KULWINDER Sandhu will have been disappointed with his side’s tenth-place finish in their second season in the top flight of the Toolstation Northern Counties East League after they had claimed sixth spot in their debut season.

However, it wasn’t a case of Albion going backwards, more that the division was incredibly tough.

The previous year, when Brighouse Town won the title, there were three stand-out clubs but in the season just finished the league broke down into four sections.

The top three battled it out for the title, fourth down to ninth formed a second tier and, with two clubs cut adrift at the foot of the table. Albion and Pickering Town were very much the best of the rest.

Albion were seven points behind the club immediately above them but 11 better off than neighbours Thackley, who claimed 12th place. Typically, for a mid-table club, Albion won almost half of their league fixtures and lost almost half.

There was little joy in the cup competitions for Sports, although there were some satisfying victories. They put Thackley out of the FA Cup and Bridlington Town, another league rival, out of the FA Vase, both at the first hurdle.

However, Albion failed to progress in the following round of either competition after that and they also fell at the second hurdle in the West Riding County Cup, but they had been drawn at Harrogate Town.

Albion lost 2-0 at the Conference North outfit. One of Town’s scorers on the night was former Bradford City prospect Louie Swain, who had had loan spells at Bradford Park Avenue and Guiseley.

The best knockout competition run for Sandhu’s men was in the NCE League Cup, where they reached the last eight but lost 3-2 at home to Premier Division rivals Staveley MW in a rearranged semi-final.