Langworthy brace boosts Bishops Cleeve's play-off push

Goals from Ross Langworthy and Jay Malshankskyj saw Bishops Cleeve dig in for 3 hard-earned points on Saturday afternoon,as they beat Shaftesbury F.C 3-1, writes Alfie Richmond.

It was a pivotal fixture at both ends of the table prior to kick-off, with Cleeve occupying the final play-off spot with Malvern Town, and Shaftesbury sat just 5 points above the relegation zone.

Both teams were determined to make a fast start when the ball fell invitingly to Cleeve’s Ben McLean inside just 30 seconds, whose effort produced a good save out of Shaftesbury’s Shane Murphy. The visitors replied minutes later when Jack Hoey’s curling effort sailed just wide of the post.

On 10 minutes, Ross Langworthy found himself in behind after a clearance from the back, but the wind took it out of his path before he could make a clean connection.

It was Tobias Holmes who opened the scoring for the visitors, after getting on the end of a perfectly-weighted Leighton Thomas pass, before skipping past Cleeve’s keeper and prodding home to make it 1-0 to Shaftesbury on 15 minutes.

The Mitres responded 5 minutes later, and levelled the scoring through Langworthy. Jay Malshankskyj’s direct running down the left prevailed when his cross arrowed into the path of the striker who delicately tapped home to equalise.

When it rains it pours – the home side scored another two in the space of three minutes to put them in front and, on 24 minutes, the score was 3-1.

First, it was Malshankskyj finishing off a beautifully worked move involving a couple of dummies, then it was Langworthy netting his second of the game, capitalising from Noah Parker’s parried effort.

Langworthy came inches away from a first half hat-rick when Malshankskyj squared the ball to him on 43 minutes, but his flicked effort was smartly stopped. Shaftesbury applied the pressure towards the end of the half, but Cleeve held their own, and it was 3-1 at the break.

Visit https://www.facebook.com/mortgageadvicegloucestershire for your financial planning needs

A huge opportunity to get back into the game passed the away side by in the 50th minute when Luke Burbidge weaved his way past a couple of challenges and flashed the ball across the box to substitute Remus Nixon, who failed to keep his effort under the bar.

The visitors weren’t going down without a fight. Gabriel Rogers of Shaftesbury, who looked bright all game, then whipped an effort just wide of Lewis Clayton’s post five minutes later.

With 65 minutes on the clock, it was the away side who had the momentum. Bishops Cleeve were struggling to keep possession of the ball, yet Shaftesbury couldn’t create a clear enough chance to get themselves back in the game.

20 minutes remained when another golden chance was passed up by the visitors. This time, it was Hoey’s effort that blazed over the bar following Holmes’ smart tee-up. Nixon also had a half-chance a few minutes later but fired into the side-netting.

On 81 minutes, the ball fell invitingly for Alefe Santos, and yet again, Shaftesbury couldn’t make the most out of the opportunity, and his effort was dragged wide.

Though it wasn’t particularly comfortable, Cleeve rode the pressure well and remained defensively solid right up until the final whistle; and we finished at Bishops Cleeve 3 – 1 Shaftesbury F.C.

After the game, Paul Collicut touched on the importance of the result despite the overall performance.

“The biggest thing that I liked is that we won… this time of year, it’s not about performance level, it’s about getting the result.”

“…we were poor. It was our poorest performance probably through the season, but it happens; and that’s football. That’s why we love it, that’s why we hate it.”

With the promotion race heating up, Collicut emphasized the importance of maintaining the right mentality during this crucial part of the season.

“I think you’ll find from the results that happened this week, there’s going to be surprises – and you just don’t know. You’ve got to turn up. If you don’t turn up, you get turned over and it’s as simple as that”

Just five games remain in the league for Bishops Cleeve in their pursuit of promotion, starting with a trip to Falmouth Town on Tuesday, before returning to Kayte Lane next Saturday to face Larkhall Athletic in their penultimate home game.

Shaftesbury will have a week’s break before hosting Helston Athletic, marking the first of their final four league games.

Bishops Cleeve: Clayton; Jeremiah, Bower, Nelmes, Liddiard, McLean, Parker, Davies, Evans-Harriott, Langworthy ©, Malshankskyj

Subs: Harding (77’), Selman (71’), Stalley (86’), Turner (54’), Dunbar (62’)

Subs: Farrugia (58’), McCann, Collis (77’), Almeida (88’), Nixon (26’)

C Martin Roofing Man of the Match – Jay Malshanskyj (Bishops Cleeve)