Ollerton Denied By Woodwork In Hallam Defeat

Report by William Lavelle. Photo by DC Photography Retford.

Ollerton Town will have been disappointed to leave empty handed after a well fought contest ended in a disheartening defeat against play-off chasing Hallam.
Hallam had only suffered one defeat in their previous eight league games but were without an away win in over three months and given Ollerton's relatively solid home form, Dave Winter's side will have been disappointed to not take anything from the game.
The two teams looked well matched early on but Hallam were the far more incisive team and were more ruthless in terms of creating chances as a long ball flicked on to Micah Bishop gave Hallam a great chance to take an early lead but 'keeper Jack Dickens was quick off his line and was able to deny Bishop well in the one on one situation.
Ollerton looked to clearly be losing the midfield battle early on as they struggled to retain possession and were forced to operate through long balls but were still able to take the lead against the run of play through prolific striker Kyle Ludlow. Lewis Bingham whipped in a free kick from the left hand side into a dangerous area and Ludlow, who rarely loses an aerial battle, headed the ball back across goal to give Ollerton a crucial one goal advantage.
Ollerton were able to take the lead somewhat against the run of play but Hallam took less than 5 minutes to level the game through Bishop who made no mistake with his second clear chance of the game. Bishop was able to pounce on a loose ball when no one in the Ollerton defence was quick enough to react and was able to strike the ball across an onrushing Dickens to level the game.
Hallam started to take control off the game late on in the half and almost took a lead into half time as a weak header from Luke Pickering put Dickens under pressure from Bishop but thankfully the Ollerton defence was eventually able to clear.
Ollerton were clearly being overrun late in the half and were able to make an astute to tactical decision to move from the usual 5-3-2 to a 4-4-2 diamond late on in the half and this switch in formation allowed Ollerton to gain a degree of control in the game and to not be dominated by the Hallam midfield.
Ollerton saw an upturn in performance late on in the half as Brandon Shaw played a classy one-two with Eden Homer on the left wing and eventually got a shot on goal but it was well saved by Darwent as the half ended all square.
Ollerton ended the first half strongly but weren't able to carry any momentum into the second half as Hallam dominated the early stages. Bishop found himself unmarked for his half volley on the edge of the box but was unable to keep his effort below the crossbar and Hallam continued to look like the more threatening team offensively.
Ollerton had started to gain a foothold in the game after a ragged start to the second half but still looked to have defensive frailties as Mitchell Dunne was able to score his 3rd goal in his last two games against Ollerton. Bingham was caught in possession high up the field and an incisive counter attack was finished easily by Dunne who calmly slotted past Dickens.
Ollerton continued to push forward late on and almost found an equaliser through a stunning long range strike from Zac Argyle but his effort crashed against underside of the crossbar and bounced the wrong side of the line as Hallam held on.
Mitchell Dunne continued to be a constant threat on the counter as Ollerton pushed forward in search of a late equaliser, but Hallam were able to hold on to a well earned 2-1 lead as Ollerton failed to test Hallam goalkeeper Darwent regularly enough, in spite of the late pressure.