By Brian Bennett

Ashington’s Liam McIvor said the Colliers have got to have a ‘bit more belief’ in themselves when they go down to West Yorkshire on Saturday to face Silsden.

The assistant manager was speaking minutes after watching the Wansbeck outfit go down to a 1-0 defeat against Heaton Stannington on Tuesday night – which was their third defeat on the spin.

McIvor said: “It was always going to be a mistake which led to the opener and after a 25 yarder had taken a huge deflection, our ‘keeper Matty Alexander was going one way but has unfortunately slipped. It proved to be the deciding goal but we didn’t have that cutting edge in the final third.”

Three minutes into the second half, Ashington had Marc Ellison red carded and McIvor said: “It’s the third game in a row where we have had a player sent off and we cannot afford to keep going down to ten men. They (Heaton Stannington) missed a lot of chances with the extra man but the longer the game went on at 1-0, I knew we would have a moment – and we had a massive opportunity just before the final whistle. From Liam Noble’s corner, we got the first header and Harry Powell’s effort was cleared when the ball was half over the line.”

He continued: “Since Christmas, we’ve had three hard games but we’ll go down to Silsden on Saturday and put a performance in. We’ve got to have a bit more belief in ourselves and go on and try and get that win – then to go on a run. In November, a 2-1 victory over Lincoln United was the start of a four match winning sequence for us – and we’ve got to look to do it again.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington manager Nick Gray cut a forlorn figure on Saturday night after his side had been comprehensively defeated 4-0 by Bradford Park Avenue at Woodhorn Lane.

On a day to forget, the boss looked on as the promotion chasers cruised into a three goals lead just after the half hour mark before they added a fourth within a minute of the start of the second half.

Gray said: “It was a tough day at the office and I’m not only gutted for the supporters but for everyone at the club. We hadn’t had a game for three weeks but I’m not making that as an excuse because you should be chomping at the bit to go out on the park today and within ten minutes we are 2-0 down. Credit to Bradford Park Avenue who were far better than us in every department. They played a 4-4-2 system and people say these days that you cannot play that formation – but they made it work today and we couldn’t cope with it.”

He continued: “The first half was probably one of the worst I’ve seen to be honest. We didn’t talk to each other or look to get on the ball and when we did, we gave poor passes or made poor decisions. They (Bradford) are a decent side but with no disrespect they are not Real Madrid and I just thought we made it easy for them. If you are playing against good sides you’ve got to make it difficult; you’ve got to work harder than them; you’ve got to make sure that you’re passing is on the button and you certainly can’t give them easy goals.”

He added: “At half time I brought Marc Ellison off. I thought he was one of our better performers if I’m being honest but he was on a yellow card and I know how much the game means to him and I didn’t want him to become frustrated. We asked the players for a reaction but within a minute we were another goal down and we couldn’t have asked for a worse start to the second half. All of us have got to look at ourselves in the mirror and be better and how do we do that? Well we have got to learn from it but I feel as if I am on a repeat record sometimes because we go two steps forward and one step back.”

He went on: “One thing I will say about this league is if you are not prepared to work hard and stop giving teams goals, it’s going to be difficult to win games of football. Today I didn’t think we gave ourselves a chance (to win a game of football) and that’s really disappointing. Although I don’t like getting beat, I can accept it but it’s the mannerism of how you get beat – and we were second best in every department. We have played at home today and I think we have had one, maybes two crosses into the box and we haven’t had one shot at goal the whole of the game – so how can you win games of football? Second half you could see how they (Bradford) didn’t want to concede a goal – they kept going and were determined and from one to 11 they were better than us. It was up to us to change the mechanism of the game as they (Bradford) didn’t need to but you can’t give sides an easy ride – and we certainly did that today.”

Ashington now start a run of three consecutive away games when they travel to face Heaton Stannington on Tuesday (January 20) with Gray looking for a reaction from his players: “The hardest thing for me to take is that I’m not on the pitch – and I wish I could be,” he said, “You can do as much or as little training or as much talking as you want but if you haven’t got it when you go out onto the pitch its always going to be difficult. We had very few set pieces today but even when we got one, people were doing the wrong things and that was also disappointing. That’s why we got the result we did today because it was a simple case where it was too acceptable from to many players. I’ve said that we need to box on this half of the season and today was the first of six games in 17 days for us so everyone is going to get an opportunity and people have got to grasp their chance.”

