Steeton 0

Emley 5

STRUGGLING Steeton crashed to a heavy defeat to table-toppers Emley at Cougar Park in the North West Counties League Division One North.

Although still bottom of the table, Steeton had put in some improved performances, and were unlucky to lose on penalties to Barnoldswick Town the previous Tuesday.

The Chevrons looked to bring in some new talent, with Tyler Marsh and Evan Graves making their debuts.

The first half started evenly, and it was the home side who looked more likely with some early shots on goal.

Tawonga Gumboh thought he had broken the deadlock after 15 minutes, only to fire his audacious bicycle kick straight at goalkeeper George Clarke.

Just minutes later, Emley scored a controversial opener. Steeton ‘keeper Danny Thorpe rushed to a clearance on the edge of his box, but he could only parry straight to striker Thomas Rose who fired into an empty net from 30 yards.

Steeton continued to push on and were dealt a cruel blow on the half-hour mark when the visitors were awarded a penalty.

James Ngoe was adjudged to have fouled Rose in the box and the winger received a booking. The spot-kick was duly dispatched by Robert Bordman who fired straight down the middle past Thorpe.

Shortly after the restart substitute Scott Stein was sin-binned for dissent after arguing with the referee, and the Chevrons were temporarily down to 10 men.

Bordman scored his second and the pick of the goals with a sublime free-kick after 54 minutes, firing into the top corner past a diving Thorpe.

The Emley man was unlucky not to complete his hat-trick minutes later with a thunderbolt that crashed against the bar.

Things went from bad to worse for Steeton, with the visitors scoring a fourth when Thorpe misjudged Jack Steers’ header, with the ball slipping through his hands and into the back of the net.

The hosts came close to a consolation after some neat build-up play down the left, but Gumboh skied his effort from close range when it looked easier to score.

The action did not stop there, with Ngoe seeing red for a second bookable offence after a late tackle with just over 15 minutes remaining.

Emley made the extra man count, with substitute Finn Donovan capitalising on a hashed clearance from Thorpe to coolly finish into the bottom corner.

The visitors also finished with 10 men, with Steers limping off the pitch with a hamstring injury in added time.

Roy Mason, Steeton manager, said: “I think when you’re at the bottom you don’t get any luck, and if it wasn’t for bad luck, we wouldn’t have any luck at all at the moment. Sometimes you’ve got to make your own luck.”

When asked about Ngoe’s red card, he added: “James has shown a bit of frustration and caught the lad a little bit late.

"He’s an honest lad and I think he’s made an honest attempt for the ball, but he’s not got there in time."

Steeton: Thorpe; Boyd; Marsh; White (c); Leach (Stein 40); Graves; Gumboh; Ngoe (sent off 73); Price (Jeffery 69); Briggs (Baldwin 69); Armitage. Unused substitute: Clarkson

Emley: Clarke; Dawson; Gibson; Price (c); Riordan; Steers; Metcalfe (Donovan 71); Claisse; Bordman; Eyles (Charlton 64); Rose (Knight 71). Unused substitutes: Glavin, Coker