Promotion Rivals Share the Spoils

but it was a result that did neither team any favours in the race to catch their rivals at the top of the Baris NCEL Division One.

The visitors had to come back from behind three times to claim a point in the six-goal Bank Holiday bonanza and notch-up a seventh straight league game without defeat.

Cleethorpes were at Emley right from the kick off and on 3 minutes had an early lead. A strong challenge in midfield robbed Anthony Haigh of the ball and when it broke to Cleethorpes’ Marc Cooper he volleyed past a helpless Paul Day in the Emley goal.

One-nil up and Clee continued to cause the away defence problems in the opening exchanges until the first meaningful Emley foray forward saw a goal-bound Brad Riley shot well blocked.

It was straight back up to the other end on 10 minutes. Cleethorpes’ forward Alex Flett drew a good save from goalkeeper Day when one-on-one, albeit from a difficult angle.

It was then Emley’s turn for a sustained spell of pressure with several freekicks, crosses and corners threatening the Cleethorpes’ goal. Matt Thornton found himself in the best position of the spell but couldn’t quite deliver the killer ball for Steven Kenworthy. Riley was also frustrated on 16 mintues as a Haigh cross was cut out by Tim Lowe in a Cleethorpes defence that was managing to repel the onslaught.

When it was starting to seem like the breakthrough might never come, an Emley corner led to a Kenworthy equaliser on 20 minutes. After he stabbed the ball home in a goal mouth scramble, Cleethorpes’ felt aggrieved that a John Cyrus’ aerial challenge on ‘keeper Scott Drury had gone unpunished.

With the two promotion chasers now level, it was Emley that had the better of the midfield battle in the middle of the 1st half.

Another period of end-to-end play saw Emley captain Cyrus narrowly miss connecting to a good Haigh cross on 33 minutes. At the other end, Tim Lowe went close for Cleethorpes with a deflected shot that forced Day into a full-stretch save low to his left.

Decent defending from both teams looked like it was going to restrict the score to 1-1 in the first half. Then on 42 minutes a Daniel Barrett free-kick from wide on the left missed everyone in the Emley box until an unmarked Matthew Coleman popped up at the back to hammer home and put the home side back on top.

Defender Coleman moved quickly from hero to villain as the first half drew to a close. The centre back let a high long ball bounce and Kenworthy was on hand to lob the loose ball over the stranded Cleethorpes’ goalkeeper and net his second of the game.

A half-time scoreline of 2-2 was a fair reflection but Cleethorpes were kicking themselves after letting the lead slip twice.

The second half had barely started when a tasty challenge on Haigh drew bookings for his aggressor, Liam Dickens, and Haigh himself for his reaction to the challenge. From the resulting free-kick, Emley players were queuing up in the box to take the chance but failed to make it count.

The scrappy play continued with no side dominating the early period of the second half and countless freekicks for niggly challenges followed. Although Cleethorpes went close again on 58 minutes when a quality cross from Jonathan Oglesby picked out Alex Flett. His shot had Day well beaten but Emley were saved by the bar.

Cleethorpes took heart from the near miss and piled on the pressure for a spell, trying to catch Emley with long deep crosses. Looking to shore up his midfield, visitors’ manager Darren Hepworth made his first change of the game on 60 minutes with Mark Wilson replacing Thornton and Josh Ingham slotting into right back.

The home side went ahead for a third time on 70 minutes. Luke Mascall got in front of Emley left-back Devan McIntosh to slot home from substitute Oglesby’s long cross-field ball.

It was another short-lived lead. With 12 minutes remaining, a Wilson free-kick on the Emley left wasn’t dealt with cleanly by the home ‘keeper. As the ball broke in the box, it was centre-back Joshua Cooke who was on hand to smash home – a deserved reward for a resolute performance at the back.

All square again at 3-3 and the final 10 minutes were played out with tired legs from a blustering game of end-to-end football, neither side truly threatening to clinch a dramatic winner.

This was a hard-fought game between two evenly matched teams towards the top of the table. Whilst neither side will be over-joyed with a single point, Emley will be happier for the spirit and determination that saw them claw back the game on three occasions.

Next up for Emley is another tough test against a promotion rival as they travel to Albion Sports on Saturday.

Cleethorpes: Drury, Lowe, Barrett, S Cooper, Coleman, Hanslip (C), Dickens, Richardson, M Cooper, Flett, Mascall
Subs: Lobenham, Robertson, Stephenson, Oglesby, Cox

AFC Emley: Day, Thornton (Wilson 60), McIntosh, Ingham, Cyrus (C), Cooke, Joseph, Jordan, Kenworthy, Haigh, Riley (Maturine 77)
Subs not used: Townend, Jerome, Roberts

Emley Man of the Match: Joshua Cooke
Attendance: 125