By Brian Bennett

Ashington manager Marc Ellison was naturally disappointed after watching his side go down to a 2-1 defeat against Pontefract Collieries on Tuesday night.

Afterwards, the Woodhorn Lane boss admitted that the West Yorkshire side – who as a result moved into a play off place – were worthy of the points even though his own outfit showed an improved performance from Saturday’s 3-0 loss at Grimsby Borough.

Ellison said: “I can’t really have too many complaints with the result tonight. I think we’ve been beaten by the better team on the night. We got our noses in front, which is obviously great, but if I’m being honest, we didn’t really cause them enough problems which is disappointing. We knew how they play, we knew what they were going to bring and how good they are at doing it, but we didn’t counteract it as well as we’d hoped we could. The equaliser (by Elliott Walker) is one of those where I’m not sure anyone saves it. I’m not even sure if the lad has hit a ball like that in his life. It’s an unbelievable strike and sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say fair play.”

He continued: “I wasn’t overly concerned with how the first half had played out, but we knew we needed to be better with the ball. At half-time, we spoke about taking more control of the game and trying to have longer periods of possession, but it never really worked out that way. We turned the ball over too quickly and they kept putting the ball into good areas which meant we didn’t manage to take control of the ball for the periods we’d spoken about. Again, Matty (Alexander) has made a few good saves and I think they’ve had two goals chalked off as well, so it’s difficult for me to sit here and complain too much about the result. It’s always difficult to take defeat, especially at home, but unfortunately I just think they were better than us on the night. Sometimes that happens in football.

That said, I do think there were certain periods where we could have been much better, and if we had been, it could have made a difference.”

He added: “Although we haven’t picked up the results I thought we should have at Liversedge, West Auckland and Guisborough, there have been parts of those games where we could take positives and we felt like it was just a case of getting over the line and the results would come. Unfortunately, they haven’t quite worked out that way. Tonight was an improvement from Saturday but ultimately we’ve still come away with nothing again. It’s a really big month, I think there are six or seven games pencilled in, so we need to start picking up points there’s no hiding away from it, we can only do that by continuing to believe, sticking together and making sure everyone is pulling in the same direction.”

He went on: “We also need to give the supporters something to be encouraged by. They’re entitled to expect more from us and we need to give them something to get behind because their support can make a huge difference. Hopefully the squad will be looking stronger at the weekend with a few unavailable bodies coming back, and we’ll also be looking to bring in a few fresh faces if we can and that will help us improve.”

By Gavin Perry

Tuesday evening saw a flurry of goals in the opening minutes as Ashington went two down within three minutes before pulling one back in the fourth minute. A goal a piece in the second half led to a 3-2 defeat at The Northern Metal Recycling Stadium (Darlington Road).

Here’s what Marc had to say after the final whistle

“You look at the first two minutes, concede two goals and you’re thinking the game is already over. It doesn’t matter what level of football you’re playing at, to gift the goals we’ve gifted tonight is alarming, especially so early in the game.

Minute later you get one back but after that we still never really got going. We weren’t close enough, we looked leggy and we didn’t look anything like the team we were last week.

To be fair to them, they were the much better team in the first half.

We changed shape at half-time and, for the majority of the second half, I thought we looked a lot better. Matty has had to make one or two important saves, but for that 25 or 30-minute period in the middle of the half, we dominated the game and probably should have scored before we eventually got ourselves level.

Then, for whatever reason, we stopped doing the things that were getting us success.

And once again, we get hit with a late goal and come away with nothing.

So yeah, really disappointing.

It was almost the Heaton Stannington situation again, where we’ve managed to get ourselves back into the game and you think, take what you can and get out of there with something.

I don’t actually know what’s happened with the final goal yet. I’ll have to watch it back, but once again, issues in both boxes have cost us.

In a sense, I have to give the lads some credit for the reaction to a terrible start. They stayed in the game during the first half when things weren’t going our way, and then they took the game to them in the second. But we probably relied on two or three players to have really good games, while the rest were below the level or standards they’ve set themselves over the past few weeks. 

We can’t be a bit-part team. We need to be at it from minute one to minute 90, and unfortunately we’re falling short of that too often – we’ve conceded way to many goals early on or from restarts of the second half and in the denying minutes of the games.

