Bad Week Continues for Ollerton

Ollerton Town unfortunately surrendered a hard earned first half lead as they endured a 3-1 defeat in the mid table clash against Swallownest in a game which was finally played having previously been postponed on five separate occasions.
Ollerton continued to operate in the 4-5-1 shape which produced a positive start against Yorkshire Amateur and almost took an early lead through prolific striker Gav King. The returning Mark Carter cut the ball back to King on the edge of the six yard box and he beat his man but prodded his effort against the post.
Swallownest then had the chance to take the lead as a ball in from the left hand side wasn’t cleared and Axel was presented with the chance at the back post but he wasn’t able to convert into the open net.
The visitors were controlling the early stages of the game and again were unfortunate not to break the deadlock as Carter played an exceptional through ball to Tristan Burrell out on the right wing but that pass was outdone as Burrell’s subsequent cross perfectly found Sean Dickinson in the middle, but the creative midfielder couldn’t direct his effort on target.
Dave Winter’s men had dominated the first half and finally reaped the rewards of their efforts as Lewis Bingham netted his first goal since the turn of the year. A direct ball forward from stand in goalkeeper Luke Pickering cleared the Swallownest defence and Bingham pounced upon the loose ball and classily lobbed over the advancing Pollard for a deserved Ollerton lead.
Swallownest has struggled to create chances throughout the half and had generally been outplayed but almost found a route back into the game as Axel once again had the chance to score but his left footed shot from the edge of the six yard box sailed just wide of the post as the visitors saw out their one goal lead until half time.
The home side had endured an underwhelming first half but looked to be a reinvigorated side in the second half and were awarded a penalty in what was considered to be a contentious decision by the travelling support. Ollerton captain Sam Stretton was alleged to have pushed over a Swallownest man and substitute Goalthorpe slotted past Pickering from twelve yards out with his first touch of the game.
Goalthorpe’s equaliser gave Swallownest the impetus to push on and Swallownest were awarded a second penalty within five minutes of the first, albeit in a slightly less disputed decision. Kyle Ludlow unfortunately tripped up Short and Goalthorpe doubled his tally to send Swallownest in the lead just before the hour mark.
Ollerton had struggled to match their impressive performance in the first half but came alive in the second half once Kyle Ludlow was moved from centre half to centre forward. Ludlow made an instant impact upon being played up top as King clipped a ball inside towards Ludlow who was one on one with Pollard, but the Swallownest shot stopper won the battle on this occasion.
Ollerton continued to search for the equaliser with the introduction of Ludlow to the strike force causing the home side problems, but Swallownest were eventually able to see off the game through Short. Short jinked around the defence before calmly placing the ball through a barrage of Ollerton players to kill the game off with just a few minutes to play.
Ludlow had another chance to pull one back for Ollerton late on as the dominating forward teed himself up for the volley but he couldn’t divert his effort towards the keeper in what likely would’ve only been a consolation goal anyway.