By Brian Bennett
Josh Gilchrist ended his barren goalscoring streak last week when he netted in Ashington’s 3-2 home defeat against Matlock Town at Woodhorn Lane.
The 22 year old – who was the Colliers top marksman last term – then scored the crucial opener on Saturday when the Wansbeck outfit picked up their first win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Ossett United.
Gilchrist then turned provider when he set up a chance which substitute Liam Henderson tucked away before a late strike by Jack Crook led to a nervous finish which included five minutes of additional time.
However, the Wallsend-born striker was delighted to finally open his account and said afterwards: “From a personal level, it’s been a little bit frustrating because I haven’t got off to the kind of start which I’d have liked as compared to last term. However, you’ve just got to keep working away and trying to get that first goal. Once I got it (against Matlock) I knew more would follow so I was delighted to score again on Saturday. I’ve now netted with two headers – which is not like me at all!”
Gilchrist got on the end of a cross by Craig Spooner – and was quick to acknowledge the quality of balls played into the box: “Today I was stretching for it,” he added, “but we’ve got some players in our team who have got good deliveries including Jay Hornsby on the left, Ryan Wombwell on the right and Craig Spooner. They deliver some great crosses and it’s just about being in the right place at the right time.”
Gilchrist was also happy to contribute with an assist for Liam Henderson: “I was down the left and Liam (Henderson) is always going to be in-between the sticks so it was just a case of putting the ball into a good area,” he said, “The ball fell nicely for him and he put it away well.”
The game was played in incessant rain but Gilchrist thought that helped his side: “It was a little bit slippery and a little bit wet,” he said, “but it suited us because we played some nice football spraying the ball out wide. It’s always a good contest when conditions are like that.”
Gilchrist – a car salesman – says the Colliers have got to be more consistent as they look to hit top gear: “We’ve got a little bit of confidence back which we needed and now we’ve got to kick on – 100 per cent,” he commented, “Even though we lost against Matlock Town, I thought we played well and we took that into today’s game. You can visibly see that we are starting to play better and starting to click a bit more and the next two games are important.”