Ollerton Town v Retford United - North Midlands Under 19's League

I bet they wish they hadn't written that Nettleham fixture on in permanent marker now

Monday 26th April 2010
North Midlands Under 19's League Division 3

Ollerton Town (0) 0
Retford United (0) 2 (Sam Foulds, James Vernon)

Admission £2. Free Team sheet. Attendance 43
The last time I saw Ollerton's Under 19's they scored ten against Sutton Town AFC.
But tonight they were up against much better organised and harder to break down opponents, in promotion chasing Retford United.
The visitors had by far the better of the first half and had one 'goal' struck off after the linesman had flagged for offside (see below) and ought to have gone ahead right on the stroke of half time but after beating the Ollerton keeper and then colliding with him, United's number 8 managed to roll across the goal line himself, while the ball bounced back into play off the post.

With the Ollerton keeper going AWOL beyond the left hand margin of the

picture this effort for Retford United was ruled out for being 'offside'.

I was right in line with the disallowed goal and as the teams left the field at half time Retford's assistant manager Kev Staniland shouted over to me to ask if I'd seen the incident.
I confirmed the linesman had applied the letter of the law correctly and Kev then asked jokingly, "And if Worksop would have scored it would it have been a goal?" ... Oh definitely, without doubt mate ;-)

On 70 minutes, according to my really awesome new watch, Retford took a corner out on the left wing, which was headed back across the box and Sam Foulds finished from close range.
With Ollerton still reeling a bit from going behind, Retford then increased their lead within three minutes through James Vernon and despite the home side pushing on in an attempt to salvage something out of the game ... the young Badgers had been too strong for Ollerton tonight and in the end, it was a fairly straight forward win for them.

Retford United Under 19's remaining fixture is at Blidworth Welfare on Thursday night (29th April), tonight's result wrapped up second spot for them in the table.
If they beat Blidworth, they will finish the season level on points with champions Hucknall Town Unity, but at present the league leaders have a plus 60 goal difference and Retford would have to win 33-0 to overhaul that!

Left click to enlarge

Footnote. Added 29th April.
In the event Blidworth Welfare beat Retford United 3-2 in their final game.
Here's to some wholesome Retford United v Worksop Town Under 19's local derbies next season.