It’s alright looking pretty and playing good stuff in the middle of the pitch, and I’ll probably sound like I’m repeating myself from last week, but both boxes are where it really matters.

We’ve missed some really good chances again tonight as have They as well by the way – so the scoreline could have been very different either way if some of those opportunities had gone in.

But the bottom line is you cannot give teams a two-goal start that early and that easily and expect to win football matches.

At the same time, based on the majority of the second half, did we deserve to get something from the game? Probably.  That’s the frustrating part because there was enough in that second-half performance to suggest we could have come away with something, but we’ve gave ourselves a mountain to climb in first 5 minutes.

It’s still really early in the season, but the gap is slowly increasing with teams around us picking up points, so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise we need to start turning performances into positive results.”

By Gavin Perry

Ashington fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat at Guisborough Town on Wednesday evening, however the score does not fully reflect the performance with Ashington dominating large part of the game but failing to put away countless chances.

Here’s what manager Marc Ellison had to say after the final whistle:

“Firstly, I’d just like to say it was a good game of footy, wasn’t it? There was some really good stuff from both sides and, although obviously we’re disappointed with the result, I thought it was a really good game.

Probably since the last time we played Guisborough in the Trophy  I feel like we’ve got better and better with every game, and tonight wasn’t any different really.

It’s tough to stand here after being beaten and try to be too positive, but I genuinely thought the performance, barring the first 10 minutes of the second half, was probably one of or if not the best we’ve produced over the course of the full 90 minutes this season.

Unfortunately, as we all know, playing well doesn’t always win you a game of football, and that old cliché about what happens in both boxes being important has proved to be the difference tonight.

We’ve had the lion’s share of possession, probably had two really good goalscoring opportunities in the first half, and then in the second half we’ve had three, four, maybe even five really good opportunities to score.

We’ve missed the target, had one cleared off the line, had a final pass that just hasn’t quite reached its target, and then we’ve conceded from another set piece.

That’s the frustrating part.

There are obviously things we need to work on, and we will work on them, but if we can consistently produce performances like that, I’m confident the results and points will start to follow.

We’re creating chances, we’re controlling large parts of games and we’re putting ourselves in good positions. We just need to start being more ruthless in both boxes.

I also want to put a bit of context around the bench tonight because, from the outside looking in, it probably looks like we’ve left two attacking players on the bench while chasing the game.

We only had two fully fit substitutes available because of other injuries and work commitments. Noah took a knock on Saturday but has still offered his hand to help, and Hendo is still strapped up and offering whatever he can.

I didn’t think risking further injury to either of them was the right thing to do, particularly when we were still looking dangerous for 90% of the time we went forward.

We’ve got to look after the players as well as trying to win football matches, and sometimes you have to make those decisions.

The frustrating thing is that I genuinely felt we were in the game until the end. We’ve put in a performance against a good side, created enough opportunities to get something from it, but ultimately we’ve come away with nothing.

That’s football sometimes.

We’ve got a really big week coming up after the break, especially this early in the season, and tonight has given us plenty to take from the game.

We’ll be disappointed tonight because we feel we deserved more, but there’s a lot of encouragement in that performance.

Now we need to make sure we carry that level into the next one and turn good performances into points.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

If Ashington’s game against Garforth Town was Scott Fenwick’s final appearance for the Wansbeck outfit, then the striker has gone out in style.

The Colliers won the contest against the Yorkshire side 2-1 last week with goals from Bryan Taylor and a penalty which was expertly netted by Fenwick.

However, the 36 year-old striker has landed a prime new job with Premier League giants Manchester City as Player Transition Manager and will consequently be moving away from the North East.

Fenwick, who was previously working for Everton, said: “I’ve loved being home in the summer but things have panned out well for me. It’s a good job; a good career progression away from my own football career because I’ve got to look to the next 35-40 years. I’m at that age where my playing career stops and it’s a great opportunity for me to go to Manchester City, who are a massive club. I’ll be going there as the player transition manager. I’ll be working with the academy and the first team so it’ll be the lads who sign professional contracts at 17 – whether they stay with the club;  whether they go out on loan, into the league, the championship or go abroad.”

