Following a 4-0 defeat in a last minute arranged friendly game at Frome Town on Tuesday, Warminster Town played again on Friday evening, welcoming Melksham Town to Weymouth Street. The Southern League Division One South team were always going to be tough opponents to face.
Once again this match had to be played behind closed doors, but fans were able to watch the match live on YouTube on the Warminster Town channel. They were treated to a very entertaining game of football which resulted in a 0-2 win for Melksham.
The visitors were a powerful force to reckon with from the very off and forced Nathan Ball to make a save in the first 30 seconds and going close to scoring again from the resulting corner. Ball found his goal under constant pressure and had to pull off some fine saves in the first-half.
The first goal for Melksham arrived in the 11th minute from number 9 Ormrod, who from just inside the 18 yard box curled the ball into the right-hand side of the goal.
The second goal came from a poor back pass by a Warminster defender allowing Melksham’s number 10 to steal the ball and cross to Hopkins, for an easy tap in from a few yards out in the 19th minute. Melksham continued to create chances but with a combination of good goalkeeping, last ditch defending and near misses the score at halftime was 0-2.
Warminster made changes during the second-half to give manager Andy Crabtree an opportunity to see young players in action. In goal came on Callum Hotine who, as Ball had done in the first-half was going to prove his manager’s decisions right. Hotine pulled off some good saves and despite many thinking this would be a game of many more goals for the team in yellow it remained at just two.
The home side adapted more to the high tempo at which Melksham play and Johnson went very close to scoring but didn’t get enough power into his shot. The match will certainly help the Red & Blacks in preparation for the new season and the players will learn from facing higher league opponents.
The next behind closed doors friendly is away at Westbury United on Saturday, August 22nd and fans can watch live on YouTube on the Warminster Town channel.