By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Wilson Kneeshaw’s 11^th goal of the season punctured Belper’s hopes of going second top of the Pitching In Northern Premier League East Division on Tuesday night as Ashington won a tight contest 1-0.

And afterwards, Colliers boss Ian Skinner paid tribute to both sides: “It was a great result for us,” he said, “Obviously it means that we have now put back to back home wins together which is good – and that’s what we asked for. We hadn’t played since our 4-0 victory over Hebburn Town on Boxing Day and went into the game against Belper on the back of a really positive home performance – and we wanted to follow that up with another (positive performance.) I have to feel for Belper travelling up to Ashington on a Tuesday night and we referenced that to the lads in terms of how early they would have had to set off from Derbyshire and could we start really bright and try and use that to our advantage. Overall, I thought it was two pretty well matched teams throughout the 90 minutes with a little bit of individual brilliance for the goal by Wilson Kneeshaw the difference.”

He continued: “We came in 1-0 up at half time and we talked about managing the ball; trying to invite them (Belper) to come and have to press us which would leave spaces for us to try and exploit them to add to our tally. However, I thought they slightly shaded the second half as we didn’t seem to really hit our straps or keep the ball as well as we can. Sometimes we demand a lot from the lads – we have got high standards – whereby we want perfect performances and perfect results but that can’t always be the case. I think what we have done tonight is to win a little bit ugly in the end when we haven’t been at our best – and that is something which I have criticised the group for previously. We turned in a disappointing performance but I certainly thought the lads dug in, battled and scrapped and managed to take the three points.”

He added: “Belper are a good side. I thought they were well organised and they tried to move the ball well in the first period then second half they’ve looked to press us a little bit high and push more numbers forward. However, we seem to be the only team in this league that haven’t got somebody who can throw the ball the width of the pitch. It was something which we had to deal with and we stood up and were counted. Belper had a couple of good chances and they’ll probably think they deserved something from the game but we had a couple of opportunities too. Their ‘keeper (Daniel Moore) has made a good save from Wilson (Kneeshaw) with his foot and then he was on hand again to deny Wilson right at the end when they were pushing bodies forward.”

Skinner added: “Oli Thompson and Will Constantin have both been recalled by Gateshead but we are not looking to bring anybody in which means we are working with a slightly reduced squad in terms of numbers. I’m not someone who looks to bring players in frequently anyway so the group that we have got now will be the group we will look to work with from now until the end of the season – unless of course something comes out of the blue which we think will improve us. However, I think this group of players deserve to see the season through; look to maintain their good form on the pitch and see where they can take the club.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Clutching the match ball under his arm, Connor Thomson said he was ‘buzzing’ after scoring a hat trick for Ashington on Tuesday as they gave Hebburn’s promotion bid of a jolt with a 4-0 hammering at Woodhorn Lane.

And afterwards the on-loan forward from Morpeth Town revealed that he had fancied his chances of scoring against second from top Hebburn – along with his strike partner Wilson Kneeshaw.

Kneeshaw got the Colliers off to a flying start with a goal in the eighth minute before 27 year old Thomson added three – two of which were a striker’s instinct!

“I’m absolutely buzzing,” said Newcastle-born Thomson afterwards, “It’s the first time in a while where I’m getting a run of games and can relax and be myself. After we got the first two (goals), Wilson Kneeshaw and myself were both confident about scoring a few more. We took our chances – and to get three goals myself to help the boys’ record a win made it a brilliant Boxing Day for us.”

Thomson reflected on his hat-trick: “For the first goal, as soon as I got the ball around the defender, I thought ‘just take the chance and bury it’ – and luckily enough that happened. For the next, I saw Oli (Thompson) and I know in that situation that I just need to make that little bit of a split second decision – and luckily enough I’ve got right in front of the defender and put it away. Then for the third, I saw the ball bounce around and I stumbled it in! My initial reaction was that I thought I may have been offside – but I thought I would put the ball into the net anyway and it’s been given.”

