Emley not at the races against Albion

Emley conceded early on. Only 4 minutes were on the clock when the ball broke in midfield to Albion striker Carl Hall who out-sprinted the Emley defence to drive the ball home between goalkeeper Paul Day’s legs.

Hall nearly doubled his tally five minutes later with a long shot that Day was happy to see fly past his right hand post.

A 10 minute midfield contest ensued with Emley starting to recover from their early set-back. On twenty minutes Aaron Joseph played a ball down the right for Matt Thornton who couldn’t get his cross into the dangerzone.

Moments later, it was 2-0 to the home team. A throw-in from the halfway line was flicked on by Daniel Facey and fell kindly to Hall who lobbed Day to bag his second of the game.

Emley tried in vain to reduce the deficit. Two deep crosses in quick succession from either wing eluded any attackers but in reality they carried little threat.

It was Albion Sports that went close once more. Keeper Day was called upon to scoop up a long pass on the edge of his box, off the toes of on rushing forward Facey.

It wasn’t until the half hour mark that Emley had their first clear chance of the game. Brad Riley went on a mazy run down the left and cut a pass inside to Anthony Haigh. But the Emley number 10 couldn’t take full advantage and his shot was watched wide by Aaron Brian in the Albion goal.

Another half-chance followed when a John Cyrus header back across the goal-mouth from a Thornton free-kick had the defenders scrambling to clear before an Emley player could provide the vital touch.

That was as much as Emley could muster in the first-half as Albion started to take control. Hall was sniffing the hat-trick as he pounced on a punched clearance from Day but the ball flew harmlessly wide. On 39 minutes, strike partner Facey then blasted over from an acute angle on the left.

Facey got his reward moments later. The Emley defence failed to deal with a long Albion clearance from the edge of their own box. The ball bounced over Thornton and Devan Mcintosh and into the path of the Albion number 10. One on one with the keeper, he was able to place the ball to Day’s left and make it 3-nil.

It was almost four at half-time. With the whistle about to go for the break, Day made a good save from Facey with the Emley back line appealing for offside.

A shell-shocked Emley trudged off at the interval knowing they had a mountain to climb and the incline was very quickly made even steeper on 50 minutes.

The shots reigned in on Day’s goal, the first blocked, the second rasping the bar but nobody could stop the third effort as Hall completed his hat-trick with a drive from the edge of the box.

Emley manager Darren Hepworth took immediate action with a triple substitution. Anthony Leech, Mark Wilson and Curtis Roberts replaced Joshua Cooke, Aaron Joseph and Brad Riley respectively.

After Hall hit the post with his last chance of the game before being substituted, the Emley performance started to slowly improve. The green shoots of recovery came from good link up play in midfield, Doran Jordan and Josh Ingham at the heart of most of the action.

It was Jordan who gave the Emley faithful faint hope on 74 minutes. A Haigh freekick was heading for goal before ‘keeper Brian tipped over. From the resulting corner, the Emley number 8 volley home to make it 4-1.

The goal gave Emley a brief lift. Substitute Roberts looked lively, linking up with Jordan and left back Mcintosh before hitting his shot well over.

But Albion were happy to soak up the pressure, run down the clock and take all three points and a huge step towards promotion.

Emley will now have to rely on a large-scale capitulation from their rivals, including Albion Sports and Athersley Rec, to stand any chance of moving into the NCEL Premier next term.

AFC Emley: Day, Thornton, Mcintosh, Ingham, Cyrus (C), Cooke (Leech 52), Joseph (Wilson 52), Jordan, Kenworthy, Haigh, Riley (Roberts 52)
Subs not used: Townsend, Jerome

Albion Sports: Brian, Holmes, Hussain (C) (Brown 76), Williams, Stansfield, Brown, Bleu, Ormsby, Hall (Heeley 67), Facey, Cusack
Sub not used: Flaherty

AFC Emley Man of the Match: Josh Ingham

Attendance: 59