By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC boss Ian Skinner reflecting on his sides 3-2 win in the JR Cleator Cup over North Shields on Saturday said their were ‘lots of things’ which pleased him.

Skinner commented: “I thought we started the game quite brightly and Dan Maguire had a great chance after a couple of minutes – and on another day you would probably back him to score so we could have been ahead as early as the second or third minute. I also thought we moved the ball well and passed it well and by hook or by crook, if I’m being really honest, my views were that the difference between the two teams in the first 30-35 minutes was that we moved and passed the ball really well until we got to the final third and then were a little bit wasteful. On the other hand, I don’t think North Shields passed the ball as well as us but when they got into the final third on a couple of occasions they were quite ruthless and they found themselves 2-0 up.”

Skinner was disappointed with the goals his side conceded: “From our point of view, both were probably avoidable. The first has taken a massive deflection and looped in whilst for the second one we haven’t got out to the ball quick enough. We’ve allowed their full back to get really high and they have got a spare man at the back post and from it Dan Wilson has scored.”

He went on: “We got in at the break and the key thing for me was just before half time when we broke four versus two but were wasteful again – and that set the tone for the team talk. Our approach play and build up play had been good and we wanted that to continue in the second half – as well as doing things slightly better. However, there were lots of things in the performance I was pleased with to be honest.”