By Brian Bennett
The new fixtures were released by the Northern Premier League last week – and Ashington manager Marc Ellison has admitted that his side face a ‘really tough start’ to the campaign.
The curtain goes up for the Colliers with a home game against Horden Colliery Welfare in the extra preliminary round of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday August 8 – with their league programme commencing three days later with a mouthwatering local derby contest against Morpeth Town who were relegated from the NPL Premier Division last term.
Ellison said: “I’m really excited now. I’ve mentioned before, and it’s probably the same for most players and managers, that pre-season is a bit of a ballache but everything we do is geared towards being ready for August. The opening fixtures are really tough, but that’s the case with every game in this league. Starting at home against Morpeth is a great test and should be a big night, with hopefully a good crowd coming along to support us. Then we’ve got Stocksbridge, who have just been relegated and will be determined to challenge at the top end of the table, followed by Guisborough, who have just been promoted and will be full of confidence and excitement. It makes for a really challenging first week of competitive football, but it’s something we’re all looking forward to. We know we’ll need to be at our best if we want to pick up some positive results but overall, I’m just pleased the season is getting closer. We’re looking forward to building on how we finished last season and hopefully continuing to improve over the course of this one.”
Meanwhile Ashington kept their first clean sheet in pre season when they defeated Horley Town 3-0 at Blyth’s Croft Park on Sunday in the Better Together Cup. Josh Gilchrist scored a brace with Paddy Almond also on target.
Ellison said afterwards: “There were plenty of positives to take from this afternoon’s performance. We looked at a different formation again, which looked fairly comfortable .It is only pre-season, and results can sometimes be misleading. Horley had also played the day before, so they were always likely to tire as the game went on, and our final two goals came late. That said, those goals came from situations the players had identified beforehand as areas where we felt we could hurt them, so it was pleasing to see that work pay off. We only had 12 available players today so the lads put in a good shift knowing it was unlikely to be any changes so I was really pleased with that.”
He continued: “Overall, it was another good workout as we continue building towards the start of the season but I have to give a special mention to 16-year-old Jack Gibson, who was outstanding from the first whistle to the last. I’m also delighted for Josh Gilchrist to get his two goals, while Paddy Almond put in a brilliant performance and deservedly got himself on the scoresheet as well.”
He added: “Skipper Karl Ross has come off injured which is a concern so close to season but we’ll monitor him and hopefully have him back in time. Overall there’s plenty to be positive about. There’s still lots to work on and improve, but it was a good afternoon and another positive step in the right direction.”