By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie
Ashington manager Nick Gray said he was relieved as well as delighted after his side had won their third game in a row when they defeated Ossett United 3-2 at Woodhorn Lane on Saturday.
Gray commented: “My assistant Liam (McIvor) has jokingly said that I’ve got more chance of having a heart attack watching us play than if I smoked 50 cigarettes a day – and he’s right! It wasn’t a pretty watch today and we have played better this season and lost but it was an important win for us. We talked before the game that a victory was the incentive we needed to get out of the bottom four – and we got it.”
Gray continued: “First half I thought they (Ossett) were the better side. We scored at the beginning of the game but just seemed to sit back, relax and didn’t replicate what we had done to get the goal. We had opportunities to do it – but didn’t – then we got a second (goal) right on half time. I told the lads in the dressing room that the positive was that we were 2-0 up but the negative was that we needed to do better in the next 45 minutes. I also emphasised that we needed to keep 11 players on the pitch and had to work harder than them (Ossett). We gave away a disappointing free kick and they scored from it which gave them a lift. Then after that we dug in for five to ten minutes before they had their defender sent off. I don’t know what happened but the assistant has obviously seen something on the far side.”
He added: “Credit to Ossett because with ten men they still gave it a go and then they’ve equalised after a mishap between Andrew Anderson and goalkeeper Matty Alexander. However, I’ve got to give praise to my lads who came back and went ahead again – albeit with an own goal – but the biggest positive of the afternoon is that we won the game 3-2. We were down in numbers and consequently there wasn’t a lot we could change – I think we would have done if we could – but the key thing today was getting three points. I did feel for the opposition a little bit because I thought they played well but at the same time we have played well in games and haven’t picked up any points and over the season it evens itself out.”
The result saw the Colliers move out of the bottom four up to 15th in the East Division table of the Pitching In Northern Premier League and Gray said: “The bottom of the table is so congested. You can drop into the bottom four or come out of it but when you’re in it, it’s for a reason. I suppose it’s the old cliché that you’ve got to concentrate on yourselves and we have had some important wins – if we hadn’t we would have been right in the mire. We had 14 players today and the lads have dug in and got the points. Before the game with our numbers being down I would have simply taken any type of a win – and that’s exactly what it was. You’re in football to win and credit to the lads.”
He concluded: “I want our standards to be high and although there is still a lot to work on, winning breeds confidence so we’ll dust ourselves down and prepare to face Bishop Auckland on Saturday.”