By Brian Bennett

Ashington’s interim manager Marc Ellison didn’t beat about the bush when he delivered his postmatch verdict following the Colliers 5-0 defeat against promotion chasing Matlock Town in Derbyshire on Saturday.

“We knew coming into today we were up against a really good side,” he said, “In an ideal world you’re thinking maybe you nick a draw, or if every one of our lads turns in a nine out of 10 performance then you’ve got a chance. However, fair play to Matlock. They could’ve easily thought that the play offs are sorted and taken their foot off the gas but they’ve put us to the sword this afternoon and they were better than us in every department. That’s not a dig at our lads at all, it just shows where we are as a club and where they (Matlock) are right now, and it makes it tough to compete at times.”

He continued: “The lads are obviously disappointed, and rightly so. But we’ve said in there, coming away to a place like this isn’t going to define our season. I haven’t checked, but I’d imagine not many teams around us have come here and taken points anyway and the big thing now is that we park this, move on quickly, and focus on next week. It’s the biggest game of our season (away to Brighouse on Saturday). We know if we win, we are safe. It’s all about us — preparing right and making sure we’re ready.”