By Brian Bennett
Ashington manager Nick Gray wasn’t being flippant when he said that he would have accepted a sub-standard performance from his side against Emley at Woodhorn Lane on Saturday – so long as they secured three points!
However, after seeing the Colliers trail at the break by a single goal, the boss got the best of both worlds. Not only did the Colliers turn the contest on its head to win the game 3-1 but they arguably gave their best 45 minutes of the season.
Gray had said last week that in the run in to the end of the season that his lads faced six cup finals. On Saturday they ticked the first one off and emerged with flying colours.
Albeit the game was spoiled by a strong wind – and for the second period Ashington who had the elements on their backs, played against a ten-man Emley side after their striker Joshua Ayres had been red carded in stoppage time in the first half.
Nevertheless, it was a beaming Gray who emerged from the dressing room to deliver his postmatch thoughts: “The most important thing was the result – and I’m delighted,” he said, “We’ve now played Emley twice in a month and they are a side who are in the play offs. They are a good outfit but if I’m being honest, we haven’t looked out of sorts with them as we’ve competed with them. They won at their place and we have won here. We were so desperate for the points that I would have accepted an awful performance and for us to be second best in exchange for a win which we got – and we thoroughly deserved it!”
He continued: “The wind was really strong and we tried to go with it in the first half but it didn’t happen. We gave a soft goal away which we’re disappointed about but despite going in 1-0 down at half time, I was still confident that we had an opportunity in the second half. In that first period, we had a couple of forced injuries but the lads didn’t feel sorry for themselves nor did it stop their rhythm. I always say its not about the players who aren’t there – it’s about the players who are there and each and every one of them today were fantastic.”
He added: “At half time we had a good opportunity but as we had both our centre halves on yellow cards we had to be careful and I told the lads that if we kept 11 players on the pitch we’d get our rewards. I also mentioned that a key issue was for us to be aggressive in the first 15 minutes and the full backs had to be higher up the pitch. We got the equalising goal which gave us the lift to go again and we kept on being aggressive for the entire half.”
He went on: “You can say that the sending off made a difference – however it doesn’t give you a divine right to win a game just because you are up against a team with ten men. I thought Liam Henderson led the line really well and he has given us a different dimension but I liked the way we took the game to them (Emley) and in the end, it was a thoroughly deserved three points.”
Gray gave a huge pat on the back to goalkeeper Ryan Catterick: “Our third goal scored by Ryan Wombwell was well worked,” he said, “but to be fair after that at 3-1, Ryan (Catterick) has made a great save. He had nothing to do in the second half but he showed his qualities because if they had made it 3-2 with ten minutes to go, even against ten men, we would have got nervous. However, each and every one of the lads played their part today. It’s a happy dressing room and the win will give us that little bit of momentum going into the last five games of the season. We keep on saying that it’s down to what we do and as long as it’s in our own hands that’s all we can ask for.
Gray reserved his parting shot to say a massive thank you to the fans and volunteers at the club: “With the Newcastle United parade taking place, it’s been hard for non-league football with a lot of volunteers, supporters and players also wanting to celebrate,” he said, “However, to be fair I think Ashington made a great gesture by offering the fans half price admission to our match and I’ve got to thank the supporters and volunteers who came along today because it means a lot and is much appreciated.”