By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie
Ashington skipper Karl Ross said at the weekend that he and his team-mates will go into the next three league games inside eight days against teams in the leading pack – Emley, Redcar Athletic and North Ferriby – full of confidence.
The Colliers gave a wholehearted display despite a 2-1 defeat against leaders Bradford Park Avenue last midweek. The hosts – who were unbeaten in ten matches – went two goals ahead inside the opening quarter hour through Joe Ackroyd and Kareem Hassan-Smith.
However, a header by Scott Lowery halved the deficit and prompted an energetic display by Nick Gray’s side with the hosts happy to hear the final whistle.
Ross – who is based in Cramlington – said: “I thought we definitely deserved a point. Obviously we had a tough start but we changed things a little bit and after that we gave a cracking display away from home. There weren’t many chances but after the fight which the lads showed, I was just proud to be on the pitch with them. I think for heart and desire, our performance was right up there as being one of the best I’ve been a part of. Every single person plus the lads who came on ran themselves into the ground – and that’s not easy to do that when you have travelled for two and a half to three hours.”
Ashington go to Emley on Saturday (October 11) and Ross – who celebrated his 27th birthday last Friday – added: “We’ve had a good couple of weeks and have hit a bit of form of late. We were without a fixture on Saturday so we’re looking forward to the game. Following on from Bradford, we’ve got the other top three to play in the games which lie ahead and we’ll be relishing the opportunity to play against them. Things are starting to click a little bit for us and we’ll be looking to continue to play like we have been.”
On Wednesday (October 15), the Colliers travel to Teesside where they face Redcar Athletic (7.45pm) before they take on North Ferriby at Woodhorn Lane on Saturday (October 18).