Sloppy second-half spell costs Melksham Town at Street in Southern League Division One South

In his second game in charge, following the departure of Kieran Baggs at the end of March, Ballinger scored his team’s only goal just before half-time as Town managed to drag themselves in level at the break.

But a lack of know-how at Southern League level from most of his newly-formed squad cost Melksham dear as two quick-fire goals in the second half put paid to any hopes of Ballinger claiming his first point as boss.

Ballinger felt his team matched Street, who are set to resign from the league at the end of the season, for most of the game, however, a lacklustre 15-minute spell cost them dear.

Ballinger said: “We started really well and probably should have gone 1-0 up, but they got themselves back in the game and scored when they were on top.

“The game evened itself out again and we scored just before half-time.

“In the second half, we started really poorly – a lack of experience hurt us – and they took two quick chances.

“After that, we had three or four opportunities to score ourselves. So apart from the 15 minutes at the start of the second half, it was actually a reasonably even game.”

Off the field, Ballinger says he has largely been supported by the majority of fans that follow the club since Baggs resigned nearly two weeks ago.

Ballinger said that, ultimately, he is just at the club to play football and wants to stay out of the politics until the summer, when the club can appoint a new boss.

He said: “On the whole, the fans’ attitude towards me has been really good, to be fair.

“We must have taken around 50 Melksham fans to Street on Saturday, which is great support.

“There are a few people that have got it in for me or don’t like the way things have been done, but that’s out of my control.

“I can’t control that, I’m just here to play football, so I’ll just continue to do my best until the end of the season and see what happens in the summer.”