By Brian Bennett

Ashington striker Josh Gilchrist said that the Colliers need to ‘kick on’ and back up what was an all important 2-1 win over Ossett United at Woodhorn Lane on Saturday.

Before kick-off, the Wansbeck outfit were second from bottom of the East Division of the Pitching In Northern Premier League and although they leapfrogged over Sherwood Colliery after the result, with other sides in the drop zone picking up points over recent weeks, the importance of the victory couldn’t be overstated.

Wallsend-born Gilchrist – who scored the second goal in Saturday’s contest – said afterwards: “In my opinion, it was a game of two halves. In the first, I thought it was all Ashington and the wind helped us but it was a match about who could deal better with the conditions. We took advantage of the first half better than what Ossett did after the break and we managed the game well in the second half. We slowed it down at times when we needed to and had a bit of game savvy – something which we’ve been lacking recently. Now we need to kick on from here because after a good performance like today it’s important that we build on it. There’s a feel-good factor in the dressing room which gives the lads who have been lacking a bit of confidence that belief about themselves. We’ve also added to the team this week with three new signings coming in which is only going to help us and we have got some cracking players in the squad.”

The 22 year old – who took his goals tally for the campaign to six after his strike on the half hour – added that it was a ‘desperately needed’ win against the West Yorkshire outfit: “As a forward player, scoring goals or making assists are what you’re in the team to do,” he said, “To get another for my tally was good and it helped us to get the three points which we desperately needed.”