By Brian Bennett
Ashington FC take a break from League action on Saturday (August 6) when they tackle Newton Aycliffe at Woodhorn Lane in the extra preliminary round of the Emirates FA Cup.
Colliers manager Ian Skinner adopted a cautious approach to the clash – purely and simply because of his philosophy of taking one game at time – with his outfit hosting Northallerton Town in their second encounter in the Ebac Northern League’s first division tonight.
Nevertheless, Skinner described the Aycliffe match as being a potential ‘rip roaring cup tie’ when he said: “Newton Aycliffe have got a very good squad and I think they’ll be in and around the competitive end of the league table so it’ll be a tough one for us – but equally it’ll be a tough one for them! Obviously we have got home advantage but first and foremost we’ll be looking to build on the good work from Saturday, take it into tonight’s game and hopefully have the same momentum for the weekend.”
He continued: “It’s an important game away from the league programme and I reckon it will be a rip roaring cup tie. It means a lot to the players to be able to say that they have played in the FA Cup this season – the same competition which one team will win at Wembley. If you throw into the pot that it’s also worth a few quid to the club in terms of prize money, that’s why you get the excitement of the FA Cup.”
He went on: “We’ll obviously be looking to get a positive result and have a good crowd in attendance who I’d like to think got value for money from Saturday’s 6-0 win over Seaham Red Star. Hopefully they will have gone away from the ground and told their friends and colleagues about it and I’d like to think we will continue to put in performances like that – only we aren’t going to score six goals every week! If we can play the type of football we played on Saturday, I’m pretty sure we’ll become an attractive proposition but you’ve got to bear in mind a few things like the Premier League starting and Newcastle United are at home; the cost of living crisis that we are all going through and the multitude of home matches we have got. For a non season ticket holder, it’ll be difficult and we’ll need to take that into consideration as well. But that aside, it’s another game which we’ll look forward too.”