Pilmore strike clinches derby victory for Ollerton Town

A determined second-half performance from Ollerton Town saw them earn a 2-1 derby win against Newark Town this afternoon.

Luke Hutchinson gave the Blues an early advantage, but Ollerton turned the match on its head with a penalty from Chris Hewitt and a second-half winner from Kye Pilmore.

Newark finished the match with ten-men, as former Ollerton Town player Sean Fulcher was sent off for a heavy shoulder barge on Liam Carver late on.

The best of the early chances fell to Newark, with Luke Parsons heading over from a Dom Swingler corner.

They opened the deadlock in the 13th minute as Ollerton failed to clear a corner, with the ball eventually being chested over the line from close-range by Hutchinson.

Newark continued to dominate, and Jordan Thomas nearly doubled their advantage when he smashed an effort into the side netting after working some space in the penalty area.

George Pearce and Arron Martin both had headers fly narrowly wide as Ollerton struggled to deal with set pieces.

Ollerton pulled themselves back into the match minutes before half-time as Ricki O’Connell was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area.

Chris Hewitt stepped up and dispatched the spot-kick past Ed Munton as the sides went in level at the break.

Goalkeeper Louis Sprigg produced a number of excellent saves at the start of the second-half for Ollerton to deny Pearce and Thomas as they looked to retake the lead.

Pearce also thought he’d scored with a backheel following a goalmouth scramble, but the ball was cleared off the line as Ollerton survived.

Ollerton were causing Newark problems with their pace up front, and they completed the turnaround in the 66th minute with a well-worked goal.

A cross from the left by Carver caused confusion in the Newark area, and the ball bounced free to Pilmore who slotted the ball confidently into the corner.

Pilmore thought he had scored soon after as he turned in a Jamie Senior shot at the far post, only for the linesman to rule him offside.

Newark’s task was made more difficult with ten minutes remaining as Fulcher was shown a red following a heavy challenge that sent his opponent flying through the advertising board.

The home side could have added to their lead in the final few minutes but Will Horton saw his effort tipped wide of the post by Munton.