box, and a Sherborne own goal wrapped things up before the end.

“Decisions change games,” he said. “Them having a player sent off after quarter-of-an-hour; it probably made it a little bit more difficult for us.

“They had no intention of coming out to play and they defended fantastically well.

“Credit to the players in the second half. We played the game at a lot better tempo.

“In the end, we could have won by more than five goals.”

With Manor Farm in Gloucestershire FA Challenge Trophy action last weekend, Melksham were able to close the gap to 11 points and Perrin has vowed to keep on fighting for the title.

“There are a lot of twists and turns yet to come in this league,” he added.

“I think people are thinking that it is a foregone conclusion that they have won the league.

“If we win our two games in hand, we would be five points behind Bristol Manor Farm and they have still got to come and play us yet, and we’ve got a lot of home games to come.”

Elsewhere, Bradford Town fell to surprise 2-1 defeat at home to Cribbs.

The scores were level at the break at Trowbridge Road, with Dan Cottle on target for Bradford, but Cribbs were the team to show the killer instinct after the break, with Danny Greaves’ side unable to close the gap on the top four in the table.