The final league game of the season ended in defeat for Hall Road Rangers on Saturday as they lost 4-2 at Ollerton Town.

Things started brightly for Rangers. A Joe McFadyen goal was ruled out for offside in the 2nd minute. Three minutes later, Rangers did take the lead thanks to a driven Chris Spinks free kick. 

There was a chance to double this lead a couple of minutes later when Sam Robinson put a shot wide. Soon after this, Ollerton equalised. A run from Jacques Etia took him to the byline where he then put the ball into the box and this was put into the net by a Hall Road defender.

Etia nearly put the hosts in front in the 21st minute with an effort which went wide. In the 31st minute, there was a half chance for Rangers as Sam Robinson met a cross from Elliott Williams and sent a header over the bar.

Hall Road’s lead was restored in the 37th minute. A superb set piece delivery from Chris Spinks found Callum Stone who then sent a great header into the back of the Ollerton net. 

However, Ollerton soon got themselves back on level terms once again in the 41st minute through a Joe Turner header after he got on the end of a Conor Green cross.

It was a sloppy start to the second half from Rangers. Ollerton took the lead in the 46th minute when an under hit back pass from Lewis Andrew fell into the path of Jacques Etia who rounded Hall Road keeper Reilly Emmerson and slotted the ball into the empty net.

Sam Geeves extended Ollerton’s lead in the 51st minute with a rifled effort which nestled in the top corner.

Late on, substitute Reece Moody had an effort saved by Ollerton keeper Levi Owen.

This defeat means that Rangers finish in 10th position in the NCEL Division One table.

Hall Road joint manager Leon Sewell was disappointed with the manner in which his side lost the game.

“It was a bit of a yo-yo game in the first 45 minutes. Goals win games at the end of the day and fair play to Ollerton. They’ve taken their chances. 

I thought our goals were good goals. We always know we’re going to score. 

Ollerton is a hard place to come. It always has been and always will be.

It’s Bank Holiday weekend and when you’ve got half a dozen players missing it makes it harder. That’s not taking anything away from the 13 players that we had today.

Game of two halves. The second half was disappointing in how we started.

We got into the boys at half-time and we probably said the wrong things to be fair. The result today wasn’t going to define our season anyway.

If we go back to June when I sat down with Darren Sunley, Dave Reader and Burkey, we had three goals and the 3rd was to finish 10th as a minimum. We’ve achieved that.

For who we are and the resources we have available, it’s a respectable 10th place finish” he said.