NEW Melksham Town boss Dave Clayton thinks that his side’s victory over local rivals Westbury United last weekend was more important than their FA Vase giantkilling antics last week.

Melksham sprang a surprise by beating Southern League outfit Wells 2-1 to make it through to the second round proper of the Vase but Clayton was pleased to see his side get off to a perfect start under his tenure.

“Melksham won’t win the FA Vase – we might get through a few more rounds but my main concern is trying to get the club out of the first division,” said the new Conigre chief.

“That’s why the game against a hard-working Westbury team was more important than the win over Wells and the team did themselves no harm. A lot of the lads must have wanted to show me what they can do and they did very well.”

After Beau Blakeman went close for Westbury early on, Melksham strikers Dan Kovacs and Gary Higdon combined to set up Dave Percival, who fired in through Alex Shaftoe’s legs.

Higdon then crossed for Kovacs to head home into the top corner 35 minutes in.

United’s Simon Millard saw a goal ruled out for offside before Higdon latched on to a long ball before rounding off the scoring.