Emley maintained their play off push in the Northern Premier League Division One East following a 1-1 draw with Bishop Auckland at the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground.

The draw keeps the Pewits in 3rd behind Belper and Cleethorpes, but with Belper losing for the second game running and Cleethorpes not in action, it was a chance for Emley to close the gap, just 5 points now separate the top 3.

it was the proverbial game of two halves, the first half saw plenty of huffing and puffing but not much quality in the final thirds, the second half was much more entertaining with the result on a knife edge up until the final whistle.

Emley may feel slightly happier with a point, the visitors, very much improved from the team that were spanked 4-0 at home by Emley probably had the better of the chances, as well as the two blues being wasteful in front of goal, Emley keeper Dec Lambton pulled off some important and superb saves, but Emley also had their chances.

Emley skipper Metcalfe saw a deflected shot easily gathered by Bishop keeper Norton in the games' first attack before Bishops attacked themselves, and had a couple of penalty shouts turned down, much to the chagrin of some of their travelling supporters.

In a frantic few minutes, Emley then turned defence into attack, Berchil and Baldwin combined and there were tenuous appeals for an Emley penalty as Berchil tumbled but the referee wasn't interested.

The visiting fans were getting angrier with every decision that went against their team and they were furious when a great move saw the offside flag go up, despite carrying on, their attacker fluffed the shot embarrassingly wide but it wouldn't have counted anyway.

Both sides were looking to take control of the game but neither could take the upper hand, an Emley throw from the right caused problems in the Bishops' defence but somehow they cleared as Rodrigues looked to snatch and equaliser, Luke Parkin, never afraid to have a pop, saw a long range effort deflected for a corner but it was cleared.

Following a corner for Bishop, Lambton parried a powerful header but the follow up was eventually cleared by some sturdy Emley defending before Parkin again tried his luck with a shot but it was claimed by the keeper.

Then came the best chance of the game so far, Bishops pulled Emley apart to break down their left, the ball in was a fine one but with Lambton to beat, the attacker scuffed the shot and Lambton saved when it looked for all the world that the opening goal was about to come.

A massive sigh of relief for Emley, who went straight down the other end and created their best chance, great play by Berchil saw the ball put right into the mix where Sorhaindo saw an attempt cleared as the ball headed goalwards, with half time beckoning, Rodrigues fired wide for the Pewits.

H/T- Emley 0-0 Bishop Auckland

The temperature dropped and their was a stinging chill in the air as the second half kicked off, but the events of the next 45 minutes would go some way to warm the fans up, within 40 seconds and Bishop Auckland were on the attack and a super point blank chest save by Lambton denied them, they spurned another chance within a minute as a shot flew wide.

Emley were on the back foot at the start of the second half as the visitors cranked up the pressure and the Pewits had Lambton to thank for keeping them in the game with a marvellous triple save on 55 minutes to deny the Bishops, however just past the hour mark and the visitors did find the opening goal, and it was unfortunate for Lambton whose clearance caught a Bishop attacker and rebounded back towards goal and it was put in by Martin with Barks desperately trying to keep it out.

Bad luck for Lambton and Emley, but they were only behind for less than 2 minutes, from the restart, Emley made their way upfield and with the shed urging them on, the ball was moved from right to the middle and the little inside ball found Luke Parkin in the inside left position, Parkin steadied himself and then fired low into the corner, off the post to put his goal tally into double figures and we were all square again.

Both sides then focused on attacking each other to try and find a winner and the game became end to end for the final 20 , five minutes after Parkin's equaliser, Emley thought they had a second, from a beautiful right wing corner, Adam Clayton steered a header on target, the Emley fans cheered but a Bishops leg somehow cleared it off the line.

It was the turn of the two blues to attack Emley and pin them down, Emley had to give fouls away as collateral damage, but two free kicks, from around 20 yards within a couple of minutes from either side of the area both edge narrowly wide, another chance for the visitors then saw Lambton forced into a save low down from a sharp shot.

Changes for Emley saw Baldwin, Rodrigues and Sorhaindo replaced by Hardaker, Qasim and Lawrence and all got into the action pretty quickly, Qasim doing brilliantly to keep a ball in play on the right and outwitting two defenders but the momentum was lost when a stray pass back into the middle was cut out, Lawrence then tested the defence with a couple of strong runs, one of them ending with a wicked Hardaker ball in from the left which outfoxed everyone.

Lambton was then Emley's hero as Bishop looked for a winner, a superb through ball completely split the Emley defence and with the striker bearing down on him, Lambton bided his time and then made an incredible one handed save as the shot looked like it had beaten him, at the other end, Parkin's shot from inside the area was pushed away by the keeper and when the ball was recycled, the keeper made another stop from Berchil.

With the game entering into 4 minutes of added time, Joe Kenny replaced Chris Dawson and then Bishop Auckland looked like they were going to snatch it right at the death, the 451 fans held their breath as another superb defence splitting pass cut the Pewits open, it left Lambton one-on-one again, the shot was a good one, and it appeared it was heading into the top corner, but Lambton incredibly got something on it as he was falling backwards and it narrowly missed the upright as it went for a corner, the resulting corner was then headed wide.

Emley would have one last chance to turn one point into three but following a left to right move, the ball found itself at the feet of Adam Clayton but the centre back couldn't quite get his feet right and the shot didn't have enough power to trouble the keeper and the points were shared as an entertaining second half was brought to a close.

Emley now face a Barnsley U21 side on Wednesday as we look to book a Sheffield and Hallamshire senior cup semi final.

F/T- Emley 1-1 Bishop Auckland

Attendance- 451

Emley-Lambton, Sheppeard, Baldwin, Metcalfe [c], Barks, Clayton, Parkin, Dawson, Sorhaindo, Rodrigues, Berchil:
Subs used- Hardaker, Qasim, Lawrence, Kenny;
Unused- Curtis.

Goal- Parkin (64')

WM Sykes Man of the Match- Alex Metcalfe.