2018 Begins With Draw Against Winterton

Report by William Lavelle.

A tight clash between Ollerton Town and Winterton Rangers unfortunately petered out to a 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon as The Town started 2018 with a hard earned point.
A draw against a 9th placed Winterton side who have only lost one of their last four is in no way a disgraceful result but Ollerton may feel that the pressure applied in the second half was enough to claim more than a solitary point.
Winterton started off the match looking like the more dangerous team and arguably should’ve took the lead within the first 10 minutes as Luke Anderson was able to round Ollerton goalkeeper Ryan Brooks only to be denied by Ben Bowring’s last ditch clearance.
Ollerton’s general play on ball looked to be superior to Winterton but a common theme of Ollerton’s play over the last few weeks was once again noticeable as the final ball still seemed to be lacking some quality. Winterton looked to be the more ruthless team in terms of creating chances and could’ve broken the deadlock as Elliott Broughton chipped ball found Anderson but his lobbed effort fell just wide of the post.
Ollerton started to come in to the game around the thirty minute mark as Sam Stretton’s low effort from the edge of the box was well saved by Dale Coy but Ollerton struggled to build off this slight upturn in chances.
In the 30th minute Winterton were finally able to take the lead as James Dean Atkinson spread the play out wide to Robbie Start who drilled a low ball towards Lewis Bemrose who made no mistake with his first time finish.
Ollerton ended the half strong and were unlucky to not equalise as Gav King’s free kick looked to be dipping towards the bottom left corner but was well saved by Coy.
The Town looked to start the second half as the stronger team but there generally seemed to be a lack of quality in the final third from both sides. Ollerton still looked to be the team applying pressure and should’ve found the equaliser in the 60th minute as Lewis Bingham’s corner was dropped by Winterton keeper Coy and the goalmouth scramble which ensued looked certain to end in an Ollerton goal but was eventually ended as the ball was turned over the bar by King.
Ollerton continued to be the team on the offensive and finally reaped the rewards for their second half performance as Tom Moody’s cross from the byline was diverted towards Winterton goalkeeper Coy who wasn’t able to claim the ball and palmed it into the back of his own net. Moody’s equaliser wasn’t the quality goal that Ollerton’s build up play warranted but it was a deserved goal given Ollerton’s second half dominance.
Ollerton continued to push forward late on in the game against what looked to be a tiring Winterton side but they weren’t able to carve out enough quality chances to trouble Winterton’s defence and eventually had to settle for a well earned point.
Ollerton will ultimately be disappointed that their second half dominance wasn’t enough to snatch all three points but on the balance of play a draw could be considered a fair result.