Emley AFC finished March sitting third of the Northern Premier League Division One (East) standings after a slender win at home to Sheffield FC and back-to-back defeats on the road to Carlton Town and Ashington saw them overtaken by Dunston UTS.

Reflecting on the win over an in-form Sheffield side, Manager Richard Tracey said

“They had a team that were in good form, fighting for their lives. I thought we played pretty well and got ourselves 2-0 in front, and then we stopped doing the right things and let them back into the game, they got a goal and we managed to see it out.

“At this point in the season it is really tough. Everyone is fighting for something, I think there are about four teams who aren’t fighting for playoffs or relegation, so everyone is up for every game.

“The pitches are drying out and becoming tougher to play on, certainly in the style that we like to play, and I don’t think we’ve dealt with that particularly well. We started getting better in the game against Sheffield when the rain came; it made it a bit softer and allowed us to play a bit more, so I think that benefitted us. A valuable three points but unfortunately we’ve not been able to back it up since.”

Following that win the Pewits faced a tough midweek trip to playoff chasing Carlton Town.

“It was a tough night. We got there and Declan Lambton felt his thigh in the warmup which meant he couldn’t kick all game. Alex Metcalfe had a trapped nerve in his hip, so became unavailable and Chris Dawson had a big knock on his knee from the ground in the warmup; the pitch was terrible.

“Carlton came out and played the conditions well, they were big, they were strong and they were organised. They nicked the goal and then defended really well. We had a couple of half chances, where we could have got back into it, but we didn’t and unfortunately for us Carlton came out on top. I would say Carlton edged it on the night.

“I thought we dealt really well with going down to ten men, when Charlie Barks got sent off. It was disappointing not to have backed up the win against Sheffield.”

The Pewits completed a tough week of fixtures with the long trip to Ashington, another side with aspirations of reaching the playoffs. It was a game of two halves as the Pewits went into the break a goal to the good but left empty handed.

“There was a strong wind, but I felt we were pretty comfortable (in the first half), and we got the goal.”

Having scored twice in three appearances for the Pewits, Rotherham loanee Josh Ayres saw red late in the first half after a coming together with an Ashington player. The club appealed the decision but were unsuccessful and Ayres will now serve a three match suspension. Tracey reflected on the incident “I don’t really know what went on, there’s a bit of a coming together when you watch the video. Their player walks into Josh with a straight arm and hits him in the face, Josh pushes him in the chest a little bit, and their bench are up at the linesman as it’s happened on their side, and their players are running to the linesman, and it results in Josh being sent off for violent conduct.
“We looked into appealing it but it will result in a three match ban for him, and that really doesn’t help us at this time of the season.

“I’m really disappointed because Josh was really, really effective against them and got his goal. I think he bullied them that much that they manipulated the situation to try and get him sent off and it happened.”

Tracey acknowledged his Pewits were second best after the break, but saw positives in the second half performance as the team battled the elements and a one man deficit.

“In the second half we played into a gale force wind, and struggled to get hold of the game. Having said that, we had two really good opportunities; we had a two v one break that we wasted and we managed to get Amir Berchil through one-on-one and their keeper has pulled off a good save.

“Even though we were against it, we did have enough chances to have stayed in the game and remained competitive. Fair play to Ashington, they came out and played the pitch and the wind brilliantly in the second half, put us under the cosh, and managed to get what is a really important win for them and their position in the league.”

Last week saw the league deadline for new registrations, so Tracey and his team had to act quickly to reinforce the squad, especially when Lambton suffered his injury at Carlton. Saturday saw debuts for two new loan signings, with goalkeeper Callum Yam brought in from Hull City, and forward Alfie King from Mansfield Town.

“With 48 hours to the deadline made it a bit of a stress to try and get someone in. It was a lot of hard work around our full time jobs, but Hull made Callum available for us, which we really appreciate.

“Callum was formerly at Sheffield United and Newcastle United, he’s a good goalkeeper. I don’t think he did anything wrong on Saturday. Everyone was affected kicking into that wind and it was tough for him, but his all round goalkeeping was good and hopefully he can have a good month with us. We’re delighted to have got Callum over the line and in to help us.”

On the addition of King, Tracey said “We got a call from Mansfield Town. Alfie has been on loan to Scarborough from Mansfield. He’s a local lad, he’s from Shelley. We were advised he was available and at this point in the season we wanted to add bodies so we have signed him on loan as well. He can play anywhere across the front, on both wings or as a number 10.”

Tracey confirmed Emmaisa Nzondo’s loan had come to an end and he has returned to parent club, Barnsley, but is hopeful to have Joe Kenny and Donae Lawrence back available after they missed the trip to Ashington. The Pewits will be without Charlie Barks as he begins his suspension after being sent off at Carlton Town. Laurence Sorhaindo is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a tear to his quad.

On Saturday the Pewits face Bridlington Town. Whilst the Seasiders currently sit in the relegation spots, they have been in fine form lately and Tracey is expecting another tough test for his side.

“Brid are fighting for their lives, they’re in the last relegation spot at the moment and they’ll want to get out of that. It’s going to be a tough game for us, they are going to come and fight and scrap for everything, they had a recent 4-1 win and they’ll want to be replicate that and cause us some problems. We started to train back up at the club this week and we’ve got to make sure we are prepared for Saturday and make sure we can get a good result.”