GREAT Harwood skipper described winning the Ribblesdale Senior League as “one of the greatest days of his life” as The Cliffe side broke their 108-year duck yesterday.

After the wet weather washed out their title showdown with Padiham on Saturday, and their home clash against Barnoldswick, Great Harwood were crowned champions as Padiham’s game against Baxenden was also abandoned.

It meant the coveted trophy returned to Great Harwood for the first time since 1900 when Walter Kirkbright won the famous old trophy.

Armer said: “It’s one of the greatest days of my life.

“We’ve come so close in the past, and a few people have accused us of being bottlers in the past, but we haven’t bottled it this year.

“It was a bit disappointing that we weren’t able to win it on the field but the league table shows that we’ve won more games than anyone else, and we’ve lost fewer so I think we deserve it.

“I’m so proud of the lads, especially the bowlers, because they’ve done tremendously well this year.

“Lads like Stuart Maher, Paul Newton and Paul Holdsworth have set up the wins and we can’t thank our pro, Syed Shahabuddin, enough because he’s been tremendous for us this year.

“He’s taken 92 wickets this season, even though he hasn’t scored as many runs as we would have liked, but a lot of times we’ve knocked sides over for low scores.

“But it’s been a squad effort and the lads who have come in from the second team have all done a job.

“Everyone knew their job and we did it. Whether it was taking a catch, a wicket or chipping in with some runs - everyone has done their bit.”

But Armer admitted that, on a personal level, being the first Harwood skipper for over a century to lift the trophy was a special moment.

He added: “I’ve been at Harwood for 23 years, 16 of those in the first team, and I’m very proud to be the first captain to win the league for over a hundred years.

“It’s been a long time coming. We’ve been so close many times but now we’ve done it.”