Cramlington-based Thomson – who is a gym owner – is hoping he and his team mates can use the victory to ‘push on.’

On Saturday (December 30), Ashington travel to face Consett and Thomson added: “We need to recover and take the confidence from today’s win into Saturday’s game and look to build another run like we had earlier in the season before that little bit of a dip. We should be looking to push on.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner said his squad of players take maximum credit following the crushing 4-0 win over Hebburn Town at Woodhorn Lane on Tuesday.

After Wilson Kneeshaw had opened the scoring, striker Connor Thomson provided the knockout punch on Boxing Day with a hat-trick as the Colliers ran riot and they could have inflicted an even heaver defeat on The Hornets who lie second from top of the Pitching In Northern Premier League’s East Division.

On the day of the contest, Skinner had said: “With our group of players, I always look forward to playing the teams who are in and around the promotion and play off spots. Nine times out of ten we play particularly well against them and a look at our results this season shows that we have had very positive results.”

Ashington didn’t only play ‘particularly well’ which led to a positive result – they were magnificent and got the three points they so richly deserved.

Consequently a delighted Skinner said afterwards: “All credit to the players really – they are the ones who go out onto the pitch and do it. We the management team just try and set them up and give them some advice as to how we think we can cause the opposition problems. I even said to them (the players) before the game that I back them every time we play against teams who are in and around the top of the table who are talking about promotion and play offs simply because this group of players at Ashington are equally as good as everybody in the division. Maybes the one aspect where we can improve is that level of consistency but from the first whistle today I thought we looked ‘at it’ and busy. We looked to play quick and move the ball – we got it down and we’ve gone 1-0 up with a good goal then added another with a fantastic move.”

Skinner touched on the dismissal of Hebburn’s former Ashington player Dean Briggs in the 24^th minute: “It was as clear a red card as you’ll probably ever see,” he said, “I’ll not be too quick to forget what Dean Briggs did when he was at this football club – but that was as poor a tackle that I’ve seen in a long, long time – and on a mate (Craig Spooner) as well – and he was rightly sent off.”

The boss continued: “I just thought our game management after that was really good apart from the final couple of minutes of the half where we gave away a couple of needless corners and free kicks. Obviously when they went down to ten men, they sort of played a 4-4-1 formation and sat in a little bit to try and stay in the game and probably looked to see if they could pinch something on the counter attack or from a set play. I thought we moved the ball really well and got to a certain point where we slowed the game right down and invited them to come out and try and pinch it (the ball) off us so we could then play in behind. That was very much the game plan second half. Again we’ve played as well as we can against ten men because it’s not always easy and I thought we controlled large periods of the second half and always looked a threat going forward. They (Hebburn) had to try and condense the space and they’ve tried to drop in and let us have the ball to a point and defended with a little bit of a high line – and that’s dangerous when you have got the strike force and the pace we have.”

He added: “If we wanted to be really greedy we could and should have scored more as we created numerous chances but if you’d offered me a 4-0 win before kick off I’m pretty confident I would have accepted it! Listen – Hebburn are a good side by the way. They have got good players and they will be right up there come the end of the season – make no mistake about that. But I was just delighted with our performance; the result; and for everybody involved who came out on a Boxing Day, gave up their time and supported us. Before our game, there were one or two grumblings from disappointed Newcastle United fans following their 3-1 defeat by Nottingham Forest who asked us not to let them down further and thankfully we’ve managed to turn it around with a good result! It was a nice little Christmas present for the staff; the volunteers; the players themselves and for all of the supporters.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner – having seen his side end a run of three consecutive defeats with a 3-3 draw against Brighouse on Saturday – is eyeing up a potential Christmas cracker when his side host Hebburn Town this afternoon.

