Ollerton Beaten By Play-Off Hopefuls Glasshoughton

Ollerton Town were unable to extend their winning run to three games as they were beaten 4-1 by promotion-chasing Glasshoughton Welfare on Monday.
The Town found themselves 3-0 down at half time but Glasshoughton saw one of their scorers, Tom Carr, dismissed midway through the opening period. Ollerton managed to score first in the second half through top scorer Gav King but were unable to mount a comeback as Glasshoughton then scored again late on to kill the game.
Ollerton struggled to settle in to the game early on as Glasshoughton took an early lead in the 4th minute through Ryan Ferguson. Ferguson nodded a free kick from the left hand side past stand-in goalkeeper Joe Hankey, who was called up just over an hour before kick off when usual stopper, Joey McCormack, was forced to withdraw from the squad late on due to personal reasons.
Ollerton were struggling to get a foot hold in the game and Glasshoughton were able control the game and eventually double their lead through Tom Carr. Carr’s low free kick didn’t appear to be troubling the Ollerton goal when struck, but a deflection off the Ollerton wall wrong footed Hankey and the ball to slip rolled into the net.
Glasshoughton looked to be in control of the game for most of the first half but Ollerton were handed a lifeline when Tom Carr ruined his earlier contribution as he was sent off for an altercation with Ollerton defender Liam Cooper. Carr kicked out at Cooper after the duo tumbled over in the area which provided Ollerton with a route back into a game which looked to be slipping away from them.
Glasshoughton dropped far deeper as a result of Carr’s dismissal which allowed Ollerton to dominant the play near the end of the half, but they were made to pay for not being more efficient enough in possession as Andy Horbury clinically finished off a Glasshoughton counter as Ollerton ended the half trailing by three goals.
Ollerton made a change at the break, introducing striker Kyle Ludlow for defender Tom Moody in an attempt to get back into the game. This change provided an instant impact as Sam Stretton played a lofted ball forwards, which was knocked down by Ludlow towards Gav King who saw his left footed strike sail just wide of the post.
Ollerton continued to push forward in search of a goal and marauding full back Zac Argyle was clipped by Sam Pashley after making a great overlapping run into the Glasshoughton box and a penalty was correctly awarded to Ollerton. King stepped up in search of his 23rd of the season and made no mistake as he placed the penalty in the bottom left corner, sending Mateusz Zaniewski the wrong way.
Dave Winter's side were now in the ascendancy and they almost pulled another goal back. Stretton played in a brilliant cross from the right side which was powerfully headed towards goal by Tristan Burrell but Zaniewski made an excellent fingertip save to tip the ball over the bar.
Glasshoughton has been throughly tested defensively throughout the second half but they ended all hope of an Ollerton comeback as they scored their fourth of the game through Ferguson. The goal came from another incisive counter attack as Horbury slipped in Hullock who cut the ball back to Ferguson who tapped home his second of the game.