By Thomas Groves

Bishops Cleeve host Exmouth in search of improvement after a difficult result away to Westbury.

A cold evening in Wiltshire meant their first usage of The Mitres games in hand did not start well, losing 3-1 and remaining in sixth position.

However, Paul Collicutt’s men sit just four points away from top spot, Portishead, who overcame Cleeve last month, 5-0.

As it stands, the opponents, Exmouth Town, sit eighth in the league table, seven points away from The Mitres.

Town head into this fixture having back-to-back defeats; Malvern Town were able to win 4-2, and table toppers, Portishead thrashed Exmouth 5-0.

The visitors will have to travel 121 miles to reach Kayte Lane. It’ll be their first away game this month. Out of their two, the other being Somerset side, Frome Town.

Furthermore, Exmouth joined Cleeve in the play-offs. However, they matched up with Evesham, who got the better of the Devon-based side.
Their key player being Thomas Griffin, bagging six goals this season, the set piece specialist has scored two of his six coming from the penalty spot.

The last time both the Mitres and Town aligned paths was back in March, with Cleeve taking all three points back to Gloucestershire, curtesy of Malshanskyj’s goal at the hour mark, and a Ross Langworthy penalty sealed the victory down in devon.

In contrast, the last time Exmouth took the trip to Kayte Lane, they were victorious, clinching a one-nil victory in December 2024.

Kevin Hill, first team manager for Town, has yet to claim a victory away from home since 18th October, as they also travelled north to Gloucestershire, as they beat Hartpury University 2-1.

Bishops Cleeve hope to regain their confidence after a gruelling 3-2 defeat away to Westbury.

Before that, the green army’s form was impressive. Conceding just one goal in three games and scoring nine.

This fixture could put Cleeve in closing distance to promotion rivals, Portishead, just four points between first and sixth in the league.