Sporting Armley clinched the Division 1 title with 3 games to spare with a 6-1 hammering at home to Wellington.
Danny Goulden got the ball rolling for Armley with a rare headed goal. Gareth Knight played a through ball to Iain McBurney who raced in on goal and fired a shot at the near post. The keeper pulled off a decent save but the ball bounced up on the line and all Goulden had to do was nod it in.
Armley were bossing the game and looking comfortable, but Wellington equalised with a great strike against the run of play. A deep free kick was floated in at the far post where it was met by a Wellington striker who fired a fierce first time volley into the net.
Danny Pearson was between the sticks for Armley as manager Jason Lovett opted to rest Dennis Spencer ahead of Wednesday night's cup final. Other than the goal, Pearson had a solid performance and made a couple of decent saves in the second half on the rare occasions that Wellington created an opening.
Sporting never let their heads drop after conceding the goal, and they soon restored their lead when McBurney and Goulden combined. Macca laying on the pass to Danny, who took his time to work an opening and place the ball into the net with his left foot from 10 yards.
Sporting were running rampant by this time, with chances coming thick and fast. Goulden had a couple of efforts run just wide and Wayne Howe missed a glorious opportunity from close range but fired wide. He also had an earlier effort from range palmed over the crossbar.
Armley's strikers eventually combined again before the break and this time Goulden turned provider for McBurney on the counter. Macca making no mistakes with the finish to send his side 3-1 up at the interval.
It was more of the same in the second half as Armley created chance after chance. Every player on the pitch was first to the ball and looking to take the pass. Sanderson was solid in defence alongside Wheeler and King, and Mark Pearson was playing with confidence, supporting Aaron Dix on the left side who was having one of his best performances of the season. Smith and Knight were bossing the centre of the park and Howe on the right was relishing his chance to join the attack of Goulden and McBurney.
Armley earned a corner and Wayne Howe was on the spot to get the final touch on Gareth Knights effort on goal which came from it. The shot looked like it was going in anyway, but Howe made sure and touched it over the line from close range.
Howe then made way for James Cowlam who returned to the team after going missing for the previous game. He made an instant impact and contributed to Armley's 5th and 6th goals.
After some good team play across the midfield, Gareth Knight got his second assist of the game when he played in Danny Goulden to score his 3rd goal of the game and 35th of a prolific season so far.
Cowlam then raced down the wing and crossed low for his opposite winger Aaron Dix to tap home number 6 from close range.
With one eye on the cup final, Jason Lovett brought off McBurney and Goulden and Jhagjeet Jhagra was given another chance to impress up front with 15 minutes remaining, and he almost got his name on the scoresheet with a bullet header from Dix's cross, but for the second game in a row his header was parried for a corner.
Sporting's final chance of the game also fell to Jhagra, but when the keeper spilled a long range effort straight to Jag's feet, his first touch let him down and he fired wide with the goal at his mercy. In the end it didn't make any difference, Armley had won the game 6-1 and with it the league title.
