AFC Emley vs Appleby Frodingham - NCEL 17th August 2012

Dean Wharam and Anthony Haigh grabbed a brace each and Anthony Leech capped a fine first appearance of the season with a goal in a one-sided contest.

The home side had the ball in the App-Frod net after just 10 seconds as Dean Wharam surged right through middle of the park straight from the kick off but Ash Flynn was ruled offside as he headed home unchallenged past Paul Tait.

Anthony Haigh tested Tait with a 30 yard shot but the keeper matched his effort before Curtis Roberts teed up Flynn twice only for the keeper to pull off smart saves. Roberts would be a constant thorn in the side of Frod’s right back Simon Welton as the game went on.

Emley finally made their dominance pay in the 16th minute with Wharam springing the offside trap to meet a through ball from Doran Jordan before firing home just inside the penalty area.

Soon after, Jordan broke clear again and rounded Tait, but found the angle too tight to have a shot at goal himself so squared to Flynn who fired just over. When provided with a chance himself after good work by Haigh, Wharam and Flynn, Jordan also failed to hit the target.

Despite dominating the possession Emley failed to land the killer punch in front of goal and many were left wondering if they would live to regret this as App-Frod scored an unlikely equaliser in the 41st minute. Oliver Bradbury took advantage of some poor defensive play to chip Luke Herriott in the Emley goal from the edge of the box.

If the visitors ended the first half on a high they were soon deflated as Welton received a second yellow card for a foul on Roberts who was racing clear on goal. The full back had received a card in the first half for a deliberate handball when under pressure from Roberts.

Frod shuffled their formation leaving Bradbury up front on his own to restore their formation to 4 at the back. Unable to deal with the pace of Emley’s frontmen their strategy was to play the offside trap at every given opportunity with the line of the back four regularly just 10 yards from the half way line.

Flynn broke clear of the trap to put himself one on one with Tait but the keeper made a brave block. The keeper then made a fine double save from Flynn and John Cyrus before Leech was upended in the box to earn a penalty on 57 minutes.

Haigh blasted home the resulting spot kick sending Tait the wrong way for his second in as many games. He then doubled his tally for the night a minute later slotting home from close range after an unselfish assist by Flynn.

The Frod captain Oliver Spall had a rare chance for the visitors but Herriott made a routine save. His side continued to live dangerously and whilst successful in catching out Emley with the offside trap it would only be a matter of time before the defence was breached again.

Liam Schofield and Steven Kenworthy had replaced Roberts and Flynn and both caused problems for the visitors. Schofield timed a run to perfection from just inside his own half before racing into the box to cross for Wharam to tap in from close range in the 68th minute.

Haigh almost caught Tait out with a quick free kick which went just wide as he went in search of a hat trick. The keeper then made his best save of the night 1-handed to push a dipping effort from the same player wide.

Schofield continued to torment Frod with his pace tested Tait from a tight angle with the ball running free to Jordan who shot over the bar. The youngster was obviously in a mood to impress and shot straight at the keeper with Kenworthy begging for the ball right in front of goal.

Wharam missed a chance to record a hat trick after hitting the ball over the bar following a great cross by Jordan. Emley then had strong claims for another penalty waived away as a scuffed shot by Schofield was handled on the line by James Vernon.

Leech rounded off the scoring five minutes from time as he raced into the box to smash home a cross by Josh Ingham.

This was a welcome win for Emley who had stuttered in their two previous games and whilst they will face much tougher opposition throughout the course of the season the workrate and quality of football played for a full 90 minutes was at times outstanding. Darren Hepworth will now look to his team to continue this form when they travel to Dinnington next Saturday.

Emley:
Herriott, Thornton, Leech, Cyrus, Hazelden, Banton, Haigh (Ingham 80), Jordan, Wharam, Flynn (Kenworthy 58), Roberts (Schofield 55).

Subs (not used): Wdowczyk, Bradshaw (J). Att: 84.
Emley Man of the Match: Anthony Haigh. Caution: Thornton.