By Martin Eastwood
Emley AFC went down to a 1-0 home defeat to Rossington Main in their first game as NCEL Premier Division champions on Tuesday night.
Emley weren’t at their best but probably understandable after the emotion and title celebrations of the weekend.
There was a guard of honour from the visitors to welcome the champions onto the field and that’s as far as their kindness went as Main set about trying to get their play-off spot confirmed.
What proved to be the only goal came with just over 20 minutes gone. A free-kick 20 yards out was dealt with by Emley’s defensive wall, but the ball was kept alive and zipped back into the area where Greg Young sent a powerful header crashing past Dec Lambton.
After the break Iyrwah Gooden and Alex Metcalfe fired wide and, as the half wore on, it became clear it wasn’t Emley’s night.
It looked like Main had got a second late on but Lambton pulled off a sensational save to deny them and then watched on relieved as the rebound was put into the side netting.
Right at the end Gooden saw a shot blasted over the bar after good work by Metcalfe and then found himself yellow carded as he prevented a quick breakaway.
Emley will be presented with the champions trophy at the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground on Saturday (April 6) when local rivals Golcar United are the visitors (3.00) in what should be a party atmosphere.
Image by: MARK PARSONS
