Ollerton beaten as chances go begging

Dave Winter named an unchanged team from last week’s impressive 4-1 win over Rossington Main and his side nearly took an early lead. Kyle Ludlow was played through and after firing under the Westella ‘keeper, he saw his effort cleared off the line.

The opening stages of the game were quite even and Westella also saw an effort cleared off the line, Mike Pecora’s shot beating ‘keeper Scott Gretton but not defender Alex Sennett.

As the first half went on, Ollerton started to get on top and create more and more chances. Mark Carter’s terrific ball put Lewis Bingham through, and he cut inside before seeing his effort deflected onto the bar.

Kyle Ludlow was next to test out Lewis Exall in the Westella goal. Tom Cooke did brilliantly from right back and his cross found Ludlow who then saw his low effort saved well.

Ollerton continued to go close to breaking the deadlock, Josh Bowkett seeing a shot deflected wide before Lewis Bingham’s ball across goal was cleared off the line, with Carter waiting to tap in.

Lewis Bingham had the better of Westella right back, Robert Dotson, all game and he turned the defender inside and out once more in the first half, before setting up Ludlow for another chance which he couldn’t convert.

Ollerton’s pressure continued into the second half and in the opening exchanges, Bingham had the ball in the net but the referee’s assistant judged that he was offside when he turned in Josh Bowkett’s cross.

The home side were then presented with a golden opportunity to finally take the lead, when they were awarded a penalty after a foul on Bingham in the area. It was Carter who stepped up and he saw his effort saved by Exall before firing the rebound over the bar.

Remarkably, that is the fourth penalty in a row that Ollerton have failed to convert this season and it was at that point that Ollerton began to wonder if it was going to be their day.

Danny Walker missed a good chance to put Westella ahead against the run of play, firing wide after going through on goal before Ollerton continued their onslaught. Josh Bowkett found space on the right hand side of the area and his rasping drive brought a fine save from Exall, and from the resulting corner Greg Tobin headed over.

Next up was Brandon Shaw, who was played through on goal after Sam Dockwray’s brilliant pass beat the offside trap. With a few goals to his name already this season, the Ollerton left back would have been fancied to put his side after but just as he went to strike the ball, it bobbled up meaning his shot skewed wide of the target.

With a quarter of an hour to go, Westella stunned their hosts by taking the lead. A hopeful effort from range deflected off defender Alex Sennettand wrong footed ‘keeper Scott Gretton who could only watch as the ball bounced in.

Ollerton continued to apply heavy pressure on the Westella goal but in the end, it just wasn’t to be as Westella held on for three valuable points. Though Ollerton will feel like that was undeserved, goals win games and Westella deserve credit for holding on and taking their chance when it came. Ollerton need to move on from this disappointment quickly, and start being more clinical in front of goal, starting next Saturday versus Nostell Miners Welfare.