Eccleshill United 2-0 AFC Emley

The Eagles came out on top in a closely fought battle to earn its seventh consecutive victory.

Two goals in the final 20 minutes were enough to secure a seventh straight win for Sean Regan's men against AFC Emley in what was a closely fought encounter under difficult circumstances due to the weather.

Emley has been something of a bogey team for the Eagles in recent years, with Eccleshill United failing to beat the Huddersfield based club in their last five meetings, until this evening when goals from Andy Cooper and Levi Maturine secured another three points for their side.

It was a cagey affair throughout with neither side managing to get a full grip of the game, forcing the Eagles to be patient to take the lead and defend well to earn an excellent clean sheet.

The Eagles did manage to carve out several half chances in the opening 45 minutes, with Tom Rose once again playing a crucial role in the game with his driving runs, something he displayed early on, only for his eventual shot to be blocked.

Rose was once again at the heart of the action when he played a brilliant through ball to the youngster, Ethan Labad, but his strike was well saved by former Eccleshill goalkeeper, Joe Stead, tipping the ball onto the post to deny the winger his first ever goal.

Despite the fact that Eccleshill just edged the first half, Emley quickly grew into the game in the second and gave the Eagles a teaser of what they could do when they rattled the bar with an excellent goal-bound strike.

The visitors continued to cause problems and a brilliant through ball caught the Eagles out, creating a one on one situation, which thankfully, Dom Smith was the first to react to, making a great save. Eccleshill failed to clear the ball though and Smith was pulled into action immediately after making a brilliant save from point-blank range, keeping his side in the game.

After a couple of changes from Sean Regan, the Eagles began to kick on and once again looked to play the ball, with Antony Brown able to hold up play, allowing the midfield to push on up the pitch.

Following several half chances, the game seemed destined to finish goalless until Cooper picked up the ball and ghosted past three Emley players before unleashing a rocket of a strike into the back of the net, leaving Stead helpless.

Eccleshill then showcased its excellent defensive abilities with Sam Bradley and Matt Mathers dealing with all problems, whilst Smith dominated crosses in the air, proving the side is more than capable of defending a lead.

However, the Eagles were not done there and after some brilliant hold up play by Luke Harrop and Anil Singh, who appeared to be holding the ball to see the game out, Singh managed to pick out Levi Maturine who calmly slotted his chance into the back of the net to seal the victory.

Eccleshill has now secured seven straight wins in the league and continues to pile the pressure on the teams above as focus now moves on to Saturday's fixture against Winterton Rangers.

Napoleons Man of the Match- Sam Bradley