It was a family affair in the Pitching In Southern League Division One South on Saturday with brothers in the opposite dug-outs as Malvern Town travelled to Bishops Cleeve.
Born-and-bred in Bishops Cleeve and still living just a stone’s throw from the ground, Stephen Cleal is now co-manager at Malvern.
He gave long service to The Mitres as a player and then went on to become a popular manager of the club before arriving at Malvern, via a spell in charge of Cinderford Town, at the turn of 2022, initially as assistant and now co-manager alongside Lee Hooper.
Meanwhile, brother Pat is a key cog in the Cleeve backroom team in his role as Kit Man as he maintains the Cleal family involvement with the club which stretches back over many years.
As for the match itself, it rather fittingly ended with honours even.
“It was one of those games where both teams went into it having scored and conceded plenty,” Stephen Cleal told us. “Not many would have predicted a goalless draw; we’re not involved in too many of those, the last one was almost a year ago.
“The clean sheet was massive for us, though; we defended well when we had to and at the other end created five or six good chances that we were unable to take.
“For us, it’s about continuing to build. We’re still getting used to the demands of this level following promotion at the end of last season via the play-offs, but it’s another point to our tally, that’s four from two successive away games to lead us into a run of three home games in November where we need to start getting our home form right.
“It was nice to see so many familiar faces on Saturday and have a drink and catch-up at the end… before walking home!”
Malvern Town host Frome Town on Saturday whilst Bishops Cleeve head to Bristol Manor Farm on Friday evening.
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