Nostell are victims of daylight robbery

Toolstation NCEL Division One 

Nostell Miners Welfare 0-2 Ollerton Town

Simon Houghton and Jason Dodsworth trundled off the field at full whistle wondering how did their Nostell Miners Welfare team not win the game.

Nostell, now one of the most exciting attacking teams in the Division, battered Ollerton, an ill-disciplined rabble who were lucky to have eleven men for the full 90 minutes, but just could not score. Jack Owen’s missed penalty when Ollerton were leading by the solitary goal was a sign that it was not going to be their day.

A first half header from Liam Cooper and a ‘clearly offside’ goal from Gavin King in the 73rd minute won the three points for the visitors. Had assistant referee Joe Golland put his flag up to prevent King’s goal, Nostell would have undoubtably gone onto equalise and then win the clash. The assistant referee’s complicity in the daylight robbery victory for Ollerton just compounded Nostell’s day.

Nostell could have done with someone like the unavailable Showman Ryan Poskitt who would have come off the bench and conjured up a moment of magic to rescue the Crofton-based side.

One positive Nostell can take is that their visitors will be facing a few fines because of a few cautions and the deserved dismissal of their manager Dave Winter for swearing at top referee Neil Munday. Winter is likely to face an extra charge as he also failed to follow the well-known league directive which forces dismissed managers to spend the rest of matches in the changing facilities, well away from the action. The Ollerton boss watched the final half-hour on the hard-standing area next to the tunnel.

Apart from maybe five minutes of madness in the opening quarter, Nostell dominated. Cooper’s free header from a corner was a crazy goal to concede from a defending perspective. Ollerton do deserve credit for their work ethic and desire to cling onto their lead. The visitors’ back five jangled at times, but because of how deep they dropped, it prevented danger man Jack Owen from being able to breach their back line.

New signing Adam Knight was their shining new weapon. Despite squelchy conditions, Knight mesmerised Ollerton’s defence several times and went close with a few chances. Owen also had a goal disallowed.

Ollerton literally sat back in the second half and only had one shot on goal – the decisive second.

The crowd could sense a Nostell equaliser. After Knight was fouled in the penalty area on the hour, the moment looked to have arrived. However, Owen’s penalty was weak and was an easy save for Ollerton goalkeeper Joe McCormack. The next bit was pure luck though. The rebound fell kindly for Owen, but McCormack was fortunate with the save. It then pinged to Joe Thornton, who too was denied by McCormack.

Inevitably Ollerton would get one chance to kill their hosts off. Although there’s no doubt it should have been disallowed. Left-winger Sean Dickinson flicked a header on towards King, clearly in an offside position. Because he was so far ahead of the Nostell defence, home captain Dec Welford and his comrades had no chance of catching King, who easily fired past goalkeeper Shaun Penn.

Nostell finished well on top, but despite several efforts, the goal would just not come.

The Teams 

Nostell Miners Welfare: Penn, Noteman, Allsop, Welford (captain), Kilburn, Almond, Owen, Swift, Thornton, Owen, Knight. Subs: Mole, Ward, Greenhough, Fry.

Ollerton Town: McCormack, Moody, Shaw, Stretton (captain), Pickering, Cooper, King, Browning, Homer, Bingham, Dicklnson. Subs: Burrell, Leeds, Bullock, Brown, Wildey.

Who Was In Charge 

Neil Munday (10/10)

A fine display from the experienced official, who may be a good bet for promotion this year. Whilst there may have been no dynamic sprinting, Mr Munday was superb with his man-management. He got on top of Ollerton’s bad behaviour early doors, thus avoiding the game spiralling out of control. He also had the bottle to dismiss the visitors’ manager. 

How Many Were There

87

Man of the Match 

Adam Knight (Nostell Miners Welfare)