Fenwick has ‘loved his time’ at Woodhorn Lane and had a message for the club and its supporters: “I’d like to say a big massive thank you,” he added, “I’ve loved it. Ian Skinner – the Head of football at Woodhorn Lane – has been on at me for years to come here (Ashington). He had me at Durham as a 17 year old before I moved up the leagues so he knows what I’m about. He told me from day one that I’d love it at Ashington. Obviously manager Marc Ellison and I go back a long, long way and Ryan Donaldson and Liam Henderson are lads who I’ve grown up with. Ryan and I played together as 10 year olds whilst Liam and I went to secondary school together for five years so they are close friends who’ve all had fairly decent careers that they should be proud of.”

He continued: “If tonight against Garforth Town is my last game not just for Ashington but as a footballer, then it’s a good way to sign off with a goal back home in the North East playing in black and white which I love. Twenty years ago I started playing at Gretna in black and white and wore the same colours with Ponteland and Newcastle Benfield and if I finish in black and white then happy days. I’ll be very, very busy when I get to Manchester City so I’m going to get my teeth into work; get my head down and work hard and see where it takes me. If I can play down South, I’ll look to do it – if not I’ve had a good go at it.”

Gateshead-born Fenwick reflected on Ashington’s first league win of the season last week and said: “It was a home game which we controlled and tonight I thought everyone was ‘at it’ from minute one – you could tell from the warm up. The midfield were all working together as one unit; we kept the ball well; we won second balls; we dictated the play and I think that’s what lets us down at times. We have so much of the ball but it’s making the right decisions. We just need to keep that momentum and keep that mentality every game and I think we’ll fly up the league.”

Fenwick had no hesitation in taking responsibility when the Colliers were awarded a penalty last week: “Whenever I’m on the pitch, I’m going to take a penalty,” he said, “I know I’m pretty new to the club and there will be penalty takers already here but I’m an experienced lad and I’m more than happy to put them away. Nine times out of ten I am a striker so I’ll grab the ball anyway. I probably thought that they (Garforth) had watched the penalty shootout against Guisborough at the weekend especially the goalkeeper and when I saw him (the Garforth Town ‘keeper) lean to the right, I thought I’d go the other way.”

Manager Marc Ellison said: “I just want to thank Scott for everything he’s done while he’s been with us. He’s taken on a new job which means he’s moving out of the area. We’ve known about it for a while, but with us struggling for bodies at the top end of the pitch over the last week, he knew we needed some help and he came back in to give us a hand. That speaks volumes about him as a person and we’re really grateful for it. He’s also managed to get himself a few goals while he’s been with us, which is what he does, so I’m sure he’s enjoyed himself!”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington manager Marc Ellison looked on as his side conceded a late equaliser against NPL East Division table toppers Liversedge at the Meat Drunkery Clayborn Stadium on Saturday.

And afterwards, the boss admitted that he was disappointed following the 1-1 scoreline: 

“I’d have definitely taken a point before the game, away from home against a side sitting top of the league who have scored plenty of goals this season,” he said “But if I’m being completely honest, I find myself a little disappointed that we haven’t come away with all three points, and I think that says a lot about where this group is at now. A few weeks ago I was really questioning the players and the performances we were putting in. But over the last week of football, every single one of them has been fantastic, and they deserve a lot of credit for the way they’ve responded.”

Ellison reflected on a dour and uneventful first period: “I thought we looked a little leggy in the first half, if I’m being honest,” he added, “We weren’t getting close enough for the first and second balls like we did on Tuesday (against Garforth Town) and we were probably a little bit off it physically. That said, there were still some decent passages of play and we stayed in the game. The half-time message was really about getting a bit more belief into them because I genuinely thought there was something in it for us. We needed to be braver, believe in ourselves a little bit more and trust what we’d been doing. And if I’m being honest, I thought we deserved more than the point we’ve come away with.”

He continued: “They’re top of the league for a reason (Liversedge). They’re a good side and they’re very good at what they do, but I don’t think they caused us too many problems over the 90 minutes. Yes, we didn’t create anything that was really clear-cut either, but over the course of the game, in my opinion, we were the better side.”

