Ollerton Pay the Penalty as Hallam Win 3-0!

In what was a competitive mid table clash, Hallam ran out 3-0 winners, although the 3-0 score line may have been slightly flattering for how close the game was at times. Hallam had the better of the chances, as you'd expect of a club aiming for a top 6 finish, but Ollerton enjoyed spells of their own during the game, despite being down to a bare bones due to a host of player unavailabilities.
Both teams appeared to be quite stretched early on but apart from a sliced volley from Ollerton’s Gav King, there were few genuine chances and shots on target.
The game exploded into life in the 19th minute when Ollerton ‘keeper Ryan Brooks took out an onrushing Hallam attacker for a clear penalty which was converted with ease by Mitchell Dunne who made it 10 goals in his last 8 games. 
After this goal, Hallam really started to take control of this match and forced Ollerton to be more selective as to when they decided to go forward. Brooks more than made up for giving away the penalty with two saves in quick succession from two low powerful shots.
Sam Fewkes came incredibly close near the end of the half with a close range header which should’ve made it 2-0 before the break.
Ollerton did start to have a degree of success before but all that could be mustered was a low ball from Ash Shannon into Josh Bowkett who struggled to pull the trigger at the crucial moment. 
Hallam had small successes at the start of the second half which saw James Reed’s effort from just outside the box being pushed wide by Brooks and Mark West’s low curling effort to the bottom corner again saved by Brooks.
By the 60th minute however Ollerton were starting to dominate proceedings and two set piece opportunities went begging as initially a Lewis Bingham free kick was just out of reach for several Ollerton attackers. Directly after this an Ollerton corner after was unsuccessfully cleared on multiple occasions prior to eventually being cleared off the line by Charlie Myers. 
With Hallam looking to be penned in for most of the second half, the hosts managed to step it up a gear and Ollerton would’ve found themselves two down if it hadn’t been for an last ditch interception by James Weaver, the teenager impressing all evening.
In the 75th minute with their second real chance of the half, a long ball found Myers on the right and he passed the ball across to Dunne who was able to easily slot home at the far post to double Hallam’s advantage.
Ollerton continued to press and nearly found a way back into the game in a moment of controversy. Shannon went clear inside the area and after he teed up Bowkett for the empty net, the former York City youngster was blatantly taken out only for in-form Gav King to stroke the ball home. However, referee Ellis Mills had blown up already for the earlier foul on Bowkett, much to the disgruntlement of the Ollerton faithful and Mills himself apologized for this after the game.
With the Ollerton faithful up in arms again after Mills only showed the Hallam man the yellow card, their side’s poor record with penalties continued as Bowkett’s penalty was subsequently saved by Andrew Sneath who has now saved two penalties in as many games which really took the wind out of Ollerton’s sails. 
Ollerton seemed to implode from there on and moments later, a cross to centre of the 6 yard box by Chris Wood found George Griffiths who was easily able to head home for a comfortable 3 goal lead which Hallam were able to see out without much pressure from a deflated Ollerton side. 

Words by William Lavelle. Photo by Ryan Watterson.