THREE goals in the closing moments of Melksham Town’s midweek fixture at Moneyfields rescued a hard-fought point for Kieran Baggs’ men, who pulled off one of the turnarounds of the Southern League season.

Trailing by three goals with 10 minutes remaining, Melksham were staring at what would’ve been their second Division One South loss this season.

But returning forward Brad Norris – who took to the field for the first time in 18 months after being hit by a knee injury – came off the bench to bag a quick brace before Dave Thompson scored a rare goal in the dying minutes of injury time to record a 3-3 draw.

The result ensures Melksham remain in touch with the play-off frame, now trailing fifth-placed Evesham United by two points with one game in hand.

Tuesday’s encounter proved a troublesome tie for Baggs, though, as he was without captain Mike Perrott after he pulled up with a hamstring injury during a warm-up session.

Baggs said: “We had to swap goalkeepers too – a couple of changes I wouldn’t have liked to be forced into making.

“We were poor in the first half, we were deservedly a goal behind.

“We could’ve got back into the game in the second half before what I thought was a soft penalty. At that point, you start to think that everything is going to go wrong.

“They netted from 35 yards to make it 3-0, but to then score three in the last 10 minutes made the result feel like a win.

“To come back from three goals down so late on was dramatic and there was a lot of excitement for a midweek game.”

Tuesday’s draw, coupled with Melksham’s 2-1 FA Trophy win at Thatcham on Saturday, stands Baggs’ men in good stead ahead of this weekend’s home tie against Mangotsfield United.

“Not to say that one game took priority over the other, but to have a really good win at Thatcham and then snatch a point away at Moneyfields – who are playing really well – is pleasing,” said Baggs.

“It was perhaps a bad time to play Moneyfields, they’ve hit a good run of form and I was fearing the worst when we were behind.

“I never have to question our character – we have a never-say-die attitude.”