Report by Will Lavelle
A late Haydn Ward goal saw Ollerton fall to a 3-2 home loss to Parkgate on Saturday afternoon down at The Fast Frame. Ollerton will feel a loss may have been slightly undeserved but it now leaves them in 18th and looking precariously over their shoulder at a potential relegation fight.
Ollerton were gifted the perfect start having been awarded a penalty within the opening two minutes. Lewis Bingham’s penalty was well saved by Chris Butt but Ollerton’s talismanic striker Gav King wasn’t to let the away side off the hook as he converted on the rebound to give Ollerton an early lead.
Parkgate were unable to settle and struggled to retain possession in the opening ten minutes but were but were still able to find a quick response through Bruno Holden. Sam Stretton saw his attempted clearance fall straight to the feet of the Parkgate striker who slotted past Ben Woodcock from just a few yards out.
Neither team were able to take hold of the game after a hectic opening ten minutes with an optimistic half volley from Holden being one of the only sights at goal til the half hour mark.
The brief lull in the game was then ended in unfortunate circumstances for Ollerton as Tom Moody turned Holden’s cross into his own net in an attempted clearance to put the visitors into a somewhat fortunate lead.
Dave Winter’s men responded immediately to going behind as Matt Crookes’ poorly timed tackle gave Ollerton the chance to once again respond from the spot. Ollerton’s captain Sam Stretton assumed responsibilities on this occasion and stroked the ball into the bottom right corner.
Both sides threatened again near the end of the half with Holden and Bingham coming close for Parkgate and Ollerton respectively, but a frantic first half was brought to an end with four goals evenly shared between the two teams.
The away side started off the second half the stronger with Holden once again appearing to be the main threat, but they weren’t able to create many clear cut chances as the second half descended into quite a cagey affair.
Ollerton only began to come into the second half past the hour mark as they started to test Butt in the Parkgate goal. Their best chance of the half came from an incisive counter attack which ended with Bingham firing across Butt who could only parry away towards King, but the striker wasn’t able to react quick enough to pounce.
Both sides created half chances late on but it looked like a point each in this lower mid table clash, until Haydn Ward headed past Woodcock and stole all three points for Parkgate in the 86th minute. Simpson’s whipped free kick was powered home by the defender to condemn Ollerton to a fourth straight defeat in what will undoubtedly be a bitter pill to swallow for Winter’s men.
# | Team | Pl | Pts |
14. | Rossington Main | 38 | 42 |
15. | Skegness Town | 38 | 40 |
16. | Ollerton Town | 38 | 37 |
17. | Armthorpe Welfare | 38 | 37 |
18. | Shirebrook Town | 38 | 34 |
19. | FC Bolsover | 38 | 31 |
20. | Harworth Colliery | 38 | 29 |