AFC Emley are looking to build upon their previous successes in the FA Vase and it looks as if Darren Hepworth is steering his side in the right direction after a 2-1 away victory to Ashton Athletic, which sees the West Yorkshire side progress to the First Round.

The hosts silenced Emley’s early onslaught and scored a scrappy goal to take the lead but despite a malfunction in the script, it took no longer than three minutes for order to be restored after a debut goal from James Hurtley.

Jordan Coduri’s excellent early second half goal was enough to seal the victory for the visitors, who managed to just about close the door on a late Ashton comeback, thanks to some heroics from the defensive quartet.

The game started very much in the favour of Emley. Joe Brennan went on a threatening run down the left wing early on before delivering a deadly ball, leaving the goalkeeper with a crucial decision to make, but instead of committing, Martin Pearson stood his ground and beat the ball away.

Next, it was Ashley Flynn’s turn to test the shot stopper, whose afternoon started off very promisingly as he denied last season’s top scorer from close range – a tame effort from the number nine, in hindsight.

However, against the run of play, Ashton took the lead with ten minutes played. Gary Stevens had made a brilliant save at first hand, but Isaac Kusaloka was there to make sure he tapped into an empty net.

Emley were fast to respond, though, and Darren Hepworth will have been delighted to see James Hurtley volley home from Jordan Townend’s free-kick on his debut after signing just the day before.

The visitors saw very little of the goal in the remainder of the half despite their dominance in possession. This aided Ashton with some confidence of their own and allowed them to build up the courage to attempt to take the lead just before the break. First, Sam Jerome had to rescue his goalkeeper from embarrassment as he was caught in no-mans-land – almost a replica of Wednesday night’s events – as the number five hoisted clear off the line. Then, Stevens was forced into doing some work of his own. Efforts from Isaac Kusaloka and Daniel Regan were both well saved.

HT: Ashton Athletic 1 – 1 AFC Emley

The first half wasn’t quite up to scratch, so there were high hopes for the second.

It was Emley who would enjoy the second half the most. That was illustrated when Jordan Coduri delicately danced his way through the Ashton defence with a couple of step-overs, allowing him the space to strike low into Michael Pearson’s bottom corner.

Doran Jordan, whose first inclusion in the starting line-up this season had gone very well, then had a great chance to seal the game with fifteen minutes to play after using his pace to his advantage and race clear of the Ashton back-line, but a weak volley was calmly collected by Pearson to clear the danger.

Cue a couple of heart-in-mouth moments for travelling supporters as Ashton desperately pressed for a leveller. Gary Stevens pulled off a phenomenal save to deny a point-blank range header and even though the linesman’s flag was raised, a round-of-applause circulated around Brocstedes Park.

Finally, Ashton’s earlier goalscorer, Isaac Kusaloka was gifted with a glorious opportunity to nod his side back onto level terms and almost guarantee extra time, but the forward couldn’t keep his composure and instead glanced wide.

FT: Ashton Athletic 1 – 2 AFC Emley

That victory now means the Pewits have entered the pot for the First Round draw as Darren Hepworth looks to emulate the 2012/13 season, when Emley reached the 4th Round of the competition – Ipswich based Hadleigh United scored the only goal in that match at the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground to crush the cup dream.

Attention, however, reverts back to the league ahead of Wednesday’s visit to high-flyers Winterton Rangers, who currently sit pretty at the top of the table.