Emley AFC manager Richard Tracey was pleased to see his side go to the top of the Northern Counties East League Premier division after a week of great results for the Pewits.

Firstly a 3-0 win over fellow promotion hopefuls Silsden got the last week off to a great start. Sam Pashley, Iyrwah Gooden and Nathan Curtis chipped in with the goals that afternoon. That victory was followed up by a 1-0 win over Bottesford Town. Gooden scored a very late winner to snatch all three points.

This weekend we face Heaton Stannington in the second round of the FA Vase. Following that it's back to league action on Tuesday night with an away fixture to another promotion hopeful in Frickley Athletic.

Looking back at the win over Silsden and Bottesford, Tracey said: "I thought we went there in tough conditions and were outstanding. We set off well and went on the front foot straight away.

"They had a spell probably after 10 minutes where they controlled the ball a little bit but after that we got the goal and then we controlled the game. It wasn't the prettiest football in the world with the conditions we played in, but we outworked them, we battled harder than them and took our chances when they came.

"Overall we were really good, we got the three points and put in an exceptional performance."

On whether the Silsden game was the best performance of the season so far, Tracey replied: "I think the Lower Breck away game in the FA Cup was probably the best footballing performance. However I think for the quality of the squad that Silsden had and the performance we put in to stop them and the fact we were really effective ourselves then it probably puts the Silsden match up there as one of our best performances for sure."

Reflecting back on the win over Bottesford, Tracey commented: "Again, we were very good for two thirds on the pitch on Tuesday. We were clinical on Saturday against Silsden but we were less so against Bottesford. We had three or four really good chances which we didn't take. It was a win that I felt we deserved."

Looking ahead to this weekend and the game against Heaton Stannington Tracey commented: "Heaton Stannington haven't lost many games like us this season. We know it's going to be a tough game, but if we play like I think we can then we've got every chance of going through to the next round."

Tracey also gave his thoughts ahead of a crucial league fixture against Frickley on Tuesday, he added: "They've got a mixture of some local lads, some young lads and some good quality players. We beat them three times last season but there was never a lot in it.

"Pat, their manager has come in and he's had the chance to have the summer and improve them so you know they will be improved from where they were last year. They are already showing that in the league. It'll be a tough game on a heavy pitch over at Frickley. We know that having played there for a few years.

"We know it'll be a bit of a battle for us on Tuesday, but one that we'll be looking to add three more points in."

Finally although Emley topped the league after Tuesday's win, manager Tracey is not getting too excited just yet, he said: "We're a third of the way into the season, we're certainly not getting excited by it. We know we have got to perform week in and week out if we want to stay there.

"We're not having enough performances where we're comfortably winning games. Good examples are when we faced Pickering and Bottesford, they were really tight fixtures and we relied on late goals.

"We know that we're not just turning up and beating teams at a canter because teams in this league are all good enough to compete and we've got to turn up and be the best version of ourselves to win each and every game to remain at the top.