Emley secured another win, making it 15 games in a row without defeat. They also earned their 11th clean sheet of the season, denying a lacklustre Maltby Main side from scoring even a consolation goal. This marked their 11th win of the season, sending the visitors back to Maltby with their 8th straight defeat.

From kick-off, Emley aimed to showcase their intricate passing skills. After receiving an early free-kick, Hardaker sent the ball toward the goal before the opposition defense was set. However, he put just a bit too much power on the ball, and it was cleared behind for a goal kick.

Maltby attempted to counter this by matching their hard-working approach. Just 30 seconds later, Lambton had to rush off his line to clear a loose forward ball, only for the resulting throw-in to end up straight in his grasp.

In the 6th minute, Emley had their first promising chance when Hardaker delivered a deep cross to the far post. However, on this occasion, the player on the back post, Curtis, was mere inches away from getting his head on it, missing the opportunity to put the Pewits into an early lead. 8 minutes later, Emley finally managed to breach the Miners’ defence.

Jerome sent in a cross from the left, met by an attacker. The keeper parried it into the path of Clegg, who had an empty goal to aim for, putting the hosts into a 1-0 lead.

It was after this that the visitors began to unravel, they could not combat Emley’s high defensive line, and the attackers were not able to keep themselves onside on a multitude of occasions, sparking disagreements between the players, which only harmed them in the long run.

In the 21st minute, Nathan Perks, Maltby’s number 9, did manage to keep himself onside this one time, forcing a somewhat acrobatic save from Lambton. The resulting corner was very close to going over the line, however despite a rather animated display from fans, players and coaches, the referee was in no way interested in the claims.

This further sent the opposition into further displeasure, as Emley were showing much of the same class and charisma they have shown this throughout this season, and it was much of the same from Maltby, who grew more and more frustrated as the half went on, as their style of play was garnering no significant results and Emley were shutting out and seriously promising chances that threatened them.

HALF TIME – EMLEY 1 – 0 MALTBY MAIN

For the majority of the second half, Emley dominated the ball, and didn’t allow for Maltby to make any significant progress in rescuing anything from the game.

It took just 3 minutes from the restart for Emley to turn 1 into 2, as in the 48th minute, Jerome fired a shot in, only for Levi Owen to once again palm it into the path of a Pewits attacker, as it landed at the feet of Jerome once again, and he blasted a shot past a rooted Owen, who could do nothing but watch his side concede once again.

It was at this point in the game that the overall pace of the game began to slow down, Emley were still the better of the two sides, but the style of play moved towards a counter-attack/relentless pressure approach, as Maltby looked to get anything from the game, and Emley were not willing to take too
many risks.

In the 62nd minute Emley’s new approach paid off, as a fast-paced move, a pinpoint through ball was sent through to Jerome who managed to grab his brace, smashing a shot towards the far corner to further increase their advantage and make it 3-0.

In what was a crazy five minutes for the Pewits, Emley quickly transitioned the game from 2-0 to 4-0, as just 2 minutes after Jerome grabbed his brace, he managed to claim his hat-trick. Gooden went down under pressure on the right-hand side, and despite various claims of innocence, a penalty was given.

Jerome stepped up and despite the keeper going the right way, the sheer amount of power behind the ball sent the hosts into a 4-goal lead.

Following the 4th, Emley were now cruising through the game in a low gear, with the points more than secured, they didn’t look to overexert themselves.

Ruben Jerome began to look fatigued the further the half went on and following a man of the match performance, he was brought off in the 82nd minute, to a sonorous round of applause and a standing ovation from the Emley faithful.

Emley were really sticking to their guns, however it was not the Pewits that looked to exploit a high defensive line, but for them it was actually working, it was however the fact that there were many changes and some good goalkeeping, that the generous amounts of favourable chances were not finished off, such as in the 85th, when Lawrence laid a ball into Eyles, who tapped the ball straight down
the throat of Owen.

In the 3rd minute of added time, it was a repetition of this, as Mirza once again was in a 2 on 1 situation as he poked the ball toward Eyles, who smashed the ball into a once again empty goal, with the referee ending the match just seconds later, ending the visitors misery, and allowing the unwavering Pewits support to once again rise in ovation as the teams made their way off the pitch.

FULL TIME – EMLEY 5 – 0 MALTBY MAIN

EMLEY LINEUP – Lambton, Porritt, Hardaker, Haigh, Barks, Cowgill, Walker, Clegg (GOAL ‘14), Jerome (GOALS 48’ 62’ 64’), Gooden, Curtis
Subs – USED – Lawrence, Eyles (GOAL 90+3’), Kelly, Mirza, Rowley

ATTENDANCE – 454

Moxon & Co man of the match – Ruben Jerome