Emley exit League Cup after penalty woes

A successful penalty conversion in each half was enough to see Eccleshill United sneak past AFC Emley in the Northern Counties East League Cup.



Eccleshill had chances early on and had the chance to take an early lead through Luke Harrop, however his header went wide. Minutes later Charlie Flaherty latched onto a long ball down field before dragging his shot wide of the goal.



Emley had chances of their own, and tried their luck from far out, with a Matty Waller shot from distance, however his shot was saved comfortably. The dead lock was broken in the 22nd minute.



United’s Chris Lever was adjudged to have been tripped in the area and the referee awarded a penalty to the visitors, which was converted by Luke Harrop in the 23rd minute. 



There was a break in the game four minutes later, when Emley’s Jack Cooper went down with what appeared to be a non -contact injury, and was stretchered off the field. Cooper was replaced by Jordan Townend.



Townend almost made an impact off the bench 9 minutes later, when his free kick flew just over the bar. United felt they should have had a second first half penalty for a handball in the area in the 41st minute, however their shouts were waved away by the referee and it was 1-0 to the away side at the break.



However, after the half time whistle went, Emley’s Matty Waller, and United’s Thomas Rose got into a scuffle, and Rose was shown a yellow, whilst Waller was given a warning.



Emley applied the pressure early on in the second half, with a last ditch tackle denying Dickinson a goal just three minutes in, they had a chance again minutes later, however couldn’t capitalize on a goal mouth scramble in the United box.



The game was back and forth until the 80th minute, when the away side were awarded another Penalty, much to the displeasure of the fans in attendance who felt the decision was soft.



Anthony Brown converted the penalty, opening his scoring account for the club. Emley pressed for a goal late on, however couldn’t find a way through and it finished 2-0.