Report: Emley AFC 3 - 3 Winterton Rangers

Emley held host to promotion chasing Winterton Rangers at the Fantastic Media Welfare on Saturday, as the Pewits aimed to spoil Winterton’s chances of finishing runners up in the league this season. With previous meetings in the cup and the league this season both ending as 0-0 draw’s, fans of both sides hoped for a game that included plenty of goals, in their teams’ favour.

Emley started the game strong, as within the first 5 minutes, James Ngoe trouble the Winterton defence, with a powerful run with the ball down the right-hand side, which allowed a well weighted cross into the box onto the head of George Doyle, who couldn’t convert on this occasion.

Two minutes later, the deadlock was broken. Winterton’s number 7, Jaime Ture, took the ball and used excellent skill to beat his man, then played a ball to number 8, Paul Grimes, who’s outside the area shot left keeper Sam Kelly stranded, as he watched the ball fly into the far bottom corner, giving the visitors the lead.

With 16 minutes gone, Winterton doubled their lead, with a smooth passage of play, finished off with a calmly taken finish by number 10 Josh Walker, to put the visitors two goals to the good.

Halfway through the first half, the crossbar came to the rescue of Winterton, as a free kick by Joe Jagger was whipped into the box perfectly onto the head of George Doyle, who effort hit the bar, keeping the Pewits goalless in this first half.

Winterton took control of the first half, making Emley work for the ball, creating space out wide for the wingers to cause problems for Emley. Whilst not being out of the game completely, Emley looked disinterested at times, seemingly waiting for the referee to blow for half time.
Sam Kelly’s job in the first half wasn’t over however, as with three minutes left until the break, he pulled off an outstanding one on one save to keep the game from being put to bed before the half time whistle. The referee blew soon after, leaving Emley with a huge job to do in the second half.

The score at half time: Emley AFC 0-2 Winterton Rangers

With Emley facing an uphill battle in the second half, they aimed to start on the front foot. And that they did, with 5 minutes of the second half played, Joe Kenny’s shot was tipped onto the bar by Winterton’s keeper Nathan Popple, only to rebound to an unmarked George Doyle to head home, giving the Pewits a lifeline in this game.

The Pewits came out in the second half fighting, and their battle paid off. With 65 minutes played, man of the match Callum Charlton’s quick feet allowed him to create space to cross the ball into the area, which was met by the unlikely target of centre half Sam Pashley, who slotted home past the keeper to level the scoring with 25 minutes left to play.

A mere two minutes later and Emley’s fortune had struck, when Tom Claisse floated a sublime chip into the box to an unmarked George Doyle, who had time to take the ball down in the area and comfortably slot home, turning the game around for Emley and giving them the lead.
A real game of two halves looked to turn out in Emley’s favour, however, the Pewits couldn’t deal with the pressure that Winterton had put on them in the last 20 minutes of the game, and with two minutes to go, a header seemed all too powerful for Sam Kelly to keep out and the ball sneaked over the line, giving Winterton an equaliser in the dying minutes.

The referee’s whistle blew for full time with the score: Emley AFC 3-3 Winterton Rangers.

Man of the Match - Callum Charlton
Attendance: 184

Goals:
Doyle 48, 63
Pashley 60