Wembley Dream Over For Another Year As Ollerton Eliminated!

Ollerton were knocked out of the FA Vase at the first time of asking after a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of St Andrews.
In truth, Ollerton were never really dreaming of Wembley but ideally would have been wanting a decent cup run to bring the club some money in and give the team a morale boost to take into their league form.
However, there hopes of progressing into the next round were hampered when they were drawn against St Andrews, a side who not only play a level above but who were also semi-finalists in the Vase last season. Despite this, Ollerton matched their opponents for most of the game and led at half time thanks to a Gary Armstrong free-kick. In the second half however, St Andrews scored twice thanks to Shay Brennan and Callum Earls and this was enough to see them progress.
Ollerton had the strongest chance of the game’s opening stages as Kyle Ludlow saw his effort denied by the outstretched leg of Antcliffe in the St Andrews goal.
Doughty was proving to be a constant threat in the St Andrews attack and he twisted on the edge of the area before firing wide whilst later he saw a header well saved by Simon Smith in the Ollerton goal.
Around mid-way through the first half, Ollerton took the lead. Kyle Clarkson was fouled on the edge of the area and after a dummy by Ludlow, Gary Armstrong ran onto the ball and curled a shot around the wall and into the corner of the net.
It was a great moment for Ollerton but it seemed to spur St Andrews on even more and they came close on two occasion before the half time interval. A cross from the left was deflected towards the Ollerton goal by Paul Burgess but thankfully Smith reacted well to tip the ball over the bar and secondly, Smith was on hand once again to save what looked like a certain goal after a close-range effort.
Ollerton started slowly in the second half and were made to pay as St Andrews levelled it up. A cross from the right found it’s way into the area and Shay Brennan managed to find some space and volley into the corner of the net.
After drawing level, St Andrews nearly handed Ollerton the lead back. An attempted headed clearance was skewed straight into the path of Ludlow and he was inches away from heading over the advancing ‘keeper, but agonizingly it went wide of the goal.
St Andrews were placing Ollerton under more and more pressure as they fought to take the lead. Brennan fired wide as he looked to score his second of the game before Callum Earls whipped a free-kick from the right towards the near post where Smith did well to save.
Their continued pressure finally paid off however as Earls fired St Andrews into the lead. The ball fell kindly for the left wing back and he did well to strike past Smith to score the eventual winner.
Despite Ollerton’s valiant efforts, they were unable to find a way back into the game and St Andrews held on to secure the winner. Though the game ended in defeat, Ollerton can be proud of their performance as they worked extremely hard and gave it everything; unfortunately it just wasn’t to be.
Ollerton’s attention now switches to next Saturday when they travel to Phoenix FC in the league, hoping to return to winning ways.