By Brian Bennett

Chris Reid says he thinks he has got ‘a bit of a point to prove’ when he resumes his Ashington career.

Woodhorn Lane manager Nick Gray signed Reid ahead of the Colliers’ away clash against Bishop Auckland on the last Saturday before Christmas – and the tall defender had an  excellent debut.

However Reid was red carded in the opening minutes of the derby match against Blyth Spartans on Boxing Day and has now got to sit out a ban.

Ironically if the wintry weather hadn’t intervened leading to cancellations of Ashington’s last three games, Reid would have been available for Saturday’s home game against Bradford Park Avenue (January 17).

As it stands, the North Shields born lynchpin will be forced to kick his heels – but can’t wait for his suspension to pass: “Obviously I played in a couple of games over Christmas but I don’t think I did myself justice in the first three minutes against Blyth Spartans so I think I’ve got a bit of a point to prove,” said the 36 year old who previously enjoyed long serving spells with Whitley Bay and Morpeth Town, “I’m apologising to everyone connected with the club (Ashington) because essentially I’ve let everybody down. I want to make sure that the club (Ashington) is on the up come the end of the season and for them to see the best of me and not the worst.”

Reid had set his sights on retiring from the game altogether before Colliers boss Gray persuaded him to change his mind: “I’m delighted to be here,” he added, “Ashington have been a club that I’ve obviously played against for years – and it’s a massive club. I did leave Newcastle Blue Star to kind of close the end on my career but after speaking to Nick (Gray) – and also the fact that I know a lot of the lads here – it was a seamless move.”

He continued: “My debut performance at Bishop Auckland I guess was more of what I’m about. I’d been out for about three or four months so I didn’t know what I would be like coming back in but I felt comfortable. I struggled the next day but that was only natural.  I’ve worked with Nick (Gray) before and the players are a great bunch of lads so I’m looking forward to my next game.”

Gray said: “Since I’ve been at Ashington, I’ve tried to sign Chris a couple of times to be fair but he committed to Newcastle Blue Star. When he left Blue Star, I was on the phone to him straight away but he said he wanted a break out of football. We had a situation when we played Bishop Auckland where we were down in numbers with Scott Lowery injured and Harry Powell unavailable so I asked Chris if he would do us a favour – and he didn’t think twice about it.”

He continued: “Then came the game on Boxing Day. when he was sent off early doors. We’ve all done it and been rash at times but Chris is a leader and a winner. I’ve seen him throughout his whole career and his standards have always been high. He comes from a good background and to be fair he’ll lift our standards in the dressing room as well as on the pitch. Obviously he misses the next few games through suspension but he’s important to us. I think he’ll help us massively and when the Ashington fans see him week in, week out they will see what a good addition he is.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington manager Nick Gray is delighted after National League North leaders South Shields agreed to extend a loan deal involving teenage striker Louis Burns for another month.

Gray said: “Louis has done smashing for us. He’s come in under difficult circumstances – and it’s always difficult especially for a young lad to slot in when you are needing results. He’s still learning the game and is obviously keen to play every minute he can but I think he’s enjoying it and we are enjoying having him. I still think there’s a lot more to come from him as he improves but I love his attitude, mannerism and tenacity. He’s not frightened to get on the ball and in some of the games I think he’s had the most touches. He knows he needs to work on a couple of things – but he’s prepared to put the hard yards in.”

The boss continued: “We’ve had games called off which is disappointing but you cannot do anything about the weather. I had no hesitation in asking South Shields if we could extend Louis’s loan and I think he has earned it to be fair. He obviously wants to start every match but some games I’ve maybes went for a little bit more experience. He’s still very young but is getting a lot of good minutes here. The loan is for another month which is credit to Louis himself and I’m hoping he’ll get some games under his belt. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank South Shields and their manager Carl Magnay for their co-operation.”

Durham-born Burns said: “I’m happy because I’ll get more experience which is what I want. I’m enjoying being here with the lads and we’ve been on a good run but now we need to build on it and keep going. Despite games being postponed, we are still training and when the weather improves, there’ll be that excitement building up for the first game back for us to go straight away.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington manager Nick Gray said at the weekend that his squad need to ‘box on’ in the second half of the season.

