By Brian Bennett
Manager Nick Gray spoke highly about Josh Gilchrist and Karl Ross who picked up the awards at Ashington Football Club’s presentation evening which was held in the clubhouse on Friday.
The event was well attended and hosted by interim chair Nicola Sanders-Cooper where volunteers and supporters as well as the players and management, were acknowledged for their services. There was also live music from Outnumbered Band Page.
Whilst skipper Ross was voted as the Supporters Player of the season, Gilchrist scooped the trophies for the Players Player of the season; Manager’s Player of the season as well as being the top goal scorer.
Gray said: “I’ve known Josh since he was 13/14 years old. He was at Newcastle United and was on a par with Elliot Anderson and whilst Elliot has moved onto Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, Josh has had a more challenging time. Josh has always had the ability. I worked with him when I was manager at Whitley Bay then he joined Dunston UTS which I thought was good move for him. However, he wasn’t getting the minutes he wanted so I brought him to Ashington – and we were fortunate to get him. He has come in and has turned in eight out of ten performances and is getting more consistent. He’s the 11th or 12th top goal scorer in the league and that’s credit to himself. Josh went into the deep end and has scored some important goals for us. He’s had a fantastic season and the awards he has got says everything about him.”
He continued: “For the Manager’s player of the season there were a couple of candidates in the running but Josh has taken the accolade and he’s probably delighted to get the award as players’ player as its voted by your colleagues. However, all of these awards cannot be won without the other players – and I always remind players of that. For me there’s still a lot more to come from him and as long as he wants to keep working hard, I’m sure he’ll get better and better.”
Gray said about Ross: “When Liam McIvor and I came into the club at Ashington, Karl was injured but we could tell straight away that he was a leader because he was always around the group. Despite being sidelined, he was a very good help to us and to be fair he’s had a good season. Karl also comes into the bracket where I believe there is a lot more to come from him. We tried to rest him with his injuries but we couldn’t. However, I think we’ll see a better Karl Ross come back next season with the rest which he’ll now get. He’s happy at the club and has already committed to us for next term which says something about him. He’s a winner; he knows the club and wants to do well and if we have 11 Karl Ross’s on the pitch we’ll be okay.”