Emley AFC now go into two different cup competitions riding high on the back of some great results recently which has seen us claim top spot in the Northern Counties East League Premier division.

However it's now time to concentrate on a number of silverware opportunities as the Pewits take on SJR Worksop in the Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup Third Round on Saturday, with a 1pm kick off at the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground. Then we head into a fixture on Tuesday night again at home, 7:45pm kick off against Garforth Town in the second round of the NCEL League Cup.

Assistant manager Steve Nicholson says that although the team is doing well in the league, the players and staff are taking the cup competitions incredibly seriously.

Heading into the weekend in a competition we are the holders of, Nicholson said: “We've got the distraction of the cups coming up now. Is it a welcome distraction when you sit at the top of the league? Probably not. However we are in the competitions to win them.

“We want to progress in them, we want to do well. The cups give everybody in the squad a chance to play some football and get 90 minutes under their belt. That is important because we're going to need the full squad throughout this season if we're going to compete in these cup competitions and in the league because we're going to pick up injuries.

“We've got to turn up and we've got to do the business in the cups. We are focused and ready to play.”

On Worksop in particular, Nicholson commented: “I think we drew them in one of the earlier rounds of the Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup a year or two ago, they are a tough side.

“It took us quite a while to break them down from memory last time. They sat back and soaked up pressure, they weren't easy to play against.

“Coming to Emley is a cup final for some of these sides. They're coming to Emley to take our scalp and so they will put everything into beating us. So it's up to us to put in a professional performance.”

Following on from the Worksop fixture, Emley head in to a League Cup match with Garforth. Looking ahead to that one on Tuesday, Nicholson said: “It’s going to be a tough game in the League Cup. I was really impressed when they played us at home earlier on in the season. They have got a team with a lot of pace. They've got an experienced side and they gave us a real tough match last time out especially in the second-half.

“We seem to be playing all the teams that are in form at the moment. However you know if you're going to go on and win something, whether it be the league, the cup or whatever, at some point you're going to meet these teams and you're going to have to step up to the plate and put a shift in to beat them.”

Emley recently came through a tricky FA Vase fixture at home to Heaton Stannington in which they won 1-0. Reflecting back on that victory, Nicholson said: “We are obviously delighted to be in the next round where we'll face W Dids & Chorlton.

“We knew we were going to be in for a tough match against Heaton Stannington. They were in good form, much like ourselves. They haven't lost many games this year.

“On the actual game itself, I thought we started off really well against them. We dominated it for about the first 30 minutes.

“If we are being critical, I'd probably say we probably need to take our chances earlier on in the game and sort of get ahead in it. It became a bit of a tight one in the end, especially in the last 15 minutes when they got a foothold in the match.

“There were a couple of nervy moments but I think overall we deserved to win.

“At our level of football this is the cup competition where you have a massive chance to win it. It's the biggest countrywide cup we are in, bar the FA Cup, but the FA Vase is a trophy we want to be competing for.

“There are some really good teams in it and so when you get to this stage there's no mugs that you are playing against.”

Finally, after that cup victory it was back to league action where the Pewits narrowly defeated Frickley Athletic with a 90th minute Ruben Jerome winner.

On that tight win Nicholson said: “It was probably the toughest game I would say that we've had this year as they are a really good young side. With a couple more experienced players in there they'd be right up with us. We know Pat, their manager very well. He's actually played for both of us and I've actually played with Pat when I was manager at Wakefield. He was one of my first signings when I went there. He was only a young lad then, he tries to play the game the right way, they got the ball down and passed it about. They tried to play out from the back. I think at times you're always going to steal the ball from them because they're trying to play like that. However, all credit to them for playing like that.

“I think overall we probably had the better of the chances and once again I think we're just reiterating what we said against Heaton Stannington. I think we've just got to be a little bit more clinical earlier on in the game and get that settling goal, if we can just settle the nerves down then we can settle down and play our stuff.

“The game had everything, It could have gone either way. I think Pat said in his interview afterwards that the first goal they scored was never a corner in a million years; it went near absolutely nobody. They score a goal, probably against the run of play, but you know that's football for you.

“All credit to our lads for showing the character and the attitude that we did to get the game level when we went down to 10 men.

“It was two great goals by Ruben in and Barks got himself on the end of one with a header to score his first goal for the club.

“We as a team want to be up there, however we aren't looking at the league table yet.

“We are only third of the way through the season, so whilst it's great to be at the top there is a long way to go.