Gray gave his players the weekend off after Saturday’s home clash against Bridlington Town was postponed due to a frozen and waterlogged surface. It was the third game in a row where the wintry weather had the final say after previous matches against Heaton Stannington and Consett were also cancelled.

The match against the Stan at Willow Park has been rescheduled for Tuesday January 20 whilst the game versus Consett will take place at Woodhorn Lane on Tuesday February 3.

Gray said: “I have spoken to the lads and for the second half of the season we need to box on – it’s as simple as that. Our squad is the strongest it has been. However winning games doesn’t come easy and we’ve got to put the hard yards in.”

He continued: “We had some encouraging results and performances in November but our last game was the disappointing 1-0 defeat against Blyth Spartans on Boxing Day. We have competition for places having signed the likes of Charlie Aitken, Liam Wotherspoon and Chris Reid recently.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington’s Marc Ellison was disappointed when news filtered through shortly after lunch time that the Colliers’ clash against local rivals Heaton Stannington scheduled for Friday night had been called off due to a frozen pitch at Willow Park.

The 35 year old midfield general said: “I was looking forward to it because the Stan are a former club of mine and I’ve still got a couple of mates there but it is what it is. As a group, we were disappointed when we heard that the game was off because after the loss against Blyth Spartans on Boxing Day, we could have bounced straight back. The weather doesn’t look as if it is going to get any better in the short term but on the flip side I suppose it’s a chance for us to regroup. It might also be what the older lads like Ryan Donaldson, Liam Henderson, Liam Noble and myself need – a little bit of a rest because we’ve had a lot of games recently.”

He continued: “Before the defeat against Spartans, we were on a good run. We had turned a little bit of a corner without playing the best because we’ve played better and lost but we were hard to beat. We were doing the ugly side of the game and were getting rewarded for it which was probably an ingredient of our game which was missing earlier on in the season.”

Hartlepool-born Ellison added: “The manager (Nick Gray) said in his last interview that the squad is stronger now than it was at the start of the season and we’re looking to press on. We’ve got a couple of home games coming up and hopefully we can get decent crowd to support us and take things from there.”

The clash against Spartans attracted a new record attendance at Woodhorn Lane (1488) but Ellison said: “To be honest playing in the derby didn’t seem any bigger a game than usual. I know the ground is spaced out but there didn’t look more in than normal apart from all the seats being taken. On the pitch you don’t really hear much – there are a couple of younger lads in the group and it might have affected them but I don’t see why.”

Killingworth-based Ellison – who is in his second season after signing just before Christmas in 2024 – is enjoying his time at the club: “The lads are great and I’ve known Nick Gray and his assistant Liam McIvor a long time and things are working out alright for me.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

After Friday’s match against Heaton Stannington was called off due to a frozen pitch, Ashington’s assistant manager Liam McIvor took time out to give a half term report.

The Colliers currently occupy 16^th place in the East Division of the Pitching In Northern Premier League, only four points from safety. They recently went on a four match winning run which was ended on Boxing Day when they went down 1-0 against Blyth Spartans.

Now McIvor says the squad ‘must do better’ in the second half of the campaign: “We’ve signed a few players, kept loan deals on and we’ve got a very strong squad now but it’s about being consistent across every game,” he said, “We’ve had two spells in the season where we’ve been consistent – the three games in a week – then four recently where we took points. Obviously it was a massive disappointment with the result on Boxing Day against Blyth Spartans because that is a game which we obviously would have liked to have won with a big crowd here. The reality is we must do better.”

After being in the relegation drop zone, the Colliers strung wins together to move up the table and McIvor added: “Probably the biggest plus in the first half of the campaign was getting out of the bottom four. It was always a monkey to get off our back but I look at Blyth Spartans who are nine points adrift of us. They have just beaten us and have taken four points off us this season but I know what position I would rather be in. Looking at the league, if the lads keep their consistency and we were to go on another three game unbeaten run we would be in the play offs. That’s how tight it is – there is nothing in the league.”

He continued: “I do wish we were a bit higher up in the league because I think the position where we have been for most of the season doesn’t give credit to how good some of these players are. I think we are gelling more as a team; we look more of a man’s team if I’m honest because we’ve had to juggle things around for a long time and we’ve eventually brought a couple of signings in that we were after in pre season.”

