Report: Heaton Stannington (H)

Report by Isaac Hall

In a game that sees Emley go six wins from 6 and extend their unbeaten run to 12 games without a loss, Tracey’s men send the Stan’s packing back to Tyneside after what was their just second loss of the season.

Straight from the first whistle it was Emley’s game to lose and their first corner came in just the 2nd minute, as Hardaker swung in a ball that was met by Barks, but was glanced just wide, however this was emblematic of what was to come, and immediately put the Stans on the back foot, something which they were unable to turn the tide on.

The visitors were forced into an early substitution in just the 4th minute, as Leighton Hopper lunged in at Gooden, giving Emley a free kick, yet the visitor’s number 7 came off worse, and he was replaced by Liam Doyle.

It was complete suffocation from Emley, as all throughout the game, they looked to utilise the pace of Gooden, and the height and physicality of Jerome, as they repeatedly sent balls down the wings for Gooden to chase, and then fizz a ball in, to be met by an attacker.

This was met by a park the bus and counter-attack approach from Heaton Stannington, right the way through the first half, and on a few occasions the opposition’s keeper, Thomas Flynn, needed treatment after being winded, which gave his outfield teammates a chance to get back into position and give a rest from the relentless pressure.

In the middle of the half is when Emley really began to show some class, however they failed to show a clinical finish, and put away any of their many chances.

The Stan’s approach of counter-attacking very nearly paid off in the 42nd minute as a ball targeted for Daniel Stephenson was just too short, and was seen off calmly.

Emley’s final chance of the half was very similar to their first, as in the 45+3rd minute, a free kick was again sent towards the back post, but once more it was glanced just wide of the keeper’s right.

HT: EMLEY 0 – 0 HEATON STANNINGTON

For the majority of the second half, it was much of what was seen in the first. In the 53rd minute, Hardaker sent a ball in from the left, which Gooden attempted to smash home but the Heaton defence managed to knick it from his feet, only for it to fall gracefully into the path of skipper Alex Metcalfe who managed to poke it past Flynn, and send the Emley faithful into raptures.

Given the recent success of the goal, Emley grew massively in confidence, and attempted to replicate what did work and just 5 minutes later, Pashley sent in a ball from the opposite flank, however on this occasion, it was picked out the air by the visiting keeper.

Walker was replaced by Walshaw in the 66th minute as Emley looked to bring fresh legs to the attack, and double the advantage.

Gooden, once again, was showing his class, and in the 69th minute, whilst he had the defence on strings, Kane Evans of the Stans, somewhat reactively brought him down in a cynical challenge, winning Emley a free kick in a promising area and saw Evans receive a booking. However, the recently introduced Walshaw fired the free kick at the defensive wall which saw the Pewit’s get another corner.

The yellow cards began to stack up fast for the visitors, as frustration was becoming visible, and in the 76th, Gooden once again broke down the left, only for Turnbull to cut him down and stop what looked like a promising attack.

From this free kick, Jerome once again got his head to it forcing an excellent save from Flynn to keep the margin razor thin, and the resultant corner saw an acrobatic effort from Barks go out of the ground.

In what was Ruben Jerome’s final notable move of the match, he clasped onto a defence splitting through ball, which he calmly fizzed into Walshaw who once again sent it high and wide, and after an excellent display Jerome was brought off in the 83rd to a rousing applause, and he was replaced by Porritt.

For the last 5 minutes and 4 added minutes, the roles switched, as Heaton Stannington were the aggressors and became desperate, throwing as many players forwards as possible but Emley were determined to hold onto their lead.

Gooden showed his effervescent style, and he never stopped running until the final whistle, winning a corner in the 90+2nd minute, as Emley were on a mission to keep the ball as far away as possible from their goal.

FT: EMLEY 1 – 0 HEATON STANNINGTON

Overall, the Stans never really presented much of a threat to a resolute Pewits side, as they didn’t capitalise on their few and far between chances, and they never really seemed to get a confident grip of the ball.

Emley could not have been in more of a stark contrast to this, and as soon as they went 1-0 up, they grew even more in confidence, causing some fantastic saves and brave defending from Heaton.

Line-up : Lambton, Pashley, Hardaker, Metcalfe (C) (Goal 53’), Barks, Cowgill, Clegg, Kenny, Jerome, Gooden, Walker.

Subs : USED – Walshaw, Porritt
UNUSED – Haigh, Curtis, Kelly, Randall

Moxon & Co. Man of the Match – Jack Cowgill

Photo by Peter Shipton - Twitter @Shipton1975