Bishop’s Cleeve move to within a point of lifting Premier Hellenic Division title

Bishop’s Cleeve have moved to within a point of winning the Ulhsport Hellenic Premier Division by thrashing Hereford Lads Club 7-1 on Saturday.

Now needing just one point from their remaining two league fixtures, Cleeve face Shrivenham on Tuesday night at Kayte Lane in the penultimate game of their league season, as they look set to lift the title for the first time in their history.

A brilliant hat-trick from forward Jack Watts, as well as strikes from Joe Selman, Linden Dovey, Jordan Annear and substitute Kieran Alder helped the home side blow away the visitors in a superb second half performance, after the teams went in level at the break.

A reminder that our next match is on Tuesday evening as we host @ShrivenhamFC in the first match under floodlights on the new pitch! (Think we can now finally see into the turnstile corner!)

And if that’s not incentive enough, a draw or win will see us crowned league champions! pic.twitter.com/sxmog96fvD

— Bishop’s Cleeve FC (@BishopsCleeveFC) March 20, 2022

With third placed Westbury beating Thornbury, The Mitres now know they need just a draw in their remaining two fixtures, and could already be champions by the time they face Brimscombe & Thrupp in their final game.

With the recent renovation of their home stadium Kayte Lane, including the introduction of a new 3G pitch, many of the players have spoken about the impact of the pitch on their quality of football, with Watts joking that the “famous Kayte Lane bobble is no more!” in reference to the state that the turf was previously in.

The players have also made it clear that they want to get the job done as soon as possible, with Watts also stating “We don’t want to be playing Brimscombe in the last game of the season needing a point,” and has heaped praise onto boss Paul Collicutt saying “you feel like Colly has trust in you to get the job done for him and the team and that’s massive in helping you enjoy your football.”

So with 2 games to go we need 1 more point to secure the @HellenicLeague title and promotion.

Our next match will be a tough one against @ShrivenhamFC on Tuesday evening.

KO 19:45

— Bishop’s Cleeve FC (@BishopsCleeveFC) March 19, 2022

The division’s top side are also still in contention for the Bluefin Sports (UHL) Challenge Cup, a competition they last won in the 1987-88 season, as they face Worcester Raiders.

Can Collicutt’s men wrap up the title on Tuesday night and win the Premier division for the first time in the club’s history?

Kick off is set for 7:45PM Tuesday 22nd March