WILTS SENIOR CUP: A COLOSSAL fluke by Tim Eatough gave Melksham a dream win over rivals Calne on Tuesday night in an marathon semi-final that lasted 103 minutes.

Eatough's wicked cross from the right wing after 78 minutes flew across the face of goal and dipped under Chris Astley's crossbar to give the Conigre outfit a surprise lead.

It was a shocking error in judgement by the Lilywhites' stopper on a night when the gusty conditions made handling almost impossible.

Astley's opposite number Paul Haines had flapped aimlessly at several crosses before he was forced to leave the field with blurred vision.

Play had been stopped for 10 minutes at the start of the second half when the Melksham goalkeeper was knocked unconscious in a collision with Calne striker Glenn Armstrong.

Haines played on for another 20 minutes after regaining consciousness before winger Mike Perrott took the gloves for the frantic finale.

With a place in the final against holders Corsham Town to play for, both sides made the best of the dreadful conditions at a windswept Nursteed Road.

Calne fashioned the first chance after just two minutes when Armstrong saw his header cleared off the line by Shaun Clarkson.

Josh Brigham and Gavin Eyre fired warning shots for Melksham before Ben Moore wasted the best chance of the half when he volleyed over from Armstrong's knock down.

Astley, who kept eight clean consecutive clean sheets between January 17 and March 4, looked decidedly uncertain from the kick-off and he was lucky when Stuart Pearson mopped up his spillage after 25 minutes.

The Calne goalkeeper had to endure another anxious moment four minutes before the break when he misjudged Gavin Eyre's swinging corner and the ball spun away to safety.

The Bremhill View outfit improved vastly in the second half and Kevin Banks should have given his side the lead when he headed over from eight yards.

Moore then struck a post from Armstrong's teasing cross and an unmarked Banks smashed the rebound into the Devizes night sky from 10 yards out.

Melksham battled for every ball and were finally rewarded for their efforts when Eyre prodded the ball back to Eatough by the corner flag, and the teenager drilled his cross beyond the unfortunate Astley.

Calne player-manager Robbie Lardner came on for what turned out to be 13 minutes of stoppage time and struck a post with a close-range header, but Melksham held their nerve to keep their stuttering season alive.

After the match Melksham manager Kelvin Highmore, who last season guided Calne to the runners-up spot in the First Division, said he was surprised to beat his old club.

He said: "We had so many players missing that I didn't know where the goals were going to come from.

"To be fair it was a massive fluke from Tim, but we battled hard and I'm delighted for the lads. This match was about them, not me, and it keeps our season going now."

A deflated Robbie Lardner described his side's first half performance as "woeful" and congratulated Melksham on reaching their first Senior Cup final since 2003.

He said: "We have not played well in the cups this year and I can't put my finger on why.

"Fair play to Melksham, they defended very well and restricted us to few chances. It's always tough to accept defeat in a semi-final but I can offer no excuses on the night. I was expecting a bit more from my players in such a big game."

The final will be played at Chippenham Town on a date yet to be confirmed in April.