Darren Hepworth’s men did put in a performance to be proud of however and with a little more luck in front of goal they might easily have taken the points home themselves.

Rec became only the second team to keep a clean sheet against Emley this term in a game that certainly not your typical end of season affair with both teams obviously keen to finish on a high.

The first half was a tight affair with the defences on top, Emley edged things slightly and had half chances through Aaron Joseph, Steven Kenworthy and Anthony Leech.

Athersley’s Lee Bennett was lucky to get away with just a booking as he raised his arms to push Antony Leech to the floor in an off the ball incident. He would be one of 4 Athersley players to enter the referees notebook in a game that was in the most played in the right spirit.

Ruben Jerome made his first start for Emley partnering Kenworthy up front and gave an excellent account of himself with some intelligent play. The youngster was denied a goal by a timely block by Tom Harban after an excellent cross by Liam Schofield.

At the other end of the field Schofield was on hand to stop Athersley’s Jason Bentley in his tracks as he broke through on goal late in the half. In the dying moments of the half Jonny Irving came closest to breaking the deadlock for Emley but his long range drive whizzed past the post.

Things opened up considerably in the second half, Athersley keeper Darren Shirt spilled a Jerome effort with Devon McIntosh following up it took a last ditch clearance to clear the lines.

There was a stroke of luck in the way that Athersley took the lead after 55 minutes, a miss-hit shot by Bennett spun kindly into the path of Bentley. There was no denying the quality of Bentley’s finish however as he made space for himself before slotting past Paul Day into the bottom right hand corner.

Emley responded well but found the Rec’ keeper Shirt in fine form. First he made a great claim as John Cyrus connected well with a Schofield free kick. Then a thrilling move involving McIntosh and Joseph fed Kenworthy who’s hard low drive was denied by a 1 handed save at the near post.

On the hour mark Hepworth replaced Jerome with Dean Wharam who had won a surprise recall to the Emley bench. Wharam immediately his presence know and after good work down the flank he fired at goal but (**number1**) was well placed to save. Soon after he drove a great ball across the face of goal with Kenworthy and Irving both inches away from connecting.

With Kenworthy struggling with an ankle injury Hepworth brought on Josh Cooke playing him in an unfamiliar forward position. He immediately made his physical presence known, firing just over the bar after showing good control to bring down a Schofield free kick. Soon after he flashed a shot across the face of goal following good build up play by Joseph and Wharam.

Athersley’s Jack Briscoe almost caught Emley out on the break with a well timed run to spring the offside trap but his final touch let him down and his shot went wide of the target.

With Emley pushing hard for an equaliser they left themselves more exposed at the back and Matthew Roberts made an excellent run down the left flank before crossing to substitute Jamie Sutton who hit a hard low shot which was well saved by Day.

Cyrus and Leech both went close for Emley in the later stages of the game but Athersley clung on to take all three points.

It would be fair to say that the game reflected Emley’s fortunes this season – Full of passion and endeavour but falling just short of the mark needed to achieve promotion. They finish the season in 7th position and had they beaten Athersley on the two occasions that the sides met this would have put them in 2nd place. They must take this forward to next season and build upon what is a sound base for success.

Emley:
Day, Leech, Schofield, Irving ,Cyrus, Sykes, Joseph, McIntosh, Jerome (Wharam 58), Kenworthy (Cooke70), Townend (Wilson 80).

Emley Man of the Match: Devon McIntosh. Att: 161.

Athersley Cautions: Bennett, Allcock, Roberts, Scargill.
Emley Cautions: None.