Ollerton Let Lead Slip Against Hall Road

Photo and words by Nigel Owen.

Ollerton Town let a 2-0 lead slip on Tuesday evening as Hall Road Rangers left The Fast Frame with all three points following two goals in the final ten minutes.

The Town had gone ahead inside the first half but sloppily allowed Rangers to halve the deficit just before the break. The home side were then reduced to ten men which swung the momentum further in Hall Road's favour and in the end, two late efforts saw the Hull-based outfit complete their comeback.

Ollerton welcomed back captain Sam Stretton and also included in the match day squad were three additions to the Town ranks, announced earlier in the day. Kyle Ludlow got the nod to start up front, with Conor Higginson and Julian Topliss starting on the bench.

Ollerton were straight onto the front foot, with Ben Partridge getting into the box and beating Tommy Waud before forcing Hall Road ‘keeper Jody Barford into action.

Four minutes later Lewis Price won the ball in midfield and pressed forward before hitting a shot which deflected over the bar.

Hall Road we’re struggling to deal with Partridge’s pace and the striker broke away again in the sixth minute with Barford saving his side again.

With just 19 minutes gone, Ollerton were forced into a change with the injured Price replaced by Higginson. Moments after the change, Barford once again denied Partridge after another good run.

Ollerton’s dominance was only missing a goal, and it came just before the half hour mark, when Partridge was brought down in the box, for the third successive game. Up stepped Higginson to calmly convert the spot kick, despite Barford guessing the right way.

On 44 minutes, the hosts doubled the lead when make-shift right back Aaron Sennett-Nielsen charged down the wing, cut in from the right and shot home from inside the box with his weaker left foot.

A minute later, the visitors were almost back in the game, Conner Harman hit a shot from the edge of the box, which 'keeper Levi Owen pushed away well.

Then, right on the stroke of half time, Rangers did manage to halve the deficit. This time, after Ollerton give away possession in midfield, Harman found the net to make the score 2-1.

The half ended without further incident with the visitors, thanks in no small part to Barford, right back in the game.

The second half was just four minutes old when Ollerton should have increased their lead. Lewis Murr’s cross from the left found Ludlow, but the striker couldn’t keep his effort down and the ball clears the crossbar.

A minute later, Ludlow had another shot, but this time his effort was saved by Barford.

Just after the hour mark, Rangers were almost level when Dan O’Connor cut inside and shot only to his effort deflected onto the post by Owen who reacted quickly to claim the loose ball.

Then, came the incident which changed the game. An Ollerton corner was claimed by Barford, but as the ‘keeper fell he appeared to be caught by the boot of defender George Slack. After a skirmish, the referee restored order before deciding that there had been intent, and Slack was shown a red card. As a result, Partridge was sacrificed in order to bring on defender Reece Conroy.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the home side could have killed the game off on 79 minutes. An effort by Max Dungworth, on for the injured Higginson, hit the upright and bounced fortuitously straight back into the hands of Barford.

Four minutes later, the visitors got back on level terms when Richard Medcalf dribbled past two players before firing home.

Then on 85 minutes, the comeback was completed when the visitors scored what turned out to be the winner. After Ollerton failed to fully clear their lines, the ball was played in to O’Connor who hit a superb shot to make the score 3-2.

Hall Road then comfortably played out the remaining minutes to register their first win of the season.

Ollerton will consider themselves unfortunate to have finished on the wrong end of the scoreline, having had enough of the play and enough chances to have taken all three points.