The Hornets are currently second top of the Pitching In Northern Premier League’s East Division with Ashington in mid table and Skinner said: “With our group of players, I always look forward to playing the teams who are in and around the promotion and play off spots because nine times out of ten, we play particularly well against them. A look at our results this season shows that we have had very positive results although people might look and say ‘you have let yourselves down by probably not having as many positive results against the teams around or below you’ – and stats don’t lie. However, I back this group of players and on our day they are equally as good as anything in this league.”

He continued: “I just think we need to find that little bit more level of consistency. We went on that great run recently and had some really positive results but then we just seemed to slip into a little bit of a lull whereby we couldn’t buy a win. We’ve stopped it with a draw today but we need to pick up three points as soon as possible.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner said he was ‘slightly disappointed’ that his side had only picked up one point following their 3-3 draw against Brighouse Town on Saturday.

On a rain-soaked afternoon in West Yorkshire, the Colliers brought a run of three consecutive defeats to an end as they fought back on three occasions with Oli Thompson on the mark twice and Paul Van-Zandvliet scoring a last ditch equaliser.

The Woodhorn Lane boss said afterwards: “When you are losing 3-2 with 30 seconds left on the clock you take a point – but on another day I think it should have been three so in that respect, I’m slightly disappointed. The result stopped a run of disappointing results that we have been on and I thought there were lots to be pleased about with our performance today in what were very difficult conditions. There were contrasting styles and we had to adapt and change slightly due to the conditions and the pitch. Brighouse set up to press us really high and defended the half way line in the first half and similar to Tuesday night at Sheffield, we fashioned two or three fantastic chances which we failed to convert. Leading up to the opening goal, there was a little bit of sloppy play from us around our own box and Gary Ormston has tried to clear the ball – it’s gone up in the air – and their striker has got it and it led to a penalty which I thought was very harsh. I actually thought it was a foul on our goalkeeper (Karl Dryden) and I thought the referee has given it for the noise which he heard – but the noise he heard was their forward kicking Karl. Karl has come out and got the ball and then made himself ‘big’ and their striker has followed through and kicked him. The referee has heard the noise and the striker has screamed knowing that he kicked the goalkeeper and thinking he was in trouble. The referee has bought it and given a penalty and we find ourselves 1-0 down again.”

He continued: “At half time we made a couple of little tweaks about ways in which we thought we could cause them (Brighouse) even more problems and I thought we started the second half really brightly and scored a good equaliser. Then their second goal was quite fortuitous in terms of the ball takes a big deflection which puts the lad clean through and he finishes it. When teams are in a little bit of poor form like we are, little things like that go against you whilst when we were on our good run, those things went for us. However 2-1 down, we showed good character to come back and scored an almost identical second goal. After that, the only thing which disappointed me a little bit was we stopped doing the things that had caused them problems and led to us scoring two goals and we were really defensively poor with the third goal which we conceded. Consequently we gave ourselves another tough task but to the lads’ credit they kept going until the end and we’ve scored right at the death from a corner with Gary (Ormston) flicking the ball on and Paul Van-Zandvliet has managed to stab it in and we end 3-3.”

He went on: “A couple of big things for me – and I’ve probably said this numerous times – is if we had taken our chances and been a bit more clinical in front of goal earlier in the game – and nobody misses on purpose – it could have led to us having a more comfortable afternoon with a more positive result. We’ve got to look at once we got back into the game allowing them to get in front again on two occasions and also the fact that we have conceded 11 goals in three games. I take some of the responsibility for that in terms of how I set us up to play. We are playing in a very attacking formation and in a very attacking shape and going through our 1-11 today there were probably only two recognised defenders in the team and that’s my choice. But what we have also got to remember is that we’ve got Nathan Buddle who has been out now for six weeks plus; Si Jakab who is not available who has been one of our best defenders of late plus Jordan Summerly and Charlie Exley who are both unavailable. That’s four defenders we are currently having to reckon without so that plays a part in things as well.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner slammed his sides’ defending and delivered a blunt message following their 4-0 defeat against Sheffield FC on Tuesday night.

