Wood penalty puts Louth clear at top
The game, on Tuesday evening, started at a fast pace with Louth producing some slick passing on a superb playing surface.
However, it was Ollerton who created the first real opportunity with Louth goalkeeper Craig Wherry having to come smartly off his line to clear the ball.
Town's Kurt Crossley was unlucky on eight minutes when he burst through, only to overrun the ball as he prepared to shoot.
There was further panic in the Ollerton defence four minutes later as Jamie Rowbotham's pile-driver was blocked by Terry Annable.
The decisive moment of the game occurred on 16 minutes when Town's Mark Fairburn was brought down in the Ollerton penalty area by Rob Evans. Mark Wood kept his nerve to hit the penalty low into the bottom corner of the net.
Town could have doubled their lead on 30 minutes. A long effort from Crossley appeared to be curling into the goal but was cleared from under the cross bar by Liam Mason, and when the rebound fell to Fairburn he hit the ball wide.
At the other end, Wherry was called into action as Evans' swirling shot was expertly tipped over the bar by the big keeper
The second half was a scrappier affair as Ollerton looked to use their physical presence to put Town under pressure.
Their defence managed to restrict the hosts to long-range efforts despite all of Ollerton's possession – the most notable being a 25 yard strike from Brad Wells and a speculative attempt from Ryan Meecham.
As the game wore on it was Town who missed the best opportunities to increase their lead. Martin had two goal-bound headers cleared off the line in quick succession, before Wood had another blocked by the home defence.
Rowbotham was then unlucky when he knocked the ball past the advancing Haynes, only to see it roll agonisingly wide of the post.
There were ecstatic scenes at the final whistle as Town had gained another three important points in their league title challenge.





Comment on this story