Leeds Combination League: Investigation into semi-final puts Sanford Cup showpiece on hold

But the biggest drama came with the postponement of the Sanford Cup final.

Both Leeds City Rovers and Hope Inn are under investigation by the league for allegedly fielding ineligible players in their recent semi-final, which Rovers won.

HT Sports, who are the other finalists, will have to wait for the outcome of the investigation to see who they will play in the showpiece final.

In other cup action, first division strugglers Main Line Social secured a welcome win when they thrashed Sporting Pudsey 8-1 in the Combination Trophy.

With the Jubilee Premier League all over bar the shouting, Whitkirk Wanderers beat Chapeltown Fforde Grene 3-0 in the only fixture of the week.

Fidel Mhlolo was on target again for Wanderers, while Callum Harrison and Bradley McKenzie completed the scoring.

In the league below, there was much more action. Firstly on Tuesday, a brace from Kieran Browning and goals from Witcher and Thorpe helped Swillington Welfare to a 4-3 victory away to AFC Leodis.

On Thursday, the goals frenzy continued with Colton coming out on top, 7-5, against bottom club Chapel Allerton in a topsy-turvy encounter.

Oliver Murtagh, Christopher Parkin and Ashley Bell all notched twice for Colton while Matthew Ellis scored the seventh. A hat-trick from Martyn and strikes from Blissett-Grant and Watt weren’t enough for Chapel Allerton.

On Sunday, Swillington Welfare were looking for another unlikely win as they faced champions New Pudsey.

Goals from Lockett and Foster were the only bright sparks though for Welfare as they succumbed to a 7-2 defeat.

Dave Thornton (2), Patrick Sutton, Brodhi Wilkinson, Dec Forber, Liam Mallinson and Jack Kitson were the scorers for New Pudsey as they reaffirmed their status as the best team in the league.

In Division One, league leaders South Seacroft didn’t play which left East End Park with the opportunity to leapfrog them at the top of the table. They started their task with a resounding 4-0 victory away to Horsforth Saints.

Glenn Hendrix, Kieran Evans, Damien Curtis and Nat Welsh were the scorers for East End.

The 4-0 rout of Horsforth was followed up with a hard-fought 2-1 home victory against The Woodcock on Thursday night before the run of fixtures finally caught up with East End’s players.

Tired legs no doubt contributed to their 7-3 loss against Harehills on Sunday. Glenn Hendrix was on target once again for East End but Rob Smith (3), Ricky Smith (2), David Allanson and Karl Young all notched for second-bottom club Harehills.

East End will be ruing that loss as the result means they are only one point clear of South Seacroft at the top of the table with one game left to play in contrast to Seacroft’s 4 remaining fixtures.

That victory was welcome for Harehills though as earlier in the week the side fell to a 3-1 home defeat against Oulton Athletic.

Ricky Smith notched for Harehills, but a brace from Phil Negelein and a goal from Tom Blackburn ensured Athletic took three points back to Oulton.

Halfway House Bramley finished their season off with a terrific 7-4 victory over neighbours Bramley Town.

Luke Backhouse ended a terrific season on a high when he struck a hat-trick for Halfway House and goals from Ben Carrol, Jordan Heyes and Kurtis Heyes finished off the demolition job.

At the bottom of the table, Harehills and Horsforth Saints are one point apart but both face the daunting prospect of facing South Seacroft in their bid to avoid the ignominy of finishing bottom of the league ladder.

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In Leeds Combination League Division Two, Hunslet Club striker Richard Wheelhouse was denied the opportunity to add to his goals tally as his side’s fixture at home to Beechwood Sundays was cancelled, writes JOHN McNAMARA.

Hunslet were awarded the win for the cancellation and those three points took their end-of-season tally to 40, seeing them finish the campaign unbeaten and 12 points ahead of their nearest rivals.

The last fixture of the Divison Two season will be played this weekend when seventh-placed West Yorkshire Falcons take on sixth-placed Acorn (Bramley) in what is set to be a dead rubber, with Acorn already four points clear of the Falcons.

In Division 3A second-placed New Moorside took the title race down to the last day of the season by beating league leaders AFC Travellers 3-1 away from home. Ben Jones and Marcus Liburd were the scorers for Moorside.

They followed that impressive win up with an 11-0 demolition of strugglers Republica Internationale and a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Armley, with Dan Adjibona scoring the only goal of the game.

Travellers responded to their defeat by beating West Leeds 3-2 away from home with Daniel Flesher (2) and Paul Barrett cancelling out a brace from West Leeds’ striker Rob Fenton. Haydn Bowler (2), Kieran Foster (2), Kieran Marshall, Mark Temple-Baker, Mark Kay and Eddie Griffin were on target for FC Armley as they handed Republica Internationale their second heavy-defeat of the week.

However, a goal from Matthew Booth at least gave Republica something to cheer about in this 8-1 loss. Northern Star continued their fine recent form with Kieran Dieghan, Bobby Roberts and Atal Habibi scoring to help them on their way to a 3-2 win against Old Crooked Clock.

AFC Elford sprang the shock of the week in Division 3B as they cruised to an 11-4 victory away to Crossgates. Cameron Foley (3) and Rob Brawn scored for the home side, with Riyadul Islam (5), Khaeleel Ali, Harmil Grewal, Niall Wood, Hassan Pervais, Adiel Ali and Hammad Ali netting for Elford.

Crossgates managed to restore some pride later in the week as they beat Bramley Lions 6-4 in another high-scoring game which saw Danny Robinson score four times for the Lions.

Runaway league leaders Kirstall Crusaders Academy, meanwhile, continued their title procession with a battling 1-0 win over Armley Reserves.