The reverse in Dronfield at the Home of Football Stadium saw the Colliers slide to a third consecutive defeat whilst also conceding eight goals in two matches and the boss didn’t hold back in his postmatch thoughts: “The simple fact is we will not win games of football if we defend like we have done in the last two – end of.”

He continued: “It was a similar theme to Saturday’s defeat against Newton Ayclffe in terms of we defended really poorly as a team. The game started really bright and quite open to be honest. They (Sheffield) looked quite dangerous and we looked very dangerous going forward but then we conceded a really poor first goal to go behind against a team who haven’t been ahead in games too often this season and it gave them a little bit of confidence and something to hang onto. I just thought we looked really good getting into the final third with Wilson Kneeshaw and Connor Thomson running at them and Oli Thompson getting in high, wide and left but again we were just a little bit wasteful in and around the final third. Then we conceded a really poor second goal.”

He added: “Even at half time, I still thought we would score in the game because of the amount of entries we had into the attacking third and if Connor Thomson’s shot had gone in to make it 2-1 instead of hitting the post, it would have changed the game. We got a warning for the third goal where the corner was headed off the line by Karl Ross then the resulting corner was identical only this time they scored. You know things aren’t quite going your way when they get a fourth with an own goal.”

By Brian Bennett

Will Constantin made his debut for Ashington on Saturday – but the 20 year old wasn’t smiling after the final whistle as his side went down 4-2 to Newton Aycliffe in their Pitching In Northern Premier League East Division clash.

The Surrey-born youngster – who is also registered with Gateshead – has been left kicking his heels since joining the Woodhorn Lane based outfit recently from Ebac Northern League first division outfit West Auckland.

He said afterwards: “I came to the club a few weeks ago but although I’ve been training, the first couple of games have been cancelled. Obviously I know the manager Ian Skinner from Gateshead and that’s how the move came about.”

Constantin who is based in Blyth continued: “They are a great group of lads at Ashington; I get on really well with them – and it was a shame about the result today. I felt I performed okay but conditions didn’t allow for any sort of football to be played.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner admitted after the 4-2 defeat against Newton Aycliffe that he got ‘one or two calls wrong’ – but he also spoke about being disappointed with the performance from his players which fell short of what he expects from them.

It’s only a month ago that the Colliers turned in an outstanding display as they blew North Ferriby away 5-0 – but on Saturday they plunged to the other end of the scale with an abject showing against the Newtonians.

Skinner said: “I’m bitterly disappointed. The lads are a great group who I like to spend time with but today they fell short of what I expect of them and it’s a little bit of an achilles heel that we appear to have. We seem to hit heights of a good run – which we have been on – but when it comes to an end, we seem to feel sorry for ourselves a little bit and I thought across the 90 minutes today, we were poor. I’ve got no complaints about the outcome – Newton Aycliffe were the better side and deserved to win the game. They dealt with the wind better than we did; they worked harder and a game like today with the conditions the way they were, it was very much going to be about work rate first and then little bits of brilliance or good play second. I thought Newton Aycliffe outscored us on all of that and even some of their play was better than ours at times.”

Skinner reflected on a first half where his team went into the break with the scores level at 1-1 after they had battled against the strong wind: “I thought we were poor in the first half,” he added, “I gave the lads the benefit of the doubt in terms of how difficult the conditions were – but I did say to them that I thought they made it look harder than it was and that we needed to be much better in the second half. We looked like a team who thought ‘we’ve done the hard bit of dealing with playing against the wind and maybes it’s just going to happen for us’ – although I’d like to think this wasn’t the case. However the really frustrating thing is if we are going to defend like we did in the first 15-20 minutes of the second half – and by that I mean from goalkeeper Karl Dryden all the way through to the two centre forwards because we defend collectively as a unit – we will not win many games of football this season because the defending in the space and the reaction to the goals we have conceded is very, very frustrating. I almost wish I had access to the footage now because having watched them live, they were very, very poor goals to concede. After Aycliffe went 3-1 up, we just seemed to lose our way and we were very negative in our passing, wanting to go back.”

