LEAGUE leaders Emley proved too much for Tadcaster Albion as they fell to a 2-0 defeat in the NCEL premier division.

The Brewers had been handed a 5-1 thrashing in the reverse fixture in October and they again struggled to find a way through, with goals from Ruben Jerome and James Walshaw either side of half time extending the West Yorkshire side’s lead at the top of the table to six points.

Cody Collins remained sidelined for Mick O’Connell’s side, as did captain Dan McDaid, but Fatlam Ibrahimi was a last back in the squad.

Tadcaster were under the coche from the outset, with Dan Thirkell clearing straight to Iyrwah Gooden, whose shot was deflected for a corner.

Albion though quickly countered when Joe Crosby met a through ball which left him one-on-one with Aleksander Petrovic, who got to the ball first.

Olli Norman was on the end of another defence-splitting pass shortly after, but was ruled offside.

Gooden blasted over the bar on the 10-minute mark before Petrovic was out well to thwart the ever-alert Crosby, whilst Joe Wilton plucked a dangerous cross out of the air.

The Brewers had an outstanding chance when a perfectly-placed corner fell at Thirkell’s feet 10 minutes later, but he could only side-foot the ball wide.

And they were almost made to rue that missed chance as the half reached its midpoint, with Connor Qualter heading Joe Kenny’s free-kick off the line.

But Tadcaster continued to threaten, with Raeece Ellington’s cross just in front of the onrushing Crosby, before the latter turned provider for Norman, who was again ruled offside.

Albion’s resolve was finally broken five minutes before the interval, a quick counter seeing Jerome meet Gooden’s cross to tap home unopposed at the far post.

Norman saw an early half-chance cleared as he looked to pull Tadcaster level after the break, but they were instead left fortunate when Emley somehow blasted a close-range effort well over the bar.

Connor Qualter was yellow carded for a tackle on Ross Hardaker on 57 minutes, whilst Norman, seeing that Petrovic was limping, tried an audacious shot from 30 yards, but was off target.

But Emley continued to knock on the door, Alex Metcalf seeing a long-range effort easily cleared, whilst a 35-yard free-kick was well-defended by the Brewers.

And with 67 minutes on the clock, the hosts doubled their advantage, a partial clearance dropping to Sam Pashley, who crossed the ball to Walshaw to hammer home into the corner to double his side’s advantage.

Tadcaster though refused to give up, and following a neat move out of defence, Norman’s low shot was well-saved by Petrovic.

Luke Stewart replaced Qualter with 20 minutes remaining, and though his first involvement saw him hauled to the ground on the edge of the box, the Emley shot-stopper was on hand to produce another save.

The Brewers were instead fortunate moments later when Metcalfe missed a sitter from 10 yards out to put Emley out of sight.

Jordan Hines’ introduction brought with it another Tadcaster free-kick, but though Tweed’s set-piece fell kindly for Crosby, his shot was pushed away for a corner.

The hosts almost made it three in the last minute of normal time when ex-Brewer Nathan Curtis hit the upright, but Tadcaster were able to weather the storm for the four minutes of added time.

An encouraging performance for the Brewers to build upon ahead of their League Cup fixture at home to Silsden tomorrow evening (7:45pm).