AFC Emley were reduced to nine men but scored three late second half goals to beat Yorkshire Amateur 3-0 away from home at the Southerns Stadium.
The victory extended Darren Hepworth’s side’s unbeaten run to five games and keeps their hopes of automatic promotion alive as they remained second in the Northern Counties East League Division One table – leading scorer Ashley Flynn and Matthew Jackson, who netted twice, grabbing the goals.
But head coach Hepworth must prepare for the run-in to the end of the season without key players Josh Ingham and skipper Kieran Ryan, who will serve suspensions following first half dismissals.
There is little time for Hepworth’s men to recover, as they face a trip to Dronfield Town in the league tonight.
However, they were in good form at the Southerns Stadium and Tom Robinson’s volley, which was well saved by keeper Surwang Bojang, sent an early warning to Yorkshire Amateur.
The hosts should have taken the lead shortly afterwards but Joel Hughes couldn’t finish after rounding Emley goalkeeper Graham McLachlan
A relatively cool first half soon became very heated when Ingham’s late challenge on Freddie Swales ignited a brawl.
Ingham and Ryan saw red, but Yorkshire Amateur’s Chris Hitching was also sent for an early bath.
The aftermath spilled onto the sidelines and Emley assistant manager Joe Howson was sent to the stands.
Early in the second half McLachlan came up with a save to deny Matt Dalton’s close range effort, and that vital moment gave Emley the encouragement to get a smash and grab the victory.
Emley got the crucial first goal when Jordan Coduri squared to an unmarked Flynn at the back post, and he tapped in with ease.
Jackson replaced Flynn and two minutes after doing so bagged a second goal – Bojang couldn’t keep out the bobbling effort and Hepworth ran down the line to join the celebrations.
As a result Hepworth joined Howson in the stands, but that didn’t matter as Jackson claimed his second in the 85th minute after going one-on-one with Bojang.
