BISHOPS CLEEVE made it three wins from three courtesy of goals from Lewis Spurrier and Ross Langworthy, despite an impressive performance from Stuart Henderson’s Tavistock AFC side, writes Luca Sperti.

Tavi took the long trip to Cheltenham, making one change from the side that won in the FA Cup against Barnstaple. Forward Jack Crago was unavailable for the encounter with experienced versatility man Ben Cross coming back into the side after a lengthy spell out injured and taking on the captain’s armband.

The Lambs started the encounter strongly and had a half chance in the second minute, but it was an attempt at the other end that opened the scoring.

A cross from the left by Jay Malshanskyj looked to be an easy catch for Lambs goalkeeper Will Howard. However, the Lambs goalkeeper and defender Oli Northam got in each other’s way with the goalkeeper punching the ball straight into the path of Lewis Spurrier. The in-form former Malvern man had the easiest of tap-ins to smash the ball home for his fifth goal in his last three games.

After less than 10 minutes, Tavistock boss Henderson was shown a yellow card after protestations with the officials regarding a foul from Josh Nelmes.

Shortly after, a cross for the home side reached the head of Jack Lee, whose powerful header was cleared off the line well by Iestyn Harris.

In the 28th minute, a huge talking point in the encounter saw Matt Liddiard bring down Ryan White, who looked to be in on goal. The whistle went but the card was only yellow, the referee adjudging Joe Jeremiah to have been a covering defender in the situation.

Towards the end of the half, the aforementioned Jeremiah came closing to doubling the lead for Bishops Cleeve, only for one of his teammates to do exactly that minutes later.

Former Malvern man Jack Watts picked up the ball down the left wing and took his time before squaring the ball across to Langworthy. The Cleeve talisman took his time before poking the ball home from close range to grab a customary goal against the Lambs at Kayte Lane.

Despite a strong performance, Tavistock found themselves two behind at the break.

Another moment of contention saw Tavi players and supporters alike appeal for a penalty, only for the referee to remain unmoved. A White attempt looked to strike the hand of the sliding Lee but no decision was given.

The hosts wrapped up the tie on the hour mark as they added a third. A curling, Jeremiah cross was met by the head of Langworthy for his second of the afternoon.

Substitutions came from both sides with Cleeve looking to see out the game and Tavi going in search of a fight-back.

It remained 3-0 when the final whistle sounded though, taking Bishops Cleeve to the top of the table at the end of Saturday’s play.

With fixtures taking place on bank holiday Monday up and down the league as well, there was plenty of scope for change all the same. This defeat, meanwhile, left the Lambs languishing towards the wrong end of the table after three Southern League games.