Early exit means no Vase run this season

Emley fell to a disappointing 3-1 home defeat to Jarrow Roofing. Goals from Dean Nicholson and a brace from Stephen Young cancelled out Alex Hallam’s fine strike to inflict Emley with a second straight defeat.

Despite four goals being shared, large amounts of the game didn’t make for very pretty viewing. Both sides struggled to stamp any authority on the match with the majority of passes going astray.

Hallam got the hosts off to the best possible start after just five minutes. Emley worked it well down the left flank, where the ball was eventually played into Steve Kenworthy on the left hand side of the penalty area. With his back to goal he unselfishly laid it across to Hallam. The forward took one touch to get the ball out of his feet and then drilled a low shot into the bottom right hand corner, giving goalkeeper Daniel Regan little chance.

Boss Darren Hepworth would have hoped his side would capitalise on their one nil advantage. But much to the disappointment of the manager and the spectators inside the Welfare Ground, his team failed to do so.

A decent effort on 14 minutes from Doran Jordan was the nearest Emley were to scoring again in the first half, with the hosts struggling to create any real opening.

In fairness, Jarrow Roofing didn’t look much of an offensive threat either until the 20th minute when they came close to equalizing. The ball fell kindly to Stuart Nicholson inside the area who took a first time shot at goal - only to see his effort cleared off the line by right back, Tom Brown.

Six minutes later, though, the visitors did draw level after an Emley defender was harshly judged to have handled the ball inside the box. Dean Nicholson stepped up to place the ball calmly into the bottom corner – sparking fury amongst the Emley faithful.

As the half petered out, both sides looked happy to be going into the break level with neither side showing any real incentive to score a second. But when Daniel Kirkup looped a hopeful ball back into the penalty area on forty minutes, Roofing managed to take the lead. Striker, Stephen Young contested the ball with Adam Lawlor whose half-hearted attempt to clear the ball fell loose in the box. Young was the quickest to react and comfortably fired the ball into the net.

One would have hoped that Emley would come out in the second half displaying the type of football that saw them reach the fourth round of this competition last year – their best ever – in an attempt to get back in the cup tie.

Unfortunately, a reply to being 2-1 down was never forthcoming, and instead, Jarrow Roofing scored again. A misplaced pass in midfield – something that had been a continuous theme throughout the match – went beyond the Emley defence and into the path of Young. The forward took the ball past the onrushing Lawlor to tap into the empty net, notching up his second of the afternoon and sealing Emley’s fate.

It’s certainly a game that won’t live long in the memory and Hepworth will now hope his side can bounce back immediately when they face Retford United in the NCEL League Cup on Tuesday night.