Emley AFC 0-0 Garforth Town

BY MARTIN EASTWOOD

A point each as deadlock couldn't be broken.
Emley and Garforth Town shared the spoils after a 0-0 draw in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division at the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground.

It was the third successive draw between the sides following last season's 1-1 and 2-2 draws.

In a game dominated by strong defences neither side could find a breakthrough but also had their goalkeepers to thank for some fantastic saves.

On the coldest night of the season so far there was little for the 226 crowd to get excited about, both teams won corners which came to nothing before Emley keeper Lambton made the first save of the evening.

On 22 minutes, Emley’s first sight of goal, a 20-yard Jagger free kick drifts just wide of the upright and he followed that up a minute later by putting a header wide.

The game got somewhat scrappy, midfield and defences dominating but both teams kept trying to test each other, Emley had another chance when good work by Clegg saw Gooden’s shot go wide, that would be Clegg’s final major contribution as he hobbled off 5 minutes before the break to be replaced by Donae Lawrence.

Garforth then had a good chance from a corner, but the header went just over the bar at the Shed end, Emley had the final chance of the half, Jagger smashing another free kick into the wall but the rebound was sent over.

H/T -EMLEY 0-0 GARFORTH

The second half was slightly more eventful than the first half, both sides created chances and will be disappointed that none of them were converted.

A Garforth shot went over as they began brightly, and Dec Lambton was forced into a point blank save 2 minutes later but Emley survived.
The Pewits had a good chance of their own pass them by, Iyrwah Gooden narrowly heading over a good cross.

5 minutes later and another chance for Emley, Lawrence saw a great header heading in until a brilliant save low down from Wells saved the day for Garforth, from the resulting corner, Lawrence saw his shot blocked, Jagger picked up on the right and whipped in a teasing ball, but Gooden couldn’t quite reach it.

There then came the moment of the match for Emley fans, Jake Kelly who has been impressive in the last few games, set off on a mesmerising run, picking up the ball on halfway, he beat 3 or 4 defenders on a mazy run which saw the opportunity for a shot open up just inside the box, his shot was saved and Scott Smith flashed the rebound just over the bar, it would have been one of the finest goals witnessed at the Welfare Ground for a long time!

Niall Heaton was wide of the target a couple of minutes later as Emley looked to turn the screw.

But they were caught cold a few minutes later and had keeper Lambton to thank for 2 superb saves, both from close and both certain goal savers brought the crowd to its feet.

Heaton, not for the first, or last time was in the thick of the action as he thumped a header just wide from a dangerous corner after Jagger’s shot was deflected wide, Gooden then saw a cross-shot miss the target.

Emley fans breathed another sigh of relief as a Garforth corner saw the header hit the crossbar and bounce over instead of down as the game reached a scrappy end.

Scrappy being the operative word when an incident saw Emley reduced to 10 men, Alex Metcalfe clattered a Garforth player and immediately apologised, but one of the visitors took exception and went for Metcalfe, cue big Niall Heaton stepping in to aid his teammate, but his shove on the Garforth player led to scuffles and a red card for the left back who had been pretty solid in both defence and attack.

But 10-man Emley held on as the Miners went for the winner, Lambton making another good save near the end to see Emley’s unbeaten run stretch to 10 games in all competitions.

The next action is on Saturday when Emley travel to North Lincolnshire to face Bottesford Town.

F/T -EMLEY 0-0 GARFORTH

Attendance – 226