ALBION Sports have finally seen off the threat of Penistone Church, so will visit Campion for a Bradford derby and play-off semi-final next weekend.

Only the Northern Counties East League Premier Division winners won automatic promotion, with Emley taking the title by nine points.

But Campion at least held off the challenge of Garforth Town to claim second place, giving them a home semi-final against whoever finished fifth.

Albion finished their regular league season on the first weekend of April with a 2-1 win at Pickering Town.

Penistone also won that day, thumping Goole 4-0, and that left them nine points behind fifth-placed Albion, but with three league games left to play.

Due to the respective goal differences of the two sides, Church knew that three wins from three would see them pip the Bradford side to the final play-off spot.

And when they roared back from 2-0 down with 20 minutes to go to beat a strong Silsden side 3-2 last Tuesday, the momentum looked to be with them.

But Penistone were only able to manage a 1-1 draw at home to Knaresborough Town on Wednesday night, meaning they can no longer catch Albion, regardless of their final day result at Barton Town.

That Bradford derby on Saturday, April 27 almost didn’t happen either.

Garforth won 1-0 at Eccleshill United on Tuesday night, meaning they ended their season in second place.

That meant Campion had to win their final league game at home to neighbours Thackley on Wednesday night to snatch back that runners-up spot.

In a wild game of football, Aidan Kirby and Paddy Sykes gave the hosts an early 2-0 lead, only for Finn Donovan and Ben Grech-Brooskbank to quickly level matters.

Sykes’ second goal gave Campion a 3-2 lead at the break, and while Nathan Cartman stretched that on the hour mark, Grech-Brooksbank hit back immediately for the Dennyboys.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Ben Grech-Brooksbank scored twice in an epic Bradford derby at Campion in midweek.Ben Grech-Brooksbank scored twice in an epic Bradford derby at Campion in midweek. (Image: Alex Daniel.)

With Campion only a goal up with 15 minutes to go, they finally finished Thackley off with a quickfire double from Sykes and Dan Illingworth to win 6-3.

Over in the Northern Premier League East Division, Brighouse Town moved out of the relegation zone with a crucial 2-0 win at Consett on Tuesday night, secured by goals from Joshua Dacre and Jack Wilson.

Liversedge are in line for a top-half finish in that division, having secured an excellent 2-1 home win over play-off hunting Carlton Town last night.