By Brian Bennett
Ashington interim boss Karl Ross said he was ‘happy enough’ to share the spoils after the Colliers had played out a 0-0 draw against Pontefract Collieries at Woodhorn Lane on Saturday.
Ross said afterwards: “I was happy enough with a point but the match certainly wasn’t a classic by any means. It was a clash which lacked real quality from both sides whilst Ben Metcalf has pulled of a few good saves to keep us in it. We’ve then had the best chance of the game with Louis (Burns) – although the ball did look as if it sat up – but in the second half neither side had a shot on target.”
He added: “At half time we asked the lads to be a bit braver and look to have a bit more quality on the ball. I thought Wilson Kneeshaw looked dangerous and we wanted to play down his side and let him try to get past his full-back which he had done on a few occasions whilst our other aim was to play through the lines a bit more. In the end though, it was a deserved point for both of us.”
Ryan Wombwell became the fourth Ashington player to see red from their last six games when he was sent off for a second yellow card in stoppage time and Ross said: “Our disciplinary record doesn’t look great on paper but I’ve never seen a player appear to be elbowed then be the one who is sent off. The discipline side of things is something which we have spoken about in-house and we are going to have to miss Ryan (Wombwell) for one game. It’s a bit of a blow because Ryan has been brilliant for us this year.”
Moving onto Tuesday night’s away clash against Blyth Town – which is a six pointer – Ross said: “I don’t think matches get much bigger than Tuesday and it’s certainly a must not lose game for us. They (Blyth Town) are flying and have won three in a row and look what a difference it has made because I think they were rock bottom of the table three games ago and now they are on our tails. We’ll be in for training on Monday working on a few things but it’s a massive game for the lads to get up for. A local derby like this is something which can pick everybody up and hopefully we can get the right result.”