AFC Emley 1-0 Penistone Church

It was a pulsating, nerve-racking night at the Fantastic Media Welfare ground and for 86 minutes the match was very finely poised until Ryan's goal sparked wild celebrations.

Emley's joy was almost cut short when Penistone had a goal ruled for offside just minutes later. Sam Jerome also cleared off the line as Emley held on to set up a tie with Hallam FC or Bottesford Town.

After a tight and cagey first half, the game sparked into life after the interval as both sides pushed for the winning goal, both having plenty of opportunities. Eventually, with six minutes to go, Jordan Coduri made an excellent run down the left hand side. The full-back beat three defenders as he skipped towards the byline and cut the ball back to Ryan who managed to rifle the ball in with a fine shot on the half term and the place was in delirium.

There was a huge sense of occasion as 468 people filled the Fantastic Media Welfare ground but that seemed to have a negative effect on both sets of players in the first half as they looked nervous. There were few attempts on either goal and minor errors were being made.

The visitors had the better of the chances in the first half. Church forward Ollie Fearon came close twice with two headers within the space of three minutes. Emley's best chance of the half fell to the man you would have wanted it to, Ash Flynn but he shock everybody in the ground by fluffing his lines from close range. Iwan Heeley looped the ball into the area and Flynn's reaction effort from Craig Billington's flick on flew over the bar from close range.

The overall quality improved in the second half and Darren Hepworth's side had the lion-share of the chances. Billington headed wide early on . Flynn had a shot tipped over the bar and Sam Jerome blazed his header over the bar.

Emley thought the moment came when Ryan got on the end of Heeley's cross but his effort cannoned off the crossbar. Billington then thought he scored only to be denied by a last ditch clearance off the line.

At the other end, Lawlor ensured that Emley didn't fall behind after producing fine acrobatics to deny Fearon after the Penistone forward fired a powerful drive towards the top corner.

Four minutes later Ryan broke the deadlock and thanks to his brilliant hold up play in the dying minutes of the game, Emley held on to secure their place in the final.

The final whistle brought joyous scenes as the players, manager and all the staff rushed on to the pitch to celebrate. The Picks will either travel to Bottesford Town or host Hallam on Saturday as the club awaits the result of their play-off tie which takes place on Wednesday evening.