Emley look for Christmas cheer on road
AFC EMLEY travel to Rotherham today to face Parkgate in the Northern Counties East League Division 1 – their final game before Christmas and their last away game of 2018.
And they’ll be hoping it will end in some Christmas cheer after collecting only one point from the previous nine available on the road.
After last week’s home game against Nostell was victim of a
“Even the top sides have bad days and suffer heavy defeats, but they are able to bounce back, and I’m challenging my players to do that.
“We’ve lost six times in league games this season, but none have been back to back, and we need to make sure we don’t lose that claim.
“This game is about regrouping, coming out fighting, and making sure we return home with something.”
With defender Dan Lockwood (ankle), midfielder Jack Davies (knee) and for ward Josh Bradshaw (ankle) already sidelined, Berr y has a fresh fitness concern over wideman Matty Waller (thigh). In addition, experienced midfielder Marc Townsend must ser ve a one-match suspension after reaching five cautions. With a population of 7,000, Cleator Moor is on the famous Coast of Coast Walk, which spans Northern England, and was regularly visited by the artist LS Lowr y, who painted local scenes. Derby County’s former England international goalkeeper Scott Carson came t hrough t he junior ranks at the village’s football club, formed in 1909.
Like Shelley, they are new to the North West Counties this season, having moved up from the Wear- frozen pitch, the Pewits have had to wait two weeks to try and vanquish the memory of their 3-0 defeat at Skegness last time out.
Emley defeated Parkgate 2-1 at the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground in August and will be hoping to do the double over their South Yorkshire opponents, who were relegated from the Premier Division last season.
Parkgate were in a spot of bother when they visited Emley, with only one point from three games and sitting second bottom. Their bad run continued into September, where they again failed to pick up a win, but October was a different story.
Five straight wins saw them start climbing up the table, and despite some poor results in November, they have found their feet again, with another five straight wins and are currently ninth, five places and six points ahead of Emley.
Emley conclude 2018 by hosting Ollerton Town on December 29.