By Brian Bennett
Ashington could potentially clock up the miles if they make progress in the early stages of the Emirates FA Cup and Isuzu FA Trophy.
The draws were made last week and for the opening two rounds in both competitions, the Colliers were pulled out of the hat as the away team on each occasion.
In the Cup, Nick Gray’s side will travel to meet Ebac Northern League first division outfit Shildon in the extra preliminary round which will bring about a repeat of last season’s contest at the same stage which the Woodhorn Lane side won 4-2. If they overcome the Railwaymen, the Wansbeck side will then face the winners of the Birtley Town v Beverley Town clash.
Meanwhile in the Trophy, Ashington will take on Garforth Town in West Yorkshire and if they are successful will travel to Cheshire to face Runcorn Linnets.
Colliers’ assistant manager Liam McIvor said: “I know the first two rounds are drawn but to be honest it’s one game at a time as far as we are concerned. It would have been nice for our fans to have had a game at home but it is what it is. Shildon’s campaign starts earlier than us and it’ll be a hard tricky game because they will have commenced their pre-season training programme probably two weeks before us. We’ll be looking to hit the ground running, but we’ll also be trying to have a look at them (Shildon) or gather some information about them that’s for sure.”
McIvor said about the Garforth clash: “They (Garforth) are in the same league as us – but it’s another tough fixture on our travels.”
Ahead of Ashington’s first warm up game away to North Shields on Friday (July 11) McIvor said: “Things are going well with our pre-season workouts and the lads have had a good week with a fourth session in eight days. It’s been Intense and hard for them with plenty of running but also a lot of ball work and we’ll continue that this week ahead of our first friendly away on Friday. North Shields have had a couple of games already and it’ll be a very good test. We played them last season, they are a very good side and we’ll know what to expect. Brian Smith is a very good manager and he’ll have a team who are well organised, well drilled and whose fitness levels are high. They have a lot of talented players so it’ll be a great test for us. However, it’s all about fitness for the lads and although friendlies are friendlies, you obviously want to win the games. For manager Nick Gray and myself it’ll be good to see a couple of our new lads in action and see how they react to playing a high-quality team.”