Emley and Consett played out an eventful 3-3 draw at the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground in the Northern Premier League Division One East, with 6 goals and a red card but it was another bitter disappointment for the Emley faithful.

For the second home game in a row, the visitors staged a smash and grab, last Tuesday, ten man Grimsby Borough left with all 3 points after Emley dominated proceedings, and again today, Emley were dominant in the first half but couldn't see the game out to claim the points and let Consett back into the game.

It all looked so rosy at half time, Emley were totally dominant and smothered Consett and found two early goals to put us right on top, following some good, early pressure, Emley won a corner on the left, the ball was whipped in perfectly on to the head of Charlie Barks who thumped a header past the keeper for a very early lead.

Laurence Sorhaindo then had a shot saved low down but the flag had already gone up, the offside flag was to save Consett again a couple of minutes later as a great move saw Joe Stacey rampage past the defence before firing into the bottom corner, but a very late flag denied the Pewits.

Not to be deterred, we duly went and scored a second anyway, a lovely defence splitting pass found Laurence Sorhaindo who beat the offside trap, rounded the keeper and slotted home for a thoroughly deserved 2-0 lead after only 15 minutes!

It all looked so easy for Emley who were playing with a swagger and looking comfortable, restricting Consett to the one attack which came to nothing, Joe Stacey was causing the visitors problems down our left and his run and shot was wide and Hayden Lindley saw a shot fizz wide via a deflection from a corner. Christie-Crainey was looking lively on the right and he had Emley's next chance but he couldn't get enough power or distance to trouble the keeper.

Then it all went a bit quiet as Emley, as often appears the case, sat back and fell deep, allowing Consett to push up a bit further, although they didn't create much, it proved to be a warning of what was to come. Emley however finished the half strong though, Baldwin saw a rasping long range drive tipped over the bar and Stacey tried his luck following a half cleared corner.

With less than a minute to half time, Emley appeared to have gained an unassailable lead within the first 45 minutes as Christie-Crainey outfoxed the defence and put a nice ball into the danger zone, Laurence Sorhaindo was quick to pounce, bundling home from close range for his 5th goal of the season.

H/T- Emley 3-0 Consett

Emley looked to have a healthy lead at the break, but nothing is certain in sport, Emley have been guilty of not putting teams to bed in the past, including last Tuesday when we failed to capitalise on the dominance and numerical advantage, sadly, the same happened here, although Consett deserve tremendous credit for not giving in and fighting back. They didn't manage their first attempt on goal until the 54th minute which shows how dominant the Pewits had been.

Both teams made changes at half time with Sonny Whittingham replacing the influential Chris Dawson for Emley, who created two decent chances in the first throes of the half, a wayward looking kick from Lambton was actually inch perfect for Sheppeard who headed on to Stacey who then failed to find Mampala with an overhit pass, then a lovely move involving Mampala and Christie-Crainey who again fed Sorhaindo but his curling shot fell agonisingly wide of the post with many in the shed beginning to celebrate a fourth Emley goal.

Things started to unravel for Emley on the hour, a rare Consett attack ended with a clumsy foul inside the area and a penalty, almost like a rehash of events last Tuesday, Walker stepped up and put the penalty straight down the middle, a hush descended on the Welfare Ground, apart from the 20 or so Consett fans down at the Warburton end.

But Emley weren't panicking and still looked fairly comfortable as Sorhaindo fired over from another good bit of play by Christie-Crainey, Barks then tried to repeat his effort from early on but his header went wide this time. Mampala was withdrawn for Belchior Rodrigues for Emley.

Things then took a dramatic turn, from being comfortable, confident in attack and dominant in possession, Emley once again seemed to sit back and dwell on a lead and Consett sniffed blood! for a couple of minutes, Emley struggled to get out of their own half as Consett pushed them back and for the first time in the match had the hosts under some kind of pressure, Emley then fell apart as the visitors stunned the Welfare Ground with two goals in three minutes.

Following more strong possession, a cross was delivered deep into the Emley box and Holdsworth rose above everyone to nod it back past Lambton who couldn't get near it, Sorhaindo was then replaced by Ceesay as Emley were beginning to look like they were struggling to hold onto a lead, the tension was palpable as Consett now dominated possession and controlled the game.

From being in a comfortable 3-0 lead after an hour, Emley were now under serious pressure from the visitors, a third goal was prevented after a goalmouth scramble was blocked 3 times and eventually cleared by the Emley defence who were now taking a beating, another effort was kept out by a superb save from Lambton, diving to his right at full stretch, but sadly, it was in vain, the ball was recycled and a back post header was put in for the equaliser by Exley!

There was an air of inevitability about it among some Emley fans who had predicted this might happen but it wasn't any less disappointing, a 3 goal lead wiped out in the space of 14 second half minutes was bitterly disappointing following previous games' frustrations about the lack of attacking prowess, this was the flip side.

Still time for a winner though, and the impressive Christie-Crainey thought he had created it but he couldn't quite stretch enough and the chance was gone, Joe Stacey then created a chance, dinking a ball towards the back post but Belchior Rodrigues could only head wide. With the match now heading into time added on, Stacey beat the defender but was pulled back as he headed towards goal, a red card was shown, the Consett captain definitely taking one for the team as he prevented a goal scoring opportunity.

Sadly, for Emley, the resulting free kick sailed harmlessly wode of the far post and Emley's frustrating afternoon was complete, the 'Conny Army' celebrated a very unlikely point in a smash and grab raid but in truth, Emley should have had the three points wrapped up long before Consett were able to mount a comeback.

We now head to Harworth Colliery for a Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior cup tie on Tuesday evening and actually move up to second in the table despite the disappointment of dropping two points at home.

F/T Emley 3-3 Consett.

Attendance- 344

Emley- Lambton, Sheppeard, Baldwin, Lindley, Cowgill, Barks, Christie-Crainey, Dawson, Sorhaindo, Mampala, Stacey:
Subs used- Whittingham, B.Rodrigues, Ceesay
Unused- Hardaker, Chentouf

Goals- Barks (4') Sorhaindo (14' 44')

WM Sykes Man of the Match- Charlie Barks.