Following 4 successive cup games, Sporting Armley faced Drighlington Adwalton in their first league game since they beat Adwalton 4-2 at home on 4th November.
They eventually turned out 7-6 winners, but it could very easily have ended in a draw, or even a defeat, in what turned out to be the most dramatic game of the season to date.
Manager Jason Lovett was forced to shuffle his pack before kick off with the late withdrawal of centre back Glenn King. The absence of King meant Gareth Knight dropping back into the defence alongside Richard Moses, Phil Wheeler and Mark Pearson.
Captain Kevin Bruce was also unavailable, but Armley welcomed back Michael Bowe who took up a central midfield role alongside James Lee. Bryant Coldwell and Liam Robinson were on the wings with Danny Goulden and Dean Russell up front, completing a very attacking line-up.
John Moses, as usual, took his place in goal.
Armley started with confidence, but Adwalton took the lead against the run of play when a deep free kick was glanced over John Moses and into the Armley net.
Sporting fought back and quickly equalised with a headed goal of their own. This time, centre back Gareth Knight was totally unmarked in the 6 yard box to head home a Danny Goulden corner.
Armley's second goal was a goal-of-the-season contender from top scorer Danny Goulden. When Phil Wheeler won the ball on the right wing, and tapped the ball to Goulden, few expected him to unleash a 35 yard rocket into the top left corner of goal.
One man who certainly didn't expect it was the Adwalton goalkeeper, who was rooted to the spot as the ball hit the 'postage stamp' area of goal between the post and crossbar. A truly wonder goal.
Armley hit another brace of goals without reply to put themselves in a commanding 4-1 lead early in the second half.
Goulden was once again on target as he tapped in a brilliant low cross from Bryant Coldwell who was proving unstoppable on the right wing.
On the other flank, a largly quiet Liam Robinson suddenly made his mark on the game by winning the ball on the edge of the box and firing an unstoppable curling shot into the top right corner. It was fantastic football from Armley.
Sporting were looking comfortable, but then made some critical errors to allow Adwalton a way back into the game. Firstly a free kick was converted rather softly past Moses who was slow to react to an otherwise tame effort over the wall.
Minutes later Adwalton won a penalty when one of their players tripped over in the box. There was no contact from the Armley defenders but the referee felt otherwise. The penalty strike was mis-hit into the ground but bobbled past Moses nethertheless, having dived the opposite way.
With the tide turning against them, a moment of brilliance from Liam Robinson played Russell through on goal to restore Armley's two goal lead. He somehow split the defence with a cheeky reverse cross (I don't even know how to describe it in words!) and Russell ran through on-side to round the keeper and slide the ball home.
The match was starting to resemble a basketball match, with the action swinging from end to end. With the score at 5-3, Adwalton notched another goal to make it 5-4 and were then awarded a second penalty for a handball in the box (ball to hand!).
With the chance to equalise for 5-5, the same Adwalton player who scored the first penalty took to the spot once again. His shot was much better this time round, but Moses spectacularly palmed the ball to safety with a fantastic leap to his right when the ball looked like bursting the net.
Armley then scored again to put themselves 6-4 up. Robinson once again turning provider as he played a slide rule pass to Goulden who finished from close range to seal his third hat trick of the season.
With the game in a comfortable position, Lovett brought on his substitutes Elliott Stubbs, David Barlow and Wayne Howe for Michael Bowe, Mark Pearson and Phil Wheeler.
However, the game took another turn as Adwalton scored twice within the space of 2 minutes to make it 6-6 with only a few minutes remaining. With Armley's players all over the place, there was suddenly a real danger of throwing away all three points.
Fortunately for Sporting, Bryant Coldwell still had the pace and skill for one last bursting run down the wing. His last minute cross headed home clinically by Dean Russell to make the score 7-6.
Seconds later the final whistle blew and Armley drew a collective sigh of relief as they picked up a very welcomed 3 points.
Manager Jason Lovett was quick to acknowledge the hard work and desire of his players, particularly Coldwell and Goulden who were equally deserving of the man of the match award.
