Alfreton Town progressed into the fourth qualifying round of the Emirates FA Cup with victory over Emley AFC on an afternoon with mixed conditions that certainly played a part.
Despite a challenging first half where the visitors stood firm and held The Reds to a stalemate after forty-five minutes, Billy Fewster Fewster’s solo run was the key moment in getting Alfreton’s name in the hat for the draw.

Starting the brighter side, Alfreton tested Declan Lambton in the Emley goal on numerous occasions in the opening ten minutes, with efforts from Billy Fewster and Jake Day being saved well by Lambton.

Captain Dwayne Wiley looked to continue his scoring run with two close range strikes, though neither found the net, the first trickling wide of the post and the second being thwarted by the Emley defence.

The visitors had chances before the interval, with target forward Ruben Jerome latching onto a long-throw and seeing his low effort saved by George Willis, as well as full-back Sam Pashley finding space for a header, though Liam Waldock was back to clear the danger.

Upon the restart, Fewster collected the ball in his own half and set about charging at the visiting defence, evading two challenges and cutting into the area from the left-hand side before firing an superb arrowed effort into the top corner to hand Alfreton the lead.

Emley fought well to keep themselves in the game, and it was a tale of two missed penalties from each team near the end of the match, with Day having his spot-kick saved by Lambton to keep his side in the game, before Emley had a golden chance to equalise with only added-time remaining.

James Walshaw had the opportunity, but Ofton goalkeeper Willis denied the substitute from twelve yards with a quality save, as Alfreton eventually saw out the match and progressed to the next round of the competition.

ALFRETON: Willis; Clackstone, Lund [Perritt 87], Digie, Wiley, Cantrill, Day [Taylor 87], Waldock, Newall, Salmon, Fewster [Pollard 90+3].
EMLEY: Lambton; Pashley, Hardaker, Barks [Curtis 83], Knowles, Cowgill, Walker [Clegg 66], Kenny, Jerome, Lawrence, Haigh [Walshaw 72].

Image kind courtesy of Bill Wheatcroft