By Brian Bennett
Ashington manager Nick Gray was naturally disappointed following his sides 1-0 defeat against Belper Town in Derbyshire on Saturday.
A 63rd minute penalty converted by Curtis Burrows decided the outcome of a closely fought contest but Gray firmly believes that the tide will eventually turn.
Speaking afterwards he said: “The players have put a lot of effort into the game today but to be honest they’ve done that in all the matches since Liam (McIvor) and myself took over. However the most important thing is what it says the next day (1-0 defeat). Again we haven’t worked their goalkeeper and if you don’t do that then you are going to struggle to win games of football. Apart from Craig Spooner, who had shots at their keeper? We had loads of entries into the final third but didn’t make enough of them. There were lots of positives but things are not just going to happen for people – they have got to make them happen and how you do that is by hard graft and hard work – its not rocket science. Confidence is a massive part in football. However you have got to earn the right to gain confidence in a game.”
He continued: “At half time I was happy. We went in 0-0 and had a conversation which we’ve had before about not switching off; don’t give them opportunities; don’t give them chances – and on the whole in the second half we didn’t. The longer the match goes on and we are still in the game then we’ve still got a chance of even sneaking a win. A draw wouldn’t have been a bad result – but its fine margins. The game changes on the penalty but listen you can’t speak to referees so I’m not going to talk about them. We are third bottom whilst after this result Belper have gone joint top yet looking at today’s game I didn’t think there was much difference between both sides. Credit to them (Belper) because they play to their strengths but I thought we handled it and dealt with it very well.”
He went on: “The seven games we have been involved in, the players have competed in every single one but we’ve only got four points so we‘ve lost 17 points out of 21. However, we’re working hard to get things right and I’m confident that we are going in the right way. Everybody is getting an opportunity to stake their claim and that’s all you can ask of the players whilst as a club you’ve just got to improve. Craig Spooner has played in two or three positions and for me he’s a live spark for us but he’s going to have dips. Admittedly we’ve got to be better in the final third but the only thing which disappointed me today was the result.”
Ashington now head to The Ashcourt Group Stadium on Tuesday night (November 12) to play Newton Aycliffe but skipper Karl Ross and Cam Gascoigne will again miss out: “Both Karl and Cam trained during the week but the Newton Aycliffe game will come too early for them,” added Gray, “It will be great to have them back fit because it will help us.”