"The league is ours to throw away now", said Armley captain Glenn King after his side extended the gap at the top of division 1 to five points.
With a game in hand over their nearest rivals Quarry and only 7 league games left to play, you would be hard pushed to find anyone who would bet against Sporting lifting the Division 1 trophy at the end of the season.
The 2-1 defeat of Quarry will be remembered as one of the most battling displays in Armley's short history. With only 11 men to call upon there was no option for tired legs other than to dig in and continue fighting until the 90th minute. Phil Wheeler in defence, carrying an injury to his right leg, had to be extra careful in case he caused himself a more serious problem.
Both teams had their chances in the first half as the game swung one way and then the other. In the first 10 minutes Armley were dominating the game and winning those crucial second balls. Danny Goulden struck the post with a low long range drive and Mark Pearson almost put his side in front but his first effort was saved well by the keeper and his shot from the rebound went fractionally wide.
Quarry stepped up the gears and it was Armley who came under pressure for the next 15 minutes. Dennis Spencer in goal was forced to make a number of saves and Armley struggled to get the ball out of their own half during a spell of many corners for Quarry.
Armley eventually came through unscathed, but came very close to conceding when a shot was parried towards his own net by Spencer. Luckily Wayne Howe was in the right place at the right time to hook the ball away before it crossed the line.
Armley got a grip back on the game towards the half hour mark and took the lead after a great team move down the right hand side. Karl Smith hit a long cross from right to left which Mark Pearson picked up on the opposite side. He beat his marker and hit a low cross into the penalty area which Smith ran onto, controlled with one touch before firing home the opening goal from close range.
Armley were looking comfortable at this stage, but all their hard work was undone by a shocking display from the referee. Three Quarry players were in clear offside positions when a ball was played through. The referee waved play on, and Spencer had no chance against three strikers, one of which rounded the keeper and tapped in the equalising goal.
Armley captain Glenn King was booked for dissent following the goal, and the shocking refereeing decisions didn't stop there. So many decisions were going against Armley that the half-time team talk was much about ignoring the referee as it was about beating Quarry.
As they trailed Armley by 2 points in the league, it was Quarry who were under more pressure to win, and it showed in the second half. They committed more men to their attack, but this left them more vulnerable on the counter.
Armley thought they had taken the lead when a Karl Smith strike was pushed away by the keeper, only to strike a defender and cross the line for an own goal. As Smith ran away celebrating, the referee cancelled the goal claiming Smith was in an offside position when his shot was made. Despite pointing out the man stood on the goal-line, the Armley players were unable to persuade the official to change his decision.
Another shocking decision followed as Andi Bellhouse was dragged to the ground when about to shoot from 10 yards. As Bellhouse fell, play carried on and a shot went wide, prompting the referee to claim he was allowing the advantage. Surely a penalty kick would be more of an advantage, and why couldn't he have awarded the penaly after the advantage didn't occur? Armley were getting more and more furious with these decisions.
As the game drew on, it was beginning to look like a score draw would be a decent result for Armley. The entire team was battling hard, especially when Quarry had the ball, to ensure that they didn't lose any ground on their close rivals.
But with 7 minutes remaining, Sporting were awarded a penalty after Danny Goulden tricked his way into the box and forced the defender to make a sliding challenge. Goulden went to ground and the referee gave the decision Armley's way.
Mark Pearson stepped up to the spot, and after much time-wasting by Quarry players fired an unstoppable strike into the top right corner. It was just what the midfielder needed to boost his penalty taking confidence after all his previous strikes this season the goalkeepers had managed to get a touch on. Not this one though, it was a thunderbolt!
Sporting then shut up shop for the remaining minutes, with Gareth Knight sitting in front of the back four as an extra defender, Cowlam roaming the midfield and Pearson and Smith on either wing coming back to help the wing-backs Dix and Howe. Even Andi Bellhouse got back to defend, using his head to clear a Quarry corner as the minutes ran out.
