Lancaster City experienced back-to-back defeats as they were beaten on Saturday.

Lancaster City missed the chance to go level on points with the sides in the NPL Premier play-offs as a solitary goal was enough to give Emley AFC a 1-0 win, writes DAVID HALL.

As Storm Austen turned into Storm Boelo, driving wind and rain made for very challenging conditions for both sides on Saturday.

It took a while for the first chance of the game, when Joe Amison’s shot from the edge of the box was saved by Ben Bottomley.

Nic Evangelinos shot narrowly over on 14 minutes, when he found space in the box, before the best chance of the game to that point saw Charlie Bailey force Bottomley into an expert save, turning away his effort for a corner.

The hosts grew into the game with half-chances followed by Hayden Lindley’s shot which needed saving by Brad Kelly.

It would be a familiar story for the only goal of the game, which arrived five minutes before half-time.

A long ball upfield for Lewis Gould saw him break away from Dylan Thompson before rounding Kelly and slotting home the eventual winner.

The second half started with Thompson firing over on 47 minutes, before both teams had the ball in the net and were thwarted by offside decisions.

With Emley seeking a second goal, the dangerous Aaron Haswell forced another save from Kelly and Conan Bird curled an effort wide.

At the other end, Steven Yawson shot wide on the hour and Bottomley spared a defender’s blushes from Bailey’s cross 10 minutes later.

The keeper also made a double save on 78 minutes before being called into action again four minutes later.

As the pressure mounted Emley almost scored a carbon copy of their goal but, on this occasion, Kelly saved Gould’s effort.

Charlie Bailey and Nathan Caine saw efforts blocked, but it wasn’t enough as City fell to defeat for the second league game in a row.

Next up for the Dolly Blues is another away trip as they visit FC United of Manchester on Saturday (3pm).

Emley AFC: Bottomley, Heaton, Ejupi (Hanson 5), Stacey, Lindley, Sheppeard, Bird (Farrar 86), O’Connor, Gould, Haswell (Stephenson 72), De Girolamo (Clegg 72) Sub not used: Devine.

Lancaster City: Kelly, Amison, Brownhill, D Moonan, Oliver, Thompson (Lawson 60), Tweedley, Fofana (Caine 65), Evangelinos (Nolan 85), C Bailey, Yawson (J Bailey 76) Sub not used: B Moonan.