The Colts’ foray into the Wiltshire County FA U13s Cup was over almost before it had begun as 12 minutes of madness at the start of their clash with Melksham put paid to any hopes of another long run in the competition.
Two seasons ago, they produced three of their best-ever performances to knock out Salisbury, Calne and Croft Blues en route to the final but there were no such heroics this time.
Melksham’s experience of 11v11 rules and the increased pitch size from their fixtures in the Mid Wilts League proved decisive. They were far better prepared than the Colts and immediately applied the pressure with some committed play in midfield and accurate passes behind a back four that struggled to get to grips with the task at hand and a pacy strikeforce.
A lack of fight when a corner dropped in the Colts’ six-yard box proved costly as Melksham opened the scoring to spark a nightmare spell with Halloween still two weeks away. Three of the most avoidable goals imaginable followed and the home side found themselves 4-0 down with almost an hour of the tie still to play. While individual errors accounted for a couple of those, the collective effort was not good enough and there was a general shirking of responsibility across the park.
The early setbacks were hardly what the doctor ordered for Tom, who had the unenviable task of replacing Max between the posts, but he was a shining example to the rest with the way he picked himself off the floor to produce three or four magnificent saves of which any goalkeeper at any level of football would be proud.
Gradually, the tide began to turn and when George burst through to pull a goal back with a terrific run and finish there was hope of a comeback of Escape to Victory proportions.
An early goal in the second half would have made life very interesting but Matthew was desperately unlucky to see a free-kick come back off the bar, before a similar effort clipped the wall and went just over.
As the clock ticked down, Liam B – whose energy and tenacity was another of the plus points for the Colts – raced on to a through ball and rounded the keeper to cut the gap to two goals. There was a spell of late pressure, but Melksham defended resolutely and clear chances were kept to a minimum.
A dominant second half ultimately counted for nothing and the Colts were left with more tough lessons to learn in defeat.  How different it might have been had they focused from the first whistle, and not let their heads go down at the first opportunity. It’s becoming a recurring theme.