Emley prove a point with spirited draw

In a familiar pattern, Emley had the best of the opening period. Antony Brown was at the heart of most of Emley’s attacks. The first chance of the game fell to Steven Kenworthy, but he couldn’t get enough power to make the ‘keeper work after Brown’s original shot had been blocked.

A few minutes later, Brown went on a driving run. Before he could get the shot away, the tackle came in and the ball ran loose. Josh Ingham easily out ran goalkeeper Leigh Herrick to pick up the ball but his cross failed to beat the first man as the Bottesford defence scrambled back into position.

Referee Andy Beckett waved away a strong Emley penalty appeal following a hand ball on 32, either side of which Emley number one Adam Lawlor was called into action for his first meaningful contribution to the game. First to collect a long shot from captain Danny Boulton and then a great 1-on-1 save from the same opponent.

The Emley breakthrough came on 38 minutes thanks to a different Brown, this time full back Tom Brown. His run down the right was followed by a cross-cum-shot that was heading goalwards. Striker Steven Kenworthy made sure from point blank range.

It was almost level at the break but for Lawlor and another fine one-handed save from Boulton, who was odds on favourite to score.

The second half started much tighter with a number of niggling free-kicks and incidents in a packed midfield. The equaliser came after an Emley infringement on the edge of the box on 54 minutes. Martin Pembleton managed to find a way through a four-man wall and just out of reach of Lawlor’s left hand.

Lawlor could have done nothing about the equaliser but he was disappointed with the effort that put Bottesford ahead three minutes later, Craig Bridge firing in at the near post.

The quick turnaround in fortunes for Bottesford looked for a few minutes to have permanently turned the tide away from Emley. It was a only a stroke of luck that avoided the task getting even more difficult when a Bottesford head nodded the ball over when the original shot was going in.

The near-miss seemed to re-energise the home side and Emley were back level on 63 when Antony Brown bundled the ball home from a corner kick scramble.

Lawlor made amends on 67, tipping the ball away for a corner when the Bottesford captain Boulton showed good skill to spin and shoot.

After suffering a severe dislocated arm, Adam Todd’s return for Emley from the subs bench on 75 had a near instant impact. It was his strength to collect and hold up the ball, followed by a slide-rule pass through to Antony Brown gave the former Brighouse man the platform to stoke the ball in to put Emley back in front for the second time in the game.

It looked as though Emley would go on to see the game out or even extend their advantage as they pushed on with renewed confidence.

But they were undone by a truly superb strike from the Bottesford Town number eight Pembleton. His strike from around 20 yards out into the top right corner gave ‘keeper Lawlor no chance – despite getting his fingertips on the ball.