Melksham defender Ryan Trowbridge says he suffered mixed emotions after inflicting a potentially fatal defeat on his old club on Monday.

With two teams likely to be relegated, the Nursteed Road club need a miracle as they are nine points behind third-bottom Chard Town with three games left and an inferior goal difference.

Conversely Melksham have overcome their new year blip and are now seven games without defeat in the Toolstation Premier League.

“It was nice to go back to Devizes but it’s not an ideal situation for them at the moment,” said Trowbridge, who left them last summer to join manager Wayne Thorne at The Conigre.

“It wasn’t a nice thing to be part of a team which may help to relegate them.

“I had a beer with a couple of the lads I used to play with afterwards and they said maybe it will be the best thing for them though.

“With local derbies they do get scrappy and you can’t afford to think too much about who you are playing because before you know it you’ll be behind.

“You just have to focus on the result, which we did, although the game itself wasn’t the best.”

Full-back Nathan Philmore opened the scoring for the visitors on 20 minutes after a series of defensive errors allowed him to head home unchallenged. Teenage defender Matt Cooper, who has recently made the step up to the first team from the reserves, scored his first Western League goal shortly afterward.

He reacted quickly to a Kris Beasley flick-on to volley in from close range.

Melksham added a third before half-time to make the result safe.

And it was another former Devizes player who returned to administer the killer blow to his former side.

When another corner was not dealt with, Beasley was there at the back post to poke the ball home.

Devizes improved in the second half but Dave Thompson added a fourth before the final whistle with another header after an inviting free-kick from Dave Thompson.

Melksham visit high-flying Frome Town on Saturday while Devizes must win at local rivals Corsham Town to escape the drop for another week.

“It’s looking more and more likely we’ll be relegated,” said Devizes boss Shaun Moffat.

“We knew back in November there were problems.

“We’ve had no money all season and raised our concerns with the committee.

“They said it was more critical we stayed on an even footing financially, even if it meant being relegated, and rebuilding next season.

“Kevin and I will still be here next year but in what capacity I don’t know.

“It’s still up in the air at the moment and we won’t be sure for a couple of weeks.”