By Brian Bennett
He scored a hat trick for Ashington in their 3-2 NPL East Division victory over Bridlington Town at Woodhorn Lane at the beginning of November – and Josh Gilchrist was celebrating on Friday night after bagging another treble!
The midfielder turned striker scooped three awards – Players’ Player of the season; Manager’s Player of the season and top goal scorer – at the Presentation evening hosted by the Woodhorn-based club.
It’s an amazing story for the 22-year-old who signed for the Colliers and was so determined to succeed that he offered to play for nothing for the first few weeks!
“I’m delighted with all three awards,” said a smiling Gilchrist, “For the Manager’s player I can’t thank Nick (Gray) and Liam (McIvor) enough – they’ve been great with me this season. No-one really understands the cold nights in December what those guys put into the job in terms of hard work and commitment – it’s not easy when we all have different jobs. For the Players player, I thank the lads because it’s a 100 per cent top award. The lads have been great this season because we have had some tough times and it’s been hard work. We had to dig deep and we had one task – and that was to stay in the league which we’ve done. At times, we had our backs against the wall but everyone stuck together and we came through it.”
Did Gilchrist have any idea about getting the prestigious Players’ Player trophy? “Possibly I did but I thought there was few other players who would be in the running,” he added, “I have scored goals in games over the season which have been vital and where we have picked up points whether it be from a win or a draw. However, it’s not just a one man band – it’s the 11 players you are playing on the pitch with.”
Gilchrist came through the ranks at Newcastle United at the same time as Elliot Anderson: “Elliot went in one direction but I didn’t make it as much as I would have liked,” he said, “However, Nick (Gray) and Liam (McIvor) had a little bit of faith in me and it’s hard to play at this level. They brought me in from Dunston UTS and I said to them ‘I haven’t found my feet at Dunston UTS, give me two or three weeks where I don’t need to be paid but let me show you what I can do on the pitch – and I feel as if I have done that more than capable this season.”
He went on: “Essentially, I’m more of an attacking midfielder than a striker – but I’ve also played as a nine. You play against the big lads and I’ve found myself getting in and around them as well as behind them – and I am happy to do that.”