By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie
Ashington tasted a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Middlesbrough U21s at Woodhorn Lane on Wednesday night – but manager Nick Gray was in a much happier frame of mind than at 4.45pm on Saturday.
Last weekend, Gray’s side exited the Emirates FA Cup following a 3-1 reverse against Shildon who compete in the first division of the Ebac Northern League.
The Colliers gave a flat, sub-standard showing – something which Gray duly acknowledged as he later apologised to the club and its supporters.
However, after the Boro workout Gray said: “It was the end of our pre-season games, and we got out of the clash what we needed to. I thought the lads were terrific tonight and it was definitely a worthwhile exercise – and I’d like to thank Middlesbrough FC for coming up here. Beforehand we spoke about the Shildon defeat and things which needed to be addressed after the performance on Saturday and tonight, there was a good reaction. Of course, it’s disappointing to be knocked out of the Emirates FA Cup but we’re looking forward to the start of our league programme, and although there are still things to work on, we got a lot of positives out of the game tonight.”
He continued: “We took an early lead and that resulted from a bit of pressure. We talked about not giving good players time and space on the ball – and we did that – but we’re still learning how we want to play and with that we are going to make mistakes. We’ve just got to be brave and positive.”
Gray spoke about the enormous amount of help which has gone on behind the scenes at the Woodhorn Lane-based club which he and his coaching staff appreciated: “To be honest, I’m just pleased that pre-season is over – but I’d just like to go on record to thank the committee and people who have helped us out,” he added, “I’ve been involved in non-league football for a long time and I’ve never known people behind the scenes help the staff like I have here – it shows what the club means to them and Liam McIvor, Tom Read (assistant manager and goalkeeping coach respectively) and I are very thankful for it.”
On a pleasant evening and in front of a good crowd, Michael Annang-Colquhoun gave the Colliers a ninth minute lead, but Middlesbrough hit back early in the second half to edge in front 2-1. Rio Patterson Powell equalised with a stunning right foot drive from 30 yards then Hazeem Bakre fired home what turned out to be the winner on the hour mark.