Malvern Town came out on top following a 5-3 thriller at Bishop’s Cleeve on bank holiday Monday.

Despite going ahead through Joe Bullock, the Hillsiders found themselves 2-1 down at the break before conceding another shortly after.

A second half hattrick from Matt Turner and a goal from Harry Clark saw the game turn on its head to give Lee Hoopers’ men the three points while bringing an end to Bishop’s Cleeve’s unbeaten start.

Malvern finished the day 7th in the Hellenic, three points but two games in hand behind their opponents.

It took just 31 seconds for Bullock to open the scoring, his shot fired into the roof of the net after the home side failed to clear their lines.

Bishop’s Cleeve equalised with less than ten minutes played, Jake Parrott’s cross headed home by Matthew Sysum.

The Mitres added another on 19 minutes when Jack Watts was brought down in the box, the forward getting back to his feet to convert the resulting penalty.

Watts scored a second penalty of the afternoon not long after the interval, with Kieran Alder winning the spot kick.

Malvern won a penalty of their own minutes later, James Febery hitting the deck before Matt Turner claimed his first of the day.

Watts could have claimed his own hattrick with 68 minutes gone however his miss proved costly as Clark found the equaliser just moments later.

Malvern then regained the lead with less than quarter of an hour to play, Turner beating the keeper to the ball to nab his second.

Turner completed his hattrick on 85 minutes, Dave Reynolds picking the forward out at the near post.

The striker, recharged after a holiday in Ibiza, was understandably pleased with his performance.

Turner said: “I was really happy with my goals, and it was a good three points for us.

“This result will send out a message to the rest of the league and teams will know that they are in for a tough game against us.

“Now we face a run of home games, which we’re looking forward to as it gives us the chance to play the kind of football that we know we are capable of and hopefully add to our points tally and extend our unbeaten start to the season.”

Malvern Town manager, Lee Hooper, added: “It was a really entertaining game with some good football played by both teams. The character and togetherness displayed by my players was brilliant to see and we deserved the win in the end.

“We refused to let our heads drop and our performance for the majority of the second half was superb. Bishops Cleeve are no mugs, and they will be up there this season, so to come here score five and take home all three points was fantastic.

“There are no easy games at this level and we will work hard in training and look to take that into the game against Lydney Town.”