From the first whistle to Dinnington’s first goal on 36 minutes, Emley were in the ascendency. The ball was in the net after 2 minutes only for the home side to be penalised for a foul on the ‘keeper.

Good deliveries from Liam Schofield corners saw both centre backs, Paul Sykes and Sam Jerome, head wide or over. Brighton Mugadza also teed up Alex Hallam, who also nodded over.

Michael Tunnacliffe looked for all the world like he had opened the scoring when his shot was deflected past the stranded Luke Hands in the Dinnington goal but relief came for the visitors when the ball hit the post.

Then Dinnington went up the other end, claimed a corner and captain Liam Cartledge was gifted a free header from 6 yards and planted the ball in the top corner.

It seemed as though that was just a lapse from Emley and normal service would be resumed when Sylbert Stewart grabbed the equaliser. Stewart read well the bounce from Danny Armitage’s big kick and, through good speed and strength, was one-on-one with Hands. Stewart calmy rounded the keeper to knock home his first goal for the senior squad.

Into first half stoppage time and Dinnington were on a rare attack down the right. Emley regained possession but Jamie Roper was on hand to punish Emley for failing to clear and give Town the advantage at the interval.

The second half started as the first finished with Dinnington pushing forward. A long ball through and Tom Elliott was in behind the defence and finished well with a good chip over Danny Armitage.

The second-half was a scrappy affair, with Dinnington happy to soak up pressure, take their time over any restarts and generally frustrate Emley.

A very well delivered Michael Tunnacliffe corner on 61 minutes caused chaos in the box and Emley were back in touching distance when an attempted clearance hit Cartledge only for the ball to ricochet back into his own net.

Emley then had solid chances to grab a point. Aaron Joseph drew a good save from ‘keeper Hands as did Alex Hallam following good combination work between substitutes Tom Brown, making his debut, and Steven Kenworthy. Sam Jerome also put a header over the bar from the resulting corner.

As Emley chased the game, their own defence put the final nail in the coffin with a minute to go. A mix up between defender and keeper saw the ball drop to sub Jermaine Compton who put the game beyond doubt.

With almost the last kick of the game, Emley could have had a consolation but Dinnington’s Man of the Match, ‘keeper Luke Hands, was able to save Brighton Mugadza’s tame shot.

Manager Darren Hepworth has hinted at changes for Tuesday’s fixture at Clipstone as he looks to get his side’s form back on track.

AFC Emley: Danny Armitage, Antony Leech, Liam Schofield (Tom Brown, 53), Michael Tunnacliffe, Sam Jerome, Paul Sykes ©, Aaron Joseph, Doran Jordan, Sylbert Stewart (Steven Kenworthy, 63), Brighton Mugadza, Alex Hallam

Unused subs: Ryan Brook, Jack Steers, Josh Ingham

Emley scorers: Sylbert Stewart (38), Liam Cartledge o.g. (61)

Attendance 108