Sporting Armley earned their place in the semi-finals of the Leeds & District FA Cup with a confident display against East End Park Reserves following almost two months without a game due to the foul weather over Christmas and New Year.
With three consecutive victories in November before the snow set in, there was a real danger that Armley would find themselves losing momentum in their first game of 2011. East End Park brought the game to Armley in the opening minutes, with several long range efforts and corner kicks. However, the back four of Mark Pearson, Glenn King, Richard Moses and Phil Wheeler were able to deal with the pressure, giving vital protection to goalkeeper John Moses.
Manager Jason Lovett had a strong squad at his disposal, and elected to play Kevin Bruce alongside James Lee in centre midfield, with Liam Robinson on the left and Gareth Knight on the right. Danny Goulden and Dean Russell, both scorers for Armley in the previous cup tie, took their usual places up front.
Armley looked dangerous on the counter attack, but East End Park seemed to be dominating the midfield battle early on. However, all that changed when Gareth Knight and James Lee switched positions. Knight and Bruce worked well to regain control of the middle, and Lee utilised his pace and trickery on the wing to set up some good scoring chances.
However, it was centre back Glenn King who played the biggest part in shaping the opening goal for his side. Pushing up to support an Armley attack, King's eventual effort on goal was tipped over the bar for an Armley corner. King was part of the resulting scramble in the box, where a couple of headers were flapped away by the keeper before the ball fell at the feet of Dean Russell who slammed home from close range.
It was the striker's 4th goal in just 5 games for Armley this season.
Sporting went into the break with a two goal cushion when James Lee set up Liam Robinson for a simple tap in. Lee skillfully worked his way past two defenders and into the box from the right wing, crossing low past the goalkeeper where Robinson had the easy task to tap in for his 6th goal in 6 games for Armley.
Unfortunately for Robinson, this would prove his only meaningful contribution to the game as he sustained a cut on the knee soon afterwards, and had to pull himself off just minutes into the second half. Bryant Coldwell came on and moved to right wing, with James Lee switching to the left.
East End Park stepped up the pace in the second half, and eventually bagged a scrappy goal that gave them home of a comeback. In similar circumstances to Armley's first goal, East End won a corner and following a scramble in the 6 yard box, they managed to slam the ball home through a crowd of players.
As East End pushed forward, Armley hit on the counter to restore their two goal advantage, with a typical breakaway goal from top scorer Danny Goulden. James Lee winning the ball on the edge of his box and playing a great long ball to Goulden, who beat one defender to run in on goal.
The goalkeeper almost saved at the feet of Goulden, but the ball somehow bobbled up and over the keeper, and Goulden tapped in on the half volley to make it 3-1.
John Moses was having one of his best games of the season, taking command of his area very well, making a few saves and taking crosses well. However, he will be the first to admit he was at fault for allowing East End Park back into the game from a deep free kick.
The ball was floated into the Armley area, with Richard Moses looking likely to head clear. However, the call came from his brother John to leave it for him to catch, but he missed the ball and it was headed softly in to the net to give East End Park home once more.
Jason Lovett then decided to shut up shop by substituting Dean Russel up front for midfielder Mike Bowe, forming a 5 man midfield with Danny Goulden as a lone striker. The change worked well and Armley kept East End at bay and more so, created another opportunity to score. This time, captain Kevin Bruce raced clear down the right wing before firing an unstoppable shot from an acute angle to make it 4-2.
With 5 minutes to go, Wayne Howe was brought on up front for Danny Goulden, with fresh legs to chase down the tiring East End defenders. The game was over and 5 minutes later the referee blew his whistle to confirm Sporting Armley as semi-finalists for the first time.
