AFC EMLEY crashed to a worrying sixth home defeat of the season in the Northern Counties East League Division I.

Gedling Town, who despite having a man sent off early in the second half, went on to score a further two goals and claim a convincing 4-1 win.

Emley have now conceded 12 goals in five games at home this year and only managed to win once – a 4-0 victory against Hall Road Rangers in January.

The latest defeat at the Welfare Ground resulted in Ray Dennis and Nicky Bramald’s side dropping down to 12th in the 17-team section.

Bramald said he was very disappointed with his team’s performance against Gedling.

“In a nutshell, it just wasn’t good enough,” he said.

“We had a man advantage but at times it looked like they had a man extra instead of us.

“Defensively we gave away goals that we shouldn’t, especially at home.”

In their defeat against second-placed Gedling, Emley started the brightest and were rewarded after just four minutes when Max Joice put the home team into the lead.

But the visitors equalised soon afterwards when a cross from the wing found Barry Payne who struck a right foot shot into the corner of Jamie Green’s net.

Andrew Jones gave Gedling a 2-1 lead going into half-time with a delightful strike.

His right foot shot 30 yards out from goal gained all the height and power necessary to curl into the top corner of Emley’s net leaving Green with no chance.

With 30 minutes of the Division I tie remaining, Gedling midfielder Lee Mellon was shown red for a dangerous tackle.

But, instead of this working as a disadvantage, the visitors used the referee’s decision as an inspiration to push on and maintain their lead.

Not only did 10-man Gedling preserve their advantage – they extended it when Barry Payne grabbed two more goals.

On 70 minutes a cross-field pass from Will Heath found Payne in the six-yard box who placed the ball beyond Green.

And on 90 minutes he sealed his hat-trick and a 4-1 win for his side.

Bramald, frustrated with the result, said he would like to bring in new players to try and stop his team’s inconsistency troubles. He said: “We’re always on the lookout for new lads.

“It’s ok when you are winning all the time but when you are inconsistent as we are, we may need new players to help solve this problem.

“We need to defend as a team not just as a back four and I think we lack a bit of experience and some good talkers in the side.

“Hopefully we can bounce back next week. I’m not overly worried about things yet.

“We just want to finish higher than we did last year (13th in Division I) and then move on from there.”

AFC Emley: Green, Leech, Higginbottom, Battye, Hazelden (Sean), Hill, Joice, Townsend, Birmingham, Laud, Kenworthy. Subs: Bucknall, Cliffe, Hawthorn.

Gedling Town: Sprig g, Spiers, Smith, Dyle, Soar, Payne, Colton, Mellon, Jones, Jefferies, Heath. Subs: Humphries, Simms, Roche.