By Brian Bennett
On a warm afternoon in County Durham on Saturday, Ashington got their pre season programme underway when they travelled to meet ENL first division outfit Shildon at Dean Street.
Although the Colliers were on the wrong end of a 3-1 defeat, it was a good work out for both sides in what was an entertaining game.
The Colliers took the lead in the 10th minute when Sam Davison closed down the home ‘keeper with the ball rebounding into the net.
The Railwaymen hit back to level midway through the half following a free-kick on the right when Alfie Steel netted after the ball had been pulled back from the by-line.
Two goals inside a five minutes period early in the second half from Ben Reay and Steel secured the win for Shildon.
Afterwards Ashington boss Marc Ellison said: “I’ve never really enjoyed pre-season, if I’m honest. It’s always difficult to get a true reflection of where you’re at. Results are a bonus, but they’re not the most important thing at this stage. We only had 13 players available today, including two 16-year-olds, so there’s absolutely no hard feelings towards the result. The way we want to identify ourselves and play will take time. We’ve told the players to keep trying to enjoy what we’re doing, trust the process, and it’ll all click eventually. We proved that towards the back end of last season.”
He continued: “There were some really good bits today and some not-so-good bits, but that’s football, and we’ve got so much to work on as a group. That’s what pre-season is for.
Overall, it was a good run out. We probably had to give a few players more minutes than we’d first planned, due to availability but it won’t do them any harm. We’ve got plenty of games coming up alongside our training sessions to keep working on how we want to present ourselves, so there’s lots to improve on and plenty to build from.”
He went on: “The lads put in a great shift, grew into the game as the afternoon went on, and gave us a solid starting point. I’m really excited to see where we are in a months time If we keep working hard and buying into what we’re trying to do, I’m sure we’ll continue to improve with every game. Overall, it’s a good stepping stone and something for us to build on.” Ashington’s next warm up game is on Wednesday (July 8) when they travel to face ENL second division club Sunderland RCA where kick-off is 7.30pm then on Saturday (July 11) Ellison takes his squad to face Berwick Rangers at Shielfield Park (3pm).