By Brian Bennett
Ashington interim manager Marc Ellison was pleased that his side extended their unbeaten run to four matches but disappointed that they conceded a late equaliser in the local derby encounter against Blyth Town which finished all square at 2-2 on Tuesday night.
Ellison’s side twice went in front in the contest through Wilson Kneeshaw and Liam Henderson but Blyth hit back to level through Cyril Giraud and Lucas Lowery-Matondo.
Ellison said afterwards: “To be honest, the less said the better. It’s something we’ve spoken about before, but we just don’t know what version of ourselves is going to turn up on a match day. That inconsistency is what is hurting us. It’s important not to get too carried away with the highs or too down with the lows, but tonight was a tough watch especially coming off what I thought was out best performance of the season in the 1-0 home win over Dunston on Friday. The gap between those two displays is baffling, and if we’re being honest, it’s a big reason why we find ourselves in the position we’re in.”
He continued: “We had a great opportunity tonight to give ourselves some breathing space going into a busy bank holiday period. We’ve gone in front twice – probably undeservedly – and still managed to concede two really poor goals. That’s disappointing. At the same time, if I’m in the opposition dressing room, I’m probably frustrated not to come away with all three points, because if it wasn’t for our goalkeeper Matty Alexander, they could’ve been out of sight. I said last week he (Matty) probably won us six points – well, you can make that seven now after tonight. His performance kept us in the game.”
He added: “We were forced into a couple of changes from Friday – Ryan Wombwell was suspended and Rory Powell was unable to make it due to work – but I won’t accept that as an excuse. At this level, we need more. In truth, we’ve maybe had two players perform to the standard we expect – Matty (Alexander) and Liam Henderson. I’m really pleased for Hendo, he’s earned that goal and he’s been excellent in recent weeks. But you can’t go into games relying on two players to carry the rest. That said, it’s another point away from home, and at this stage of the season we’ll take what we can get. It’s four games unbeaten, but we’re under no illusions – tonight’s performance was nowhere near good enough but unfortunately we are what we are, and we are where we are. It’s as simple as that.”
Ellison went on: “We’ve got five games left, and some really tough ones ahead. It’s my responsibility now to raise the maturity levels in what is a young squad and make sure we produce better performances more consistently. If we can do that, we’ll be okay. But focusing on tonight – yes, we’re a point better off, which is positive – but we need to be a lot better going into this final month of the season.”