Yorkshire Amateur League: Proud Stanningley doomed to the drop

Damon Nicholls’s hat-trick guided Ealandians to a 4-2 victory at second-bottom Wibsey that took them from out of the drop-zone to 10th and seven points clear of bottom club Stanningley, who have just two games left. Nicholls’s treble was followed by Colin Schofield’s strike to put Ealandians 4-0 up and they held on for all three points despite Wibsey pulling goals back in the second half through Danny O’Donnell’s penalty and Jordan Northin’s free-kick. Wibsey sit second bottom with two games left, six points ahead of Stanningley but only one behind Ealandians, who also have two games left. Athletico, meanwhile, climbed up to eighth and eight points clear of Stanningley with four games left to play with Mohammed Qasim notching a treble in a 6-3 victory at home to sixth-placed Horsforth St Margaret’s. Adeeb Jawad, Mahine Malik and Saad Abbas also netted for Athletico, who need five more points to be assured of finishing outside of the bottom two which Stanningley now cannot escape. Proud Stanningley have made a major contribution to the Yorkshire Amateur League by way of supplying players for the league’s representative XI as well as winning Senior A, the Yorkshire Old Boys Shield and the Marflitt Trophy. Fourth-bottom Calverley United have three games left and they aided their cause with a 3-3 draw at third-placed Drighlington. Calverley raced into a 3-0 lead through strikes from Louis Edmonds, Will Baker and Tom Hird but Drig fought back to gain a point. That result kept Drighlington one point behind second-placed Grangefield Old Boys with both sides having two games left to play. Champions Farsley Celtic Juniors were not in action. Stanley United climbed up to seventh – five points clear of the bottom two and with five games left to play – following a 3-0 win at home to fifth-placed Alwoodley. Stanley’s Kieran Wright, Liam Powell and substitute Ben Laycock bagged a goal apiece. Promotion-chasing Wortley continued to successfully play catch-up in the Championship with a 3-2 success at home to second-bottom Beeston St Anthony’s. Sixteen-year-old Tyler Walker and 19-year-old Edward McGarry-Dushaj notched for Beeston but a double from Ryan Sharrocks and Lewis Mawson’s strike gave Wortley another three points that pushed them above St Bedes and into third. Wortley are 12 points behind second-placed Morley Town but have eight games in hand on them and 13 points behind leaders Gildersome Spurs Old Boys, who have also played six games more. Gildersome eased to a 6-1 success at third-bottom Ealandians Reserves thanks to doubles from Jamie Lloyd and Stephen Wales plus goals from Adi McCormack and Gary Suffield with Jonny Pickles consoling Ealandians. Morley obliged 3-1 at fourth-bottom Garforth Crusaders as Josh Goodwin, Nathanial Hazell and Jovan Kioseff netted. Fifth-placed Leeds City Old Boys also remain in the promotion race given that they are just two points behind Wortley having played just two games more. City bagged six points in three days with fourth-placed St Bedes falling to a 2-0 away loss on Saturday in what was their penultimate game. Late goals from James Horsley and Josh Standley settled the tie with City then recording a 2-0 success at home to Shire Academics on Monday night. Fifth-bottom Mount St Mary’s had to settle for a goalless draw from their game at Leeds Independent, who sit bottom of the pile. In Division One, third-placed Woodkirk Valley were dealt a big blow in their promotion bid as they were blitzed 6-0 at fifth-bottom Farsley Celtic Juniors Reserves, who were inspired by Tom Ormondroyd’s hat-trick. Fourth-placed Idle also lost 4-1 at sixth-placed Beeston Juniors Old Boys. Fourth-bottom Alwoodley Reserves were beaten 3-2 at home to eighth-placed Dewsbury Rangers while Golcar United, who sit fifth, thrashed third-bottom visitors Collingham Juniors 7-2.