The boss lauded his players: “I can’t sit here and complain about a point away from home against the team at the top of the league, but the fact I’m disappointed we haven’t won it tells you everything about the progress we’re making. We’re building performances every single week now, and that’s what we’ve been asking for. A few weeks ago, we were talking about the lack of consistency and standards. Now we’ve gone away to the league leaders, competed for 90 minutes, arguably been the better side and come away disappointed with a draw. That speaks volumes about the character of this group and the direction we’re heading in. I’m really proud of every single player today.”

He went on: “There’s still plenty we can improve on, but we’re starting to look like a team that belongs in these games rather than one that’s just trying to survive them. We’ll take the point, take the positives and keep building.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington manager Marc Ellison said he was really pleased after watching his side record their first league victory of the season on Tuesday night when they beat high flying Garforth Town 2-1 at Woodhorn Lane.

Ellison commented afterwards: “It feels like that first win has been a long time coming. We’ve been so close a few times without quite getting over the line, so I’m really pleased to finally get the three points. For the first half an hour or so, I thought we were brilliant. We really took the game to them, played some really good football and the goal was a fantastic move, finished off really well by Bry (Taylor). The stoppage with Rory (Powell) getting injured and having to make a change took the sting out of the game a little bit, but we managed the rest of the half well and got ourselves into the break in a good position.”

He continued: “At half-time we said they (Garforth) would have to change something. We expected them to come out and step on us a lot more, and to be fair to them, they did that and started to grow into the game. But we managed to get up the other end and win a penalty, which Scotty (Fenwick) finished really well. If I’m being picky, I think we could have kicked on again in the second half and continued where we left off in the first. We sat off them a little bit too early, invited pressure onto ourselves and eventually they pull one back and you’re thinking, here we go again. Thankfully, this time we’ve managed to see it through, get our first three points and finally get that monkey off our backs. I asked the lads to build on the positives from Saturday and they’ve done that, and then some more, so I’m really happy.”

He added: “The commitment to defending the lead and the workrate from everyone was tremendous. Harry Powell’s block late on is as good as, if not better than, scoring a goal. That sort of sums up the performance from the lads really – everyone was willing to put their body on the line for the team. They were all brilliant, but Oli Thompson in the middle had his best game for us. He was tremendous from start to finish. I’ve also got to mention my mate Dan Groves. A year out injured, thrown straight into the deep end, and he gave us absolutely everything we knew we’d get from him. It was great to see him back out there and contributing.”

He went on: “There’s still plenty we can be better at, as there always will be, but this is another really solid platform for us to build from. Most importantly, we’ve finally got the win. Hopefully that gives the lads a good bit of confidence and belief going into what is going to be a tough run of four or five away games on the bounce. We’ve earned the three points, now we need to make sure we use them properly and keep building.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington manager Marc Ellison was understandably disappointed after seeing his side go out of the FA Trophy on Saturday following a penalty shootout against fellow NPL East Division outfit Guisborough at Woodhorn Lane.

The game finished 1-1 after 90 minutes with Guisborough skipper James Frazer’s header in the opening minutes of the second period cancelling out Noah Cunningham’s first half strike. The visitors then cliched their place in the next round after winning 4-3 on penalties.

Ellison said : “It wasn’t the most exciting game of football I think anyone will watch this season, but after last week’s disappointing performance, I’m really pleased with the attitude and application we showed today. In my opinion, we probably should have won the game inside the 90 minutes. I thought we grew into the game as the afternoon went on and, considering the conditions, I thought we handled them well in both halves.”

He continued: “I know Matty (Alexander) has made a brilliant save in the first half, but again I think we could still have gone into the break two or maybe even three goals to the good with the chances we had. Then the start-of-the-second-half hoodoo strikes again, which is something we need to look at – they get one back and start putting a bit of pressure on us early doors, but to be fair to the lads, they got themselves together, sorted it out and, like I’ve already mentioned, I thought we got better as the game went on — both with and without the ball.”

