Emley AFC has begun their campaign in the Northern Premier League East Division One with a solid set of results, securing a win and a draw from their opening two fixtures, both away from home. Last Saturday, the Pewits earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Grimsby Borough, followed by a 1-1 draw against Newton Aycliffe on Tuesday, leaving them in seventh place on the table.

Manager Richard Tracey was pleased with his team's efforts in the season opener against Grimsby Borough, especially given the tough nature of the fixture: "We've had two tough away games with travel and teams that were sort of at the higher end of their league tables last year," Tracey noted.

"However, I thought on Saturday we were good value for the win over Grimsby."

Reflecting on the match, Tracey praised his side's first-half performance, though he acknowledged that they could have been more clinical in front of goal: "I thought in the first half we were excellent. We should have gone in at the break more than one goal up. In the second half, we had a couple of opportunities to kill the game off and we didn't," he explained.

"Fair play to Grimsby they really pushed us for an equaliser. We ended up having to clear a couple off the line and hang in there. So it was a tough day, but by the end of it, we had three valuable points."

The victory marked a positive start to Emley's season in the league, a fact that wasn't lost on Tracey: "We’re delighted to get the season off to a positive start. Like I say, they have been in this league for three seasons now, and it took them 10 games to win their first match when they were newly promoted. We achieved that at the first attempt, so it has been a great start to life in this league."

Tracey also took time to commend some of the new players, particularly Adam Clayton, who was named Man of the Match: "I thought the new lads were good. Adam Clayton was excellent alongside Jack Cowgill at the back. A number of others played well too, and so I was pleased with the overall display."

Emley's second match of the week saw them take on Newton Aycliffe, where they managed to secure a 1-1 draw thanks to a spectacular long-range effort from Luke Parkin: "We had to make a number of enforced changes for different reasons. However, nobody let us down, and we went there and, if I'm honest, I felt that we were the side that were on the front foot," Tracey said: "But we didn't play with enough quality to hurt them."

After going a goal down, it was Parkin's wonder strike that salvaged a point for Emley: "They got their noses in front, and it took a wonder goal from us, with Luke Parkin scoring one from 25 yards to get us back into it," Tracey recounted.

"However, apart from that, I wouldn't say we had great chances throughout the game, nor would I say they did either. In general, it was not the best game, but we'll take a point from it."

Despite the draw, Tracey saw positives in his team's resilience, particularly in coming from behind against a tough opponent: "The positives we can take from it is that despite going 1-0 down, we fought back to earn a point. We had to fight our way back into it, and ultimately, to go away from home in a new league against a team who was the first team outside the playoffs last year, to get a point in the end was a good point to get."

Looking ahead, Emley AFC will now turn their attention to the FA Cup, where they face Trafford in the second preliminary round this Saturday. Once again, they will be on the road: "We've got the video of their game against Albion Sports. We know they're in the West league. We played Widnes and Mossley from that league last year in the FA Cup," Tracey explained.

"Down the years, they have been a notoriously good side. It's a decent pitch there; they have a big pitch. We are looking forward to playing on it."

Acknowledging the challenge that Trafford presents, Tracey expressed confidence in his squad's depth and quality: "They've been a good team for a few years and been around that level for a long period of time. The club is in a hotbed of football in the Manchester area, and it's not far from Old Trafford." he said.

"They’ll be able to recruit from a big pool of players, and I'm sure they'll be strong. However, we're confident in our squad, and we're really pleased with the depth of the squad we have."

Following their FA Cup tie, Emley will face a stern test against current table-toppers Belper Town in their first home match of the season at the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground. Tracey, who has a personal connection to Belper, is well aware of the challenge that awaits his team: "I used to play for them. I had a good couple of years at Belper, it’s a really good club. It has lots of good people behind the scenes. It’s well run, it’s well organised, and they’ve been really successful over the last few years. It’ll be a tough game."

Tracey highlighted the physical and direct style of play that Belper is known for, noting that Emley will need to approach the game differently than their previous fixtures: "Their play is direct, and they are a big and strong outfit. It's probably a different challenge to the first two games in the league that we've already played in."

The manager is eager to see his team perform in front of the home fans and hopes to secure a positive result against a formidable opponent: "It’d be great to get back playing at home and get a performance and a result in front of our fans. In my honest opinion, from what I know of the league and looking at recruitment, Belper will be one of the sides that's up there along with Cleethorpes. So we know it's going to be an incredibly tough game. We just have to make sure that we are ready for whatever they throw at us."

With a challenging week ahead, Emley AFC will be looking to build on their promising start as they navigate through both league and cup competitions.