Ollerton Town’s historic, debut season in the Northern Counties East League ended in a 17th place finish and a general feel of satisfaction around the club.

Safety was always the main goal at the start of the campaign so everyone at the club can consider it a ‘Job well done’ as they secured their safety with three games remaining. Along the way, there was some definite highs and lows but everyone is now working towards next season and hopefully building on last season’s achievements.

After winning promotion from the Central Midlands League, Ollerton’s Management of Dave Winter, Steve Bodle and Jamie Allan moved to add some more quality to their squad as they prepared for life in the NCEL. Brandon Shaw arrived along with fellow defender Alex Sennett. The experienced pairing of Mark Carter and Greg Tobin both signed to add quality to midfield whilst former Brodsworth Welfare duo, Josh Dodd and Josh Bowkett both put pen to paper. On the whole, the club can pleased with their work last summer as all those mentioned have played a significant role this season, with Josh Bowkett ending as our top goalscorer.

After a poor pre-season in terms of results, Ollerton found life in the NCEL tough and lost their first seven league games, though we did record a 2-1 cup win over Worsbrough Bridge in that period. The season opened with a long and tough trip to Grimsby Borough. The occasion maybe got to the players somewhat as they found themselves 2-0 down at half time, but goals by Lewis Bingham and Sam Dockwray drew us level after a heroic comeback, only for our hearts to be broken after a 92nd minute penalty gave Grimsby all three points.

There were definitely some tough results to take during that run, including a 5-1 defeat to eventual Champions Hall Road Rangers. We also exited the FA Vase, after a narrow 3-2 defeat to Retford United, in a game which we could have easily won given our amount of chances.

Finally, on Saturday 17th September with the club rock bottom of the league, we picked up our first point of the season with a 1-1 draw away at Campion AFC before three days later we recorded our first league win, defeating Nostell MW 2-1. Further points followed after an impressive 2-0 win over Eccleshill United and a 1-1 draw with Worsbrough Bridge, both at home. We were also unlucky to lose 1-0 to Yorkshire Amateur, having several clear chances and hitting the woodwork twice.

October saw us progress in the Notts Senior Cup, beating Clifton All Whites 2-1 after extra time whilst we also recorded a win over rivals Shirebrook Town as well as an emphatic 4-0 triumph over Selby Town on the fifth anniversary of Dave Winter and Steve Bodle taking becoming Managers. October was also notable as we picked up the NCEL Division One Fair Play Award for the month.

Defeats against Penistone, Knaresborough, Emley and Glasshoughton kept us near the danger zone going into November but three wins and a draw that month certainly helped our cause. We drew 3-3 with Winterton Rangers, Mark Carter scoring a last minute equaliser before we found our shooting boots in a 4-1 win over Rossington Main and a 5-0 hammering of Nostell. We ended November with one of the results of the season, a 3-2 win away at Hallam FC whilst it also included narrow defeats to Eastwood Community and Westella & Willerby, the former seeing us knocked out of the Notts Senior Cup.

We only played three fixtures throughout December and it proved to be a poor month for us as we lost all three. A 2-0 defeat to Emley started the month before a 3-1 loss to Penistone Church. We ended December with the first of two games in quick succession against Teversal but unfortunately we went down 2-1 at home, former Ollerton player James McCann scoring a brace for ‘Tevie’ whilst Ollerton saw both Ben Bowring and Kyle Ludlow sent off.

Part Two to follow…