Ellison spoke highly of his squad: “We had a really young side out today. I’m pretty sure Rossy (Karl Ross) was the only one in his mid-twenties, with Jack (Gibson), Jude (Cogdon), Oli  (Thompson) and Noah (Cunningham) all teenagers, and the twins (Rory and Harry Powell) are only a year or two ahead of them as well. So I’m really pleased for all of them. They put a real shift in for each other and, at times, played some decent footy too. There was a lot more togetherness about us today, and that was important after last week. Obviously, penalties are a lottery and unfortunately this time we’ve come out on the wrong side of the shootout, which is disappointing.”

Josh Gilchrist stepped up to take Ashington’s fifth penalty knowing that he had to score – but whilst the striker put his foot through the ball and struck it with plenty of power, it went over the bar.

Later Gilchrist received some words of encouragement from his boss: “It’s not quite going for Josh at the moment and he’s beating himself up in there, but we have to remember how young he actually is,” said Ellison, “He’s been around for a while, so sometimes you forget that. We all know how good a player Josh is, and we’ll get around him as a group. Hopefully, the next chance he gets, he can get himself up and running for the season because there’s no doubt he has the ability to do it.”

Ellison concluded: “So, although we haven’t won the tie and we know there’s still plenty to improve on, I’d say I’m relatively pleased with the performance today. Most importantly, after last week, I wanted to see a reaction, and I got one. There’s plenty for us to work on, but today gives us something positive to build on.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington manager Marc Ellison pulled no punches when he spoke in the wake of his sides’ 3-1 defeat against Bridlington Town at Woodhorn Lane on Saturday.

The boss talked about his players showing ‘a lack of courage’ and said that performances like in the second half which were witnessed by a crowd of over 400 ‘cannot be tolerated anymore.’

The Colliers frittered away chances in the first period before the visitors took the lead through Tom Allan. Although home skipper Karl Ross equalised shortly before half time with a fantastic strike, the coast side dominated after the break and deservedly took the points courtesy of goals from substitute Ifeanyi Nnenanya and Ben Tweed.

Speaking after the contest, Ellison said: “First half, I didn’t actually think we were that bad. We had the lion’s share of possession and, yes, we were sloppy at times, but in my opinion we could have been three up inside the first 15 or 20 minutes and it might’ve been a different story. Scotty (Scott Lowery) has had a free header and completely missed it. Macca (Tom McIntyre) has put one over the bar from inside the six-yard box and Gilly (Josh Gilchrist) has danced through a few challenges inside the box and still somehow missed. Then, before you know it, we’re 1-0 down from a free header scored by, ironically, probably the tallest bloke on the pitch (Tom Allan).”

“To our credit, we responded. We got them pegged back and Rossy (Karl Ross) has scored an absolute worldie to get us level going into half-time. At that point, you go into the dressing room in fairly high spirits. More of the same, and it’s a great opportunity to put three points on the board. So much so that they made a triple substitution – so we were definitely doing something right. But what happened after that, I’m pretty much lost for words. We’ve got a real problem in both boxes at the minute. We cannot keep giving goals away the way we do, missing the chances we miss, and then expect to get anything from a game of football. But the most disappointing thing for me is the lack of courage when something doesn’t quite go to plan. We might as well have asked the referee to blow the final whistle when they scored the second, because barring two or three of them, the rest just packed in, went hiding or just looked completely lost. And that is not acceptable.”

He added: “It’s not the first time already this season that we’ve been okay – or even better than okay – in the first half, only to completely fold in the second. So now I’m starting to look at myself. Am I missing something? Am I not motivating them enough to complete a full 90 minutes? But the majority of the players who are here now were also here at the start of last season, and we’re starting to show similar signs to what we saw when the previous manager was here – I think I’m maybes starting to share some of the same frustrations. It’s been a tough transition from being a player to becoming a manager. These are lads who have been your mates, and then suddenly you’re standing in front of them asking more from them. Maybe I’ve allowed those friendships to cloud my judgement a little too often. But that second-half performance is not a reflection of me as a person or as a player, and it definitely will not be a reflection of my football team.”

