Ollerton in Dogfight After Late Dronfield Goal

There was last-minute heartbreak for Ollerton Town on Saturday afternoon as a late winner by Dronfield Town's Stuart Hill sentenced Dave Winter's side to their third successive defeat, leaving them in the group of teams perilously close to the bottom two in the Northern Counties East League Division One.
It had been a fairly evenly-matched game with both sides wasting good opportunities and it looked like the points would be shared until the last attack of the game where a corner met the head of Hill who saw his header bobble into the back of the net.
Ollerton's best chance of what was a rather quiet first half came in the 23rd minute through the league's top marksman, Gav King. King found room and space down the left flank and he charged into the area before seeing his near post shot parried for a corner.
Dronfield too had the odd, half chance but neither side had done enough to go into the interval with their noses in front as the deadlock remained after the opening forty-five.
The visitors introduced burly forward Callum Mawbey at the break and he had the best chance of the early stages of the second half, heading a clear opportunity well over the Ollerton goal.
Ollerton then brought on Ellis Wright up front with around twenty minutes to go and the youngster almost made an immediate impact. Picking the ball up on the left wing, Wright did brilliantly to work his way to inside the area and his low shot was stopped brilliantly by the leg of the Dronfield 'keeper.
Wright, a product of Ollerton's relationship with the Draper-Norton Academy, was then involved moments later as Ollerton went close to breaking the deadlock once more. Again, Wright found space down the left of the Dronfield area and he found Sean Dickinson, who flicked the ball on to Gav King, but the prolific forward could only drag a timid shot wide of the upright.
There was then a prolonged stoppage in the game after a serious looking knee injury to Dronfield's Mike Fereday. The forward left the field on a stretcher before being taken to hospital and all at the club wish him well.
With the game back underway, Dronfield looked to have steadied the ship somewhat after being under some strong Ollerton pressure and Mawbey wasted another golden headed opportunity after being picked out at the far post.
Ollerton weren't out of it however and they almost found a goal in the dying embers of the game. Teenager Aaron Hewitt, on as a late sub, did brilliantly to keep the ball and charge towards the visiting defence before slipping the ball through for King. He opted to try and shift the ball back onto his right foot but in doing so saw the chance snuffed out by the resolute Dronfield defence.
Minutes later, Dronfield got their winner. A corner from the left skimmed off the head of Hill in the middle of the box and the ball slowly found it's way into the bottom corner to snatch what would have been a deserved point away from Ollerton.
The Town now find themselves five points away from the relegation zone with it's current occupiers, Harworth Colliery and FC Bolsover, both recently rejuvenated after changing their squads to help their respective survival bids.
Ollerton have them both still to come in the remaining seven games of the season, as well as fellow strugglers East Yorkshire Carnegie, and the club now faces an important few weeks as they look to preserve their status as a step six side.