Leeds Combination League: Hope Inn stabilize position at summit going into Christmas break

Hope Inn Whites’ players and management will be entitled to enjoy themselves this Christmas, after solidifying their position as Jubilee Premier Leaders with a resounding 5-1 win over Kippax.

Josh Morley struck Kippax’s only goal whereas Daniel Brown, Danny Leafe, Stephen Mallory, Andrew Lawrence and Danny Maw all scored for Hope Inn who are five points clear of Main Line Social.

Main Line moved up to second in the table with an exciting 6-3 win away to Colton.

Ashley Bell (2) and Anthony Booth had put Colton into a good position in the game but their goals were overshadowed by strikes from Adam Fowler, Ryan Shorrocks (2) and Bradley Francis-White (3).

Bramley Town put some distance between themselves and bottom side New Armley by beating the beleaguered outfit 3-2 at home. Craig Townsend (2) and Jordan Webb scored the goals for Bramley with Mark Ferguson and Brendan Stuart notching for New Armley.

Third-placed HT Sports were on County Sunday Cup duty.

In the Premier Division Armley made it 28 points from a possible 33 with a comfortable 2-0 win over mid-table Rodley.

Armley will be pleased with the win that cemented their position at the top of the table, especially considering their lengthy suspension list which has seen them without a number of key players for several weeks now.

The Woodcock continue to chase Armley at the top of the table, and they showed no signs of slowing up as they spanked Swillington Welfare 7-3 away from home.

Martin Roebuck, Luke Cook (2), Matty Jackson, Scott Wilton, Josh Handley and Connor Archer sharing the goals for The Woodcock.

In the ‘battle of the bottom’, two braces from Ray Spencer and Terry Tomlinson sent East End Park on their way to an exciting 5-3 victory over Harehills.

Daniel Marcinkowsski (2) and Harvey Boot netted for ’Hills.

That result ensured that Harehills will be rooted to the bottom of the Premier Division over the Christmas break.

Division One side Acorn spurned an excellent chance to pull level on points with first-placed Bardsey as they were forced to settle for a disappointing draw at home to Kirkstall Crusaders Academy.

A James Burgess double and a solitary strike from Aaron Chapman meant that the Crusaders shared the spoils in a 3-3 draw.

Sporting Pudsey firsts had no such problem in their clash against third-placed Commercial, winning 4-3 to lift themselves off the bottom of the table.

Goals from Kyle Jeffrey, Chris Jones and Anthony Coates at least gave the Commercial manager something to be happy about.

Crown & Anchor are the new bottom side in the division following their 7-4 home defeat to Temple. The Crown & Anchor contributed to their own downfall by putting the ball into their own net.

Emilo Bozzo’s fine four-timer plus goals from Cameron Liddell and Matthew Hatch rounded up the goalscoring for Temple.

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Old Crooked Clock claimed a timely win against Amaranth Crossgates Athletic to maintain their three-point lead at the top of Division Two, writes JOHN McNAMARA.

Strikes from Jamie Davies and Thomas Hawkins were enough to see off the challenge of plucky Amaranth who scored their goal through Chris Mosley.

Second-placed Rothwell kept up the heat on leaders with a 3-1 win over Headingley Rovers, who scored through Jack Howcroft.

The clubs will return to action after the Christmas break with Rothwell three points behind Old Crooked Clock with two games in hand.

Third met fourth as Churwell entertained Sheepscar with Churwell falling to a 1-0 loss courtesy of an Andy Blair strike.

Western Juniors and West Yorkshire Falcons are just one point apart, but there was nothing close about their fixture as the Falcons soared to a 9-0 win. Tom Woollett scored four times for the Falcons, with a Joe Egemole hat-trick and a Jose Flores brace rounding off the scoring.

The title race in Division Three has seemed to be done and dusted for a while now, with Athletico Bramley going into this round of fixtures with a 14-point lead at the top of the table. However, chasing side Pudsey Athletic refused to lie down as they beat Athletico 3-1 at home with goals from James Obank, Adam Cole and Tom Needham.

The New Inn Whites continued their fine form in front of goal with a resounding 8-1 thumping of New Armley Reserves. Joshua Goodwill (3), David Neath (2), Ben Howarth, Phil Davis and Oliver Ainsworth struck for the Whites to keep them in third-place.

Republica Internationale reverted to old ways in their clash against Original Oak crashing to a deflating 7-2 loss. Mourad Shoushan and Matt Booth struck for the Leeds Nerazurri with Gav Connor (3), Jimbo Pascoe, Stu Hogben, Sam Swin and an own goal completing the rout.

Elsewhere, Bramley Amateurs romped to a 7-2 win at AFC Elford who struck through Khizer Sharif and Hassan Pervais.