By Brian Bennett
Ashington skipper Karl Ross reached a notable milestone in his long serving playing career when he made his 250th appearance for the Colliers in their Pitching In Northern Premier League East Division clash against Brighouse Town on Saturday – and is hoping to chalk up many more!
Afterwards, the joint interim manager as well as midfielder revealed he was aware of the stats – but admitted he should have reached it earlier!
“To be fair, it would have come earlier against Dunston if I hadn’t been sent off,” he commented, “I’ve had a couple of red cards this season which is poor on my part but it’s a great achievement. Ashington is a great club and it has got a great set of people and volunteers behind the scenes. I’ve loved the club ever since I joined in 2018, so to get to 250, I’m immensely proud and hope I can get many more.”
Ross helped to steer his side over the line on Saturday – the Wansbeck club preserving their status in the league after they finally shrugged off the threat of relegation. He added: “It was a tough one because you just wanted to play another game but your mind is elsewhere. We knew it was in our hands which was the main thing and that if we won or drew the game it was going to be enough to keep us in the league. We said beforehand that we couldn’t have had a much better opportunity than today (at Brighouse) to nail safety. Staying up is nothing we should be celebrating but after the season we have had, it’s a good achievement.”
Ross paid tribute to the Ashington fans – around 100 – who travelled on Saturday: “They gave us a lift during the game,” he said, “They have not only been magnificent all season, they have been magnificent in the whole of the eight years I have been with the club. Honestly we (the players and management) cannot thank them enough for coming down in their numbers today. They pay their hard earned money to come and watch us play and the least we can do is to work hard and put a performance in for them to celebrate.”
He continued: “We started the campaign with high expectations of reaching the play offs which is your ambition to get to but it didn’t pan out that way. We went through a very tough spell where we only won seven games up to Christmas but after then we’ve turned things around.”
He continued: “Apart from the fans, I want to say a big thank you to all the volunteers and to everyone else connected with the club. It hasn’t been the kind of season everyone has wanted but at the end of the day we’ve achieved the job of keeping the club in the league which when Marc (Ellison) and I took over on an interim basis, was the target. From that moment I think we have played some good football; got some good results and deserve to stay in the league.”