By Martin Eastwood
Iyrwah Gooden earned a point for hard-working Emley AFC in a 1-1 draw at unbeaten Albion Sports on Wednesday. On another night it could easily have been all three points.
The Pewits stretched their own unbeaten run in league and cup to seven matches. They dominated the first half but somehow found themselves 1-0 down at the break after being hit on the counter attack.
It was frustrating at times as Emley made a great start, Ross Hardaker’s shot was pushed wide for a corner, likewise, a shot from Gooden who then cheekily backheeled the resulting corner wide as Albion keeper Stephen Fearnley was kept on his toes!
James Walshaw and Donae Lawrence also had shots on target which Fearnley put behind for corners.
After half an hour the hosts, who had won all previous five league games, struggled to make any impression on Emley’s defence.
But then somehow they found themselves 1-0 up, following their first meaningful foray into the Emley half. In a quick counter attack Yahaya Tunkara crossed for Eivind Johnsen to finish it off.
Gooden was causing problems for the visitors and had a couple of chances before half-time but couldn’t find an equaliser.
The second half was slow to get going and the flow was disrupted by free-kicks and yellow cards.
Alex Metcalfe shot agonisingly wide before Emley finally made the breakthrough in the 68th minute when a defensive error allowed Gooden to pick up the ball and he was able to shrug off a defender and fire past Fearnley to make it 1-1.
There were some baffling decisions which left both teams frustrated and Emley’s assistant manager Steve Nicholson was booked for making his point a little too strongly.
Emley made some changes with Ruben Jerome replacing Walshaw and Jerome saw a header go over from a James Knowles free-kick.
Both sides had chances to win it late on but Emley had to be satisfied by making Albion drop points for the first time this season.
It’s back to FA Cup action on Saturday (September 16) as Emley make the trip to Mossley in the 2nd qualifying round.
Image by: Huddersfield Hub photographer SEAN DOYLE
