Ollerton Edged Out In Five-Goal Nostell Clash

Ollerton were frustratingly beaten away at much-fancied Nostell on Saturday

Ollerton Town were left frustrated on Saturday afternoon after being beaten 3-2 by Nostell Miners Welfare in a game which, on another day, could have easily seen Ollerton take home the points.
It was Ollerton who started the brighter and they twice exposed a shaky-looking Nostell back line. Top 'scorer Gav King beat the offside trap with ease and he was able to round Nostell 'keeper Matty Brooke but from the tightest of angles, he could only find the side netting.
Two minutes later and King was terrorising the Nostell defenders once again. A good passage of play resulted in King finding space inside the area and he attempted to cut inside on his right foot but appeared to have his feet tripped by the Nostell defender. Despite Ollerton protests, the referee waved for play on.
In the 10th minute, with their first meaningful attack of the game, Nostell drew first blood. A ball from the left made it's way to Joe Thornton on the opposite side of the area and he was able to dispatch a low shot into the corner of the net.
The home side's lead only lasted for ten minutes however. Much to the fury of the Nostell management, the Wakefield outfit gave the ball away too easily and Sean Dickinson was able to pick it up and slip the ball through for Gav King who lifted his shot into the roof of the net for his ninth goal of the season.
Ollerton would have now been hoping to keep things tight but instead a slice of good fortune saw Nostell retake the lead. Adam Hayton struck a speculative shot from distance which deflected off the foot of Ollerton's Reece Conroy, sending the ball a different direction, past the dive of 'keeper Phil McGann.
King nearly scored a fantastic second after hitting a first-time volley towards goal but it just missed the target as Ollerton kept pressing for another goal.
Nostell's Danny Critchlow, who along with King is one of the three players tied at the top of the Division One top scorers chart, looked to add his tenth of the campaign but saw an effort saved by McGann.
Just before the interval, Jake Tittley delivered a ball into the Nostell area which wasn't properly cleared, allowing Liam Cooper to deliver it back into the box where King's diving header went wide of the post.
Ollerton would have gone into half time optimistic of being able to get something from the game after a pretty even opening 45 but soon after the restart, they almost found themselves 3-1 behind. Nostell wing Kai Hancock skipped inside from the left wing and hit a low effort towards goal which Cooper thankfully managed to deflect off target.
Near the hour mark, Ollerton went close again. Young Aaron Sennett-Neilson did brilliantly to get down the right flank and he pulled the ball back towards the middle for Ben Bowring who couldn't sort his feet out in time, King then picking up the loose ball and seeing a shot blocked.
When Ollerton's second did come, it arrived in the oddest of circumstances. Sean Dickinson put too much power on an attempted ball over the top, and it looked to be a 'bread and butter' catch for Nostell's Matty Brookes. Instead, it was a case of 'butter fingers' as Brookes allowed the wet ball slip through his grasp and bounce into the empty net, much to the anger of his managers but the delight of the Ollerton players and faithful.
In the 78th minute, Nostell scored what would ultimately prove to be the winner. A 50-50 in midfield broke to the home side and a ball through for Joe Thornton saw him run into the area and finish calmly past McGann for his second of the game.
Ollerton kept going in the dying stages, looking to draw level once again. Ben Bowring and Conor Higginson both saw low efforts saved well by Brookes who also redeemed his earlier mistake, getting down well at the feet of King to snuff out another Ollerton chance.
As it was, Ollerton would return to Nottingham without a point whilst Nostell were left celebrating their first ever win over The Town at the fifth time of asking.