Skinner believed his players weren’t ‘at it’ throughout: “I think we had a half chance in the opening minutes where we got in,” he said, “Then other than that it was very much where the play was in our half, with us trying to play out against the wind and Newton Aycliffe obviously trying to win the ball back and attack our goal. We did get out with a great little move when we got the ball to Oli Thompson – who I thought looked a threat all the way through the first half. He picked up possession and did what he does well – whereby he’s got that great ability to shift his weight from one side to the other! Oli has gone on a good run and he’s played the ball down the side for Wilson Kneeshaw who was in and who has broke into the box. It looked like a shot by Wilson and it was probably just going wide of the far post but Connor (Thomson) has tapped it in. You then think ‘brilliant because when we go 1-0 up this team have a tendency to go on and win games of football – but what you can’t do is to concede within a minute. Every goal you can strip it back to being a mistake and it’s interesting that statistically conceding a goal so quickly after scoring one has more of an impact on you than actually scoring the first goal in a game. However, overall, I just thought we weren’t ‘at it’ this afternoon.”

He went on: “Obviously after a defeat like today everybody has to take a look at themselves – myself included – and I think there were one or two decisions that I possibly got wrong. I’ll take that onboard and go away and reflect as well – just like we ask the players to go away and reflect on their performances. All in all it was a bad day at the office with lots of things that didn’t quite go our way but I think the key headline for me is ‘disappointed and I expect better.’

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC’s assistant manager Andy Coyles – speaking ahead of the Colliers’ home clash against Newton Aycliffe in the Pitching In Northern Premier League East Division on Saturday (December 16), said the players are ‘chomping at the bit’ to return to competitive action.

Following a cold snap, the rain – which has resulted in a glut of fixtures being called off over the past week due to waterlogged pitches – continued to fall on the Woodhorn Lane surface on Tuesday night. However looking forward and clinging to the hope that the game against the Newtonians will get the go ahead on Saturday, Coyles said: “Newton Aycliffe will be a difficult side to face. In fact if I was a neutral looking at the fixtures, I would probably go to this game because I would say it will arguably be a meeting between two of the best footballing sides in the league. I imagine there’ll be a lot of good football on display and played in the right way too – and fingers crossed I think the weather is looking good so that’s certainly encouraging news. To finally get a match on will be just the tonic because the lads are chomping at the bit to get back out onto the pitch.”

He continued: “Training has been good. Sometimes it’s difficult when you are anticipating games being either on or off – but the players have stuck at it and their attitudes have been brilliant. It’s certainly worth noting that even the lads who have been out injured for a long time have shown there support towards their team mates who were out there training and it just shows the togetherness of the group. There is a really good feeling and atmosphere around the camp and a lot of that has to do with our recent results where we went on a five game unbeaten run, prior to the loss to Liversedge in our last match.”

Meanwhile Coyles gave an encouraging update on the injury front with Cam Gascoigne, Nathan Buddle and Darren Lough all back in training and eligible for selection on Saturday whilst Charlie Exley is to start light running next week. Coyles said of Exley: “It’s a positive because we thought he was going to be out for a while.”

Meanwhile the assistant boss added that Jordan Summerly has more of a long term injury and that the management are monitoring the injury to Dan Maguire on a “week to week” basis.

“The majority of the players are back from knocks and that’s only good news for the team – but on the management front it’s going to cause a number of selection headaches!” added Coyles, “We gained the good results of late despite having all of these players sidelined and it just goes to show how well the lads have done who have actually been selected, started games and who have been out there on the pitch.”

Saturday’s kick-off against Newton Aycliffe is 3pm then the Colliers travel to face Sheffield FC for a 7.45pm start on Tuesday (December 19).