He went on: “So if things need to change, they need to change now – and they need to change quickly. Because what we saw in that second half cannot be tolerated anymore. I don’t expect us to be battering teams every week. We know who we are and where we are as a football club. But what I do expect is 110% commitment from lads who want to back each other up, play with a smile on their face, and have enough about them to give me, their teammates and this football club something to be proud of. At the moment, we’ve got too many who are nowhere near the standards expected when it comes to the non-negotiables of the game. And, if I’m honest, it’s getting a bit boring having to repeat the same things every week. If we can’t or aren’t prepared to the basic of basics correctly or with any real purpose or desire we’re in big bother. And that may sound harsh as we’re a month into the season – but our standards need to massively, massively improve.”

Ashington manager Marc Ellison admitted that his outfit ‘let themselves down’ after they conceded a late goal and went down 2-1 against Heaton Stannington at Willow Park on Bank Holiday Monday.

After ex Collier Cyril Giraud had given the home side the lead early in the second half, a right foot thunderbolt from Ryan Donaldson with a little over five minutes remaining looked like rescuing a point for Ellison’s side until substitute Sado Djalo popped up in the fourth and final minute of time added to net the winner.

Ellison said: “We weren’t at our best today, far from it. I spoke after Saturday about consistency, and in terms of our performance, I think we’ve let ourselves down this afternoon. Having said that, we knew it was going to be a tough place to come. Not many teams come here and pick up points, so to get ourselves back to 1-1 with, what, five minutes left, we’ve got to manage the game a lot better. We’ve got to recognise that it maybe hasn’t been our day, take the point and get out of here. That’s three league games in a row now that we’ve conceded with virtually the last kick of the game, and it’s just not good enough. That’s five points dropped in the last seconds of games. We could have found ourselves right at the top end of the table, but instead, this afternoon, we’re looking at the other end of it. It’s so, so frustrating because it’s difficult to plan or prepare for those moments. But at the same time, we have to start taking responsibility for them and managing those situations better.”

He continued: “Probably, if I’m being brutally honest, we didn’t really deserve anything out of the game today. But there’s that old cliché that taking points when you’re not playing well is the sign of a good team. We could have been sitting here having a completely different conversation, saying we’ve had a tough opening month and come through it unbeaten. But unfortunately, I can’t really defend the performance or some of the decision-making this afternoon. I thought we looked okay at times in the second half, and you can’t knock the boys for getting themselves back into the game. But once we get back to 1-1, we just need to have a bit more about us. A bit more maturity to see the game out and take what we can from it.”

He added: “The way it’s happened today probably magnifies the goals we’ve conceded in the last couple of league games as well. Teams across the league will be looking at us now and thinking, just stay in the game, they’ll give you one eventually. That can’t happen. We need to mature as a group, and we need to do it quickly, because that’s the difference between being where we want to be and constantly looking over our shoulder again.”

By Brian Bennett

Liam Henderson lit up Woodhorn Lane on Saturday when he scored a wonder goal in Ashington’s 3-1 win over West Auckland in their FA Trophy clash.

In the opening minute of the second half and with his side trailing 1-0, the striker took full advantage of a slip on the half way line by a visiting defender to chip the ball from 40 yards over advanced ‘keeper Steven Bessent and watch as it dropped into the net.

Afterwards the 36 year old said: “I noticed that the keeper was creeping off his line during most of the first half. Obviously I’ve done well to nick the ball off the kid on the halfway line, looked up and when I saw the ‘keeper off his line I thought ‘I’ll give it a go’ and luckily it was the right connection.”

Reflecting on the game, Gateshead-born Henderson said: “In the first half I thought we did okay. We were lacking in the final third but I thought we were playing some all right football and getting into good positions without really hurting them. It was just about being a bit more clinical which was obviously said to the two lads (Benji Shodeinde and Scott Fenwick) who came on because they got the two goals which won us the match. It’s a squad game and we’ve got another match on Monday – so lads are going to have to come together and get minutes and hopefully it’s a good omen for us.”

He continued: “I’ve just come back off holiday and wasn’t expecting to play as long as I did against Dunston on Tuesday. I’m not getting any younger but as long as I am doing a job for the team then I’m more than happy. We’re unbeaten and doing all right without doing great and hopefully we can get our first win on Monday which is the most important thing.”