North Leigh seriously threatened the Cleeve defence early on with Josh Thomas and George Seacole breaking through with regularity.
The inevitable goal came on the half hour mark when Thomas was put in by Seacole for a simple finish.
Cleeve nearly equalised on the stroke of halftime when Jack Watts received the ball in a crowded box but his shot was tipped well onto the crossbar by Ross Grimshaw in the North Leigh goal.
In a phrase used far too often this season, Cleeve were as good in the first half as they were poor in the first and they equalised 3 minutes into the half when North Leigh gave the ball away to Watts who blasted the ball into the roof of the net.
Cleeve then kept the pressure on but were unable to capitalise whilst at the other end, Thomas and Seacole forced some fine saves from Man of the Match Sam Gilder.
In the 88th minute, an attack by Cleeve saw Joe Bates slide a ball past a wrong footed defender and it fell perfectly to Watts who’s shot looked like it would break the net to give the hosts a vital three points. Unfortunately it was just wide and smashed the wall behind the goal and the match finished 1-1.
Cleeve’s next match is at home to Larkhall on Tuesday evening.
# | Team | Pl | Pts |
16. | Mangotsfield United | 42 | 41 |
17. | Shortwood United | 42 | 40 |
18. | North Leigh | 42 | 38 |
19. | Paulton Rovers | 42 | 37 |
20. | Slimbridge | 42 | 35 |
21. | Barnstaple Town | 42 | 29 |
22. | Bishops Cleeve | 42 | 24 |