Emley returned from a tough trip to the East coast with another well-earned point on their travels following a goalless draw at Redcar Athletic in the Northern Premier League-Premier Division.

Following on from a draw at Hyde and a win at Leek, Emley are unbeaten on the road since our promotion, this point was extra pleasing as it means Emley are still yet to concede against The Steelmen in 3 meetings, quite some record considering Redcar have scored 150 goals in that time, an average of over 3 a game but they can't seem to find a way to breach Emley's defence.

They did come close though, Emley also had their chances in a tough, well fought clash which could have gone either way. There was little action for the first few minutes but then Emley began to look threatening, winning a throw on our left which Stacey took, it wasn't truly cleared but Emley couldn't capitalise and the keeper eventually claimed.

Alex Kiwomya then had a glorious chance, beating the offside trap he looked clean through but chose to try and round the keeper instead of shooting but the keeper did really well, getting down fast and putting Kiwomya off his stride, there did look to be a foul on the Emley man inside the box but to his credit, he stayed on his feet rather than looking for a penalty.

It wasn't long before Redcar began to show their attacking prowess but Emley were equal to it, forcing a corner and then dealing with it as the hosts looked to get on top, Emley weren't letting them though and another raid upfield for the Pewits saw a free kick earned but the ball in was a bit too deep and the keeper was able to claim.

Another couple of Redcar corners were dealt with as Emley refused to yield, we then tried to catch them on the counter as Gabby Johnson charged upfield and won a throw, again though, the defence was on top and Redcar cleared the danger, approaching half time and Emley keeper Bottomley was forced to make a couple of good contributions, first, he got a firm fist on an inswinging corner and then had to make a save from a shot, enabling us to go into half time all square.

H/T- Redcar Ath 0-0 Emley.

Emley started the second half on the front foot, Hayden Lindley with a run down the left earned an early corner which was met by the head of Charlie Barks but he could only glance his header wide, Kiwomya then on the same flank tried his luck, gliding past the defender but his ball into the box was cleared, however, a positive start to the half.

Redcar then came back and enjoyed a good spell which kept Emley on their toes, they were busy in and around the penalty area and created a couple of shooting opportunities, the first was slammed over the bar, the second, smashed off the bottom of the post with Bottomley at full stretch, relief all round for the Pewits.

A first change for Emley saw Kiwomya give way to Ejupi, who was involved in our next attack which saw another corner won, Redcar cleared the danger but as they looked to come away, Stacey was flattened by a strong challenge and left in a crumpled heap, the referee saw nothing wrong though and waved play on, Stacey clearly uncomfortable.

However, we continued to look for an opening, good interchange play between Ejupi and Johnson saw the ball lofted over the top for Ejupi but it ran away from him and the keeper claimed, it was then Redcar's turn to attack again, another shot went wide as a goalbound shot actually hit his own man and went out for a goal kick, another change for Emley as Thompson replaced De Girolamo.

With the clock ticking down, both sides pushed for a winner, another good Redcar move saw a shot fizz wide but the ref brought it back for a free kick for a foul in the build up, Bottomley was equal to it, making a save low down. Emley then created a fine chance of their own, good play in midfield saw us advance and then a neatly worked ball found Ejupi inside the area but his low, angled shot was stopped by a good save by Mazfari in the Redcar nets.

Stacey was eventually replaced by Hanson as we looked to see the game out, our last effort saw the ball worked to Hayden Lindley on the edge of the D but he could only blast his shot over the bar and into the gloomy void beyond the fence, Redcar also fired over the bar late on as we settled for a point, another good point away from home against a side that is used to hammering teams.

Emley's strong travelling army applauded their team off knowing that for over 270 minutes, Redcar had failed to breach Emley's defences, the draw put us onto the play off places heading into a busy bank holiday where we visit Warrington Town on Saturday followed by a West Yorkshire derby with Guiseley on Monday.

F/T- Redcar Ath 0-0 Emley

Attendance- 342

Emley- Bottomley, Sheppeard, Farrar, Lindley, Cowgill [c], Barks, Kiwomya, Haswell, De Girolamo, Johnson, Stacey;
Subs used- Ejupi, Thompson, Hanson;
Unused- Sorhaindo, Murray.

WM Sykes Man of the Match- Jack Cowgill.