SHAW: “I’VE HAD A LONG CAREER AND SPENT A LONG TIME AS A FORWARD NETTING DIFFERENT TYPES OF GOALS BUT TO BE HONEST, I GENUINELY CAN’T REMEMBER SCORING THAT TYPE OF GOAL”

First Team

By Brian Bennett | Photo: MJT Photos (Shildon AFC)

Former striker Jon Shaw said that he’s had a long career in football but can’t recall

scoring a goal like the one he notched in Ashington’s fabulous 4-2 win over Shildon in the Emirates FA Cup.

Shaw has played for the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Burton Albion as well as in non league circles with Gateshead and Blyth Spartans.

However, on Saturday the 40 year old was at the heart of the Colliers defence – and marked his debut with a goal which oozed class.

Sheffield-born Shaw said afterwards: “I’ve had a long career and spent a long time as a forward netting different types of goals but to be honest, I genuinely can’t remember scoring that type of goal – a left foot chip into the far corner.”

The icing on the cake came when Shaw revealed his moment of glory came in front of his family: “It’s nice because my little boy asked me before the game ‘are you going to score today dad’ and I replied ‘I’m not sure.’ He then said ‘you might score a header from a corner’ which is what I used to do quite a lot – but to get a goal like that today with my wife, my kids and my dad all watching was quite special.”

Shaw stressed that the win was of paramount importance: “Obviously the result was the most important thing,” he said, “We were a little bit disappointed with the way we were playing in the first half because we weren’t hurting Shildon enough even though we were getting into good areas. We then gave a sloppy goal away but the reaction was good. I’ve been with Ashington for around a month now and I’m loving it. The character in the changing room, the lads, the coaching staff and the togetherness of the group – it wasn’t a surprise to me that we’ve come out on the right side of the result today.”

Ashington will now tackle Bishop Auckland on Saturday August 17 – a matter of days after the two teams clash in their NPL East Division clash: “The next round is just mouth watering,” added Shaw, “You know with these early rounds that it’s going to be localised and playing against lads you’ve played against before. The league game is important to us because points are what we want but a cup run is always nice!”