SOUTHERN LEAGUE SOUTH

Tavistock AFC 0 Bishops Cleeve 1

AN injury-stricken Tavistock AFC side suffered another defeat in the Southern League South, this time at the hands of Bishop Cleeve.

Tavi came into the encounter with the Gloucestershire outfit, making three changes from the side which was defeated at Exmouth Town previously, reports Luca Sperti.

Number one goalkeeper Aaron Dearing was fit enough to start with the former Okehampton man replacing Josh Oak in between the sticks, who dropped to the bench. Tallan Burns and Jacob Bowker also returned to the Lambs side replacing Ed Harrison and Liam Prynn, with both key players only fit enough for a place amongst the substitutes.

Moving into the encounter and the first moment of note was a penalty appeal from Cleeve, as inform winger Ethan Dunbar went over after minimal contact from Lambs left-back Ethan Wright. The referee unsurprisingly ignored the former Slimbridge man’s penalty claim and waved for play to continue.

In the 16th minute, the away side took the lead, scoring the only goal of the game.

Good play down the right wing by Dunbar, saw the diminutive winger send in a brilliant ball into the box which was header into the far corner by Joe Selman. The header was perfectly placed by the midfielder leaving Dearing beaten in the Lambs net- this taking the midfielder’s tally to the season to three goals.

Four minutes later the Lambs had a half-chance after Bowker slipped in Luke Steer, who did well to control the ball and get it away from Matthew Liddiard, before sending the defender inside and out. The forward then made his way into the box ahead of a host of Cleeve bodies, which was eventually too much, with the attacker running the ball out of play.

Another mazy run from Steer brought about another chance with his bending shot deflecting out for a corner but nothing came of the resulting set-piece.

Both sides created very little in the first 45 in what was a tight and scrappy encounter but the away team had the lead all the same at Langsford Park.

It didn’t take too long for the managers to turn to their substitutes in the second half, Stuart Henderson sending on Luke Mortimore in a forward-thinking change for the Lambs.

Veteran striker Ross Langworthy came close to finding a second for Bishops Cleeve, his effort hitting off Dearing and Joel Jackson before brushing the post.

After another extended spell of underwhelming chances, Tavistock’s final opportunity arrived in the second minute of added time after an Edgecombe back-heel found Kane. the latter’s flick towards goal was comfortably held by Clayton which was indicative of the entire afternoon for the home team in truth.

Shortly after, the referee blew the final whistle and condemned the Lambs to a second 1-0 defeat in as many matches. The result sees Tavistock remain in 19th and in the relegation zone but the result for Bishop’s Cleeve sees them jump up to 4th in the table.

To close out January, Henderson’s men have a trio of fixtures, taking on Bristol Manor Farm (Jan 22), Shaftesbury (Jan 25) and Melksham Town (Jan 29) with an upturn in fortunes required sooner rather than later.