Toolstation Northern Counties East League Premier Division: Albion Sports 4 Armthorpe Welfare 1

ALBION Sports climbed to third in the table last night after with a comfortable home win over struggling Armthorpe Welfare.

The home side opened the scoring after just 15 minutes when Jordan Hendrie’s through ball found Omar Habib, who slotted home.

Habib then doubled Albion’s lead midway through the first half when he netted an acrobatic scissor kick after Lewis Morgan had seen two efforts charged down in the same attack.

The home side took that 2-0 lead into the break but had to wait until the hour before adding a third, Marcus Edwards latching onto a weak backpass.

The visitors hit back through Dean Conway minutes later, and Edwards thought he’d replied when Habib had played him in behind Welfare’s defence but the assistant referee’s flag ruled that out.

Albion’s Joe Barden wrapped up the scoring ten minutes from time with a wind-assisted, 35-yard effort.

Sports spokesman Pete Cusack said: “Joe’s shot may have been helped by the strong wind but it was always going in - it was well struck despite the conditions, and the Armthorpe keeper had no chance.

“A lot of people in the ground thought Marcus had scored a second but the linesman’s flag went up.

"As it happened, it didn’t matter because it was a pretty straightforward win for us. It took us to third place but we have played a lot of games.”