Comfortable Cleeve Breeze Past Helston In Their Pursuit For Play-Offs

Helston Athletic were brushed aside by Bishops Cleeve on Saturday, as The Mitres continued their unbeaten streak in 2025 in emphatic fashion, writes Alfie Richmond.

Cleeve ran riot at Kayte Lane, thrashing a ragged Helston 9-0 to strengthen their push for the play-offs.

It took just 9 minutes before Aaron Evans-Harriott began to create chaos, cutting on to his right foot to whip the ball past Benjamin Whiting – the first of many.

Just moments later, his dinked cross found skipper Ross Langworthy, who towered over Helston’s defence to head home, to make it 2-0 inside 11 minutes.

Helston were the architects of their own downfall – constantly giving the ball away in dangerous areas and failing to win second balls and their sloppiness invited pressure which saw them nearly punished again after just 16 minutes when Matt Liddiard’s headed attempt struck the bar from another pinpoint Evans-Harriott cross.

Langworthy netted his second of the game in the 26th minute, after a beautifully crafted team goal involving Ethan Dunbar and Evans-Harriott, once again.

The forwards were ruthless and continued to be a thorn in Helston’s side all afternoon.

The away side’s only notable opportunity came when Eddy Liam latched onto a rare Cleeve error, but his snap shot was well saved by Lewis Clayton.

Helston’s long-ball approach was comfortably dealt with all afternoon by Liddiard and Josh Nelmes, allowing Cleeve to dictate the game from the back.

Nelmes’ pinpoint cross-field pass found Joe Jeremiah just before half-time, who did brilliantly to knock the ball past his opponent and square it into the box for a tap-in.

The visitors struggled to find any sort of rhythm on the day, and found themselves 4-0 down at half-time.

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The Blues’ misery continued after the break, as Cleeve scored two quickfire goals. First, Langworthy completed his hat-trick with another superb header, before Ethan Dunbar got himself on the scoresheet finishing off a brilliantly weighted through ball from Ben Mclean, who dominated the midfield all afternoon.

Cleeve’s command remained throughout the second half, and Helston looked weary. They lacked composure with and without the ball, and The Mitres’ quality seemed all too much for the Cornish side.

There was no sign of slowing down, as Harry Leeson’s clever backheel found fellow substitute James Harding, who slotted home the seventh goal of the game on the 70th minute mark.

Moments later, Evans-Harriott registered assists 3 and 4 in a 10-minute flurry of action. He first set up Jay Malshanskyj at the far post for a tap-in, then delivered another perfect corner for McLean to head home a thoroughly deserved goal.

It was a truly dominant and well-rounded performance from the Mitres, with the team never once taking their foot off the gas.

With displays like this, they remain firmly in the race for a play-off spot with fourteen games left in their league campaign.

Paul Collicutt’s men currently occupy the final play-off position, ahead of games against Mousehole, Bashley, Bemerton Heath Harlequins and Exmouth Town in the next month or so.

Next up for the Mitres is a trip to Didcot Town in midweek, before their trip to Mousehole next weekend.

Bishops Cleeve: Clayton; Jeremiah, Nelmes, Liddiard, Bower, Selman, Davies, Mclean, Dunbar, Langworthy (C), Evans-Harriott.

Subs: Turner, Turley, Leeson, Malshanskyi, Harding

Helston Athletic: Whiting; Barker (C), Daniel, Elkington, O’Brien, Bye, J Smith, Eddy, Stayt, Mariko, R Smith

Subs: Richards; Mitchell, Costa, Jago

C Martin Roofing Man of the Match – Aaron Evans-Harriott (Bishops Cleeve)