Match Preview – Wimborne Town vs Bishops Cleeve
Although we have yet to play two of the teams in our division this season [Can you work out which ones they are? – answer at the end of this preview], this is the first of our reverse league fixtures. Back on 12th August our season opener was on Bishops Cleeve’s Kayte Lane 3G. A late flurry, inspired by substitute Jamie Johnston, enabled us to come away with a 5-2 victory, but that was a rather flattering scoreline.
The Mitres looked a good footballing side that day, and it’s no surprise that they now sit seventh in the table, one point outside the play-off spots. Their record is W6 D5 L5 GF 30 GA 33. Away from their 3G pitch their record is W3 D1 L3. In their league games, they’ve scored in all but two, but at the other end of the pitch they have kept just two clean-sheets.
Their last game was on 9th December at home when, playing with ten men for over half the game, they impressively defeated Mousehole 4-1. In the game before that at Kayte Lane, Frome had to come from behind to earn a 2-2 draw. On their travels, The Mitres have beaten Larkhall (3-1), Bemerton (2-1), and Paulton (4-2); the draw was at Manor Farm (1-1); and the defeats at Willand (0-4), Tavistock (1-3), and, most recently, Bideford (1-4).
The mathematically-minded will have calculated that there’s been 63 goals in The Mitres’ 16 league matches. Only one team has seen more goals in their games – Malvern Town with 65 also in 16 matches (34 scored, 31 conceded). Have a guess at what the score was when Cleeve hosted Malvern two months ago – yes, that’s right, it was a 0-0 draw!
Cleeve’s experienced manager Paul Collicutt, who played for our John Macey many years ago, recruited well in the summer, bringing in, among others, Ethan Dunbar (he scored the winner for Slimbridge against us back in April), and Jay Malshanskyj (from Melksham). Both of these have been scoring for their new club, alongside top striker Ross Langworthy (he scored at New Cuthbury last season but was the man sent off in The Mitres’ last game against Mousehole), and midfielder Toby Holland who already has eight league goals to his name this term.
The inclement weather has meant that Wimborne have only played one game this month, that terrific performance in the 2-2 draw at Frome last Saturday when Matt Neale scored a goal-of-the-season contender. Tim Sills’ team have an impressive W7 D1 L0 record at New Cuthbury, so will be full of confidence. The manager was hoping to give important game time to members of his squad at Weymouth on Tuesday, but that Dorset Senior Cup tie also fell foul of the weather. So will he stay with the same team that played so well at Frome, or will he give others a chance to shine? He has a plethora of talent to choose from.
Depending on the result of Friday evening’s game between Cribbs and Frome, the teams lying second and third one point behind Wimborne, The Magpies will sit first or second in the league table ahead of this game. Our record is W9 D4 L3 GF 33 GA 20.
How have we fared against Bishops Cleeve in the past? I’m pleased you asked that because The Mitres are the only team who’ve been in Southern League Division One in all the same seasons we’ve been there, since we joined the S.L. in 2010. At (old) Cuthbury we played eight times – Wimborne won three, drew three, lost two; at New Cuthbury just the once last season when Lewis Beale and Dan Bartlett put us two ahead within ten minutes before Langworthy pulled one back from the penalty spot when Connor Cocklin received a second yellow with twenty minutes left.
Magpies’ supporters might be interested in this connection with Cleeve. The only time Wimborne have gained promotion from Southern League Division One was in 2017-18. Our first game that season was on 12th August against Bishops Cleeve (we won 3-1 at Cuthbury). Our last game before Christmas, on 23rd December, was against …. Bishops Cleeve (we won 7-1 at Kayte Lane). That’s the same dates as this season’s fixtures. I’ll leave you to ponder the significance of that.
This has all the ingredients of a Christmas cracker of a game you won’t want to miss. Munch on a mid-morning mince pie, fetch out your favourite festive outfit, and come on down to New Cuthbury. After all, it’s what Saturday afternoons in December were made for!
Please be respectful of our neighbours if you have to park on the nearby streets.
Admission: Adults £12; concessions £8; U18 £5; U13 £2.
A 68-page packed printed programme will be on sale.
Weather forecast: cloudy; 11oC; 10% chance of rain.
[QUIZ: The two teams we haven’t played this season are Melksham and Tavistock]