McIvor believes there is plenty ahead for the Woodhorn Lane supporters – who gave the team a jolt at the end of October following a 3-0 loss at home to Newton Aycliffe: “I think it was the lowest point of the season when we were booed off – and rightly so if I’m honest – after that result and performance,” he added, “The fans have stuck by us through thick and thin and that had never happened before – but it was probably a wake up call that we needed as a team. Since then we’ve come out and given things a go and I think the fans have got plenty to look forward to in the second half of the season.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington manager Nick Gray strengthened his squad last week when Charlie Aitken put pen to paper on a loan deal from Ebac Northern League side Whickham.

The newcomer came on for the final quarter hour of Ashington’s one goal defeat against Blyth Spartans on Boxing Day and Gray said: “Charlie is a lad who I’ve known since he was a junior. He has good energy and quality and he’ll give us legs. He’s new to the group and has only trained once with us and when he came on today it was in difficult circumstances.”

He continued: “I think the squad is getting really strong now – probably the strongest it’s been all season – but paper doesn’t win games of football – players do and we’ve had some of our better results when things have been down. Now we’ve got to have people who are leaders.”

Ashington go first footing to Heaton Stannington on Friday (January 2) and Gray added: “It’ll be a tough game because they are flying and are having a great season. However,  we’ve got nothing to fear. When you think you have turned a corner, football has this great habit of kicking you and for all we dug in to get a great result at Bishop Auckland, the defeat against Blyth Spartans is one of those days – but we’ve got to move on and look to start another good run.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington manager Nick Gray said he was ‘hurting’ after the 1-0 defeat against Blyth Spartans in the local derby on Boxing Day.

It was a game which in front of a record attendance at Woodhorn Lane – 1,488 – never scaled any heights to excite the fans and was decided by a goal in first half stoppage time by Jack Foalle.

However, a big turning point arrived only four minutes into the contest when Colliers newcomer Chris Reid was shown a red card by referee Tyler Dutton for a needless challenge near the touchline on Paul Van-Zandvliet with Gray suggesting afterwards that had the incident not occurred, the outcome of the game would have been different.

“It was a disappointing result and I’m hurting,” said a furious Gray, “As we had hoped, there was a big crowd and we spoke about us rising to the occasion but if I’m honest, the occasion was a dour contest where there wasn’t a lot of football played. They (Blyth) get a goal just before half time and then in the second half, they haven’t really hurt us and we haven’t hurt them but in hindsight if we had kept 11 players on the pitch – and if I’m being brutally honest – I don’t think that would have been the result (1-0 to Blyth) that’s for sure.”

He continued: “I thought the lads gave their all. Subs wise it was one of those where we changed the shape so we brought Liam Noble off and altered the midfield. Liam Wotherspoon hasn’t played a lot and Josh Gilchrist had an injury last time out so we put some fresh legs on for them. Then putting Ryan Wombwell and Jay Hornsby on, we hoped to get the full backs joining in as much as they could – but that didn’t happen. I cannot fault the lads’ effort but I can certainly question our quality today – even though in my opinion there wasn’t a lot of quality by either team.”

He added: “We played 90 plus minutes with ten men and it was credit to our lads that none of them went down with cramp in the second half. However, we didn’t test their goalkeeper and when you go down to ten men, you’re mindset and mentality has got to change. You have to have a lot of belief in yourself and I’m not sure that at times we had enough belief to get back into the game.”

Were Ashington worthy of a draw? Ashington’s assistant manager Liam McIvor said: “I thought we were because what did Blyth create?” whilst Gray continued: “You can say we deserved a draw however, when teams have got something to hold onto, the game changes a little bit.”

Gray was also miffed when the board went up to indicate a minimum of four minutes at the end of the second half: “I don’t know how many substitutions there were and I don’t know how many times they (Blyth) went down but four minutes of time added on?”

On Reid’s red card Gray commented “Obviously it was only four minutes into the game and was disappointing because he (Chris Reid) didn’t have to make the challenge. Chris has apologised in the dressing room but what I would say is that I thought he was being held in the box from the free-kick and it was a penalty. I asked the referee about it but he said both players were holding each other.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington manager Nick Gray says he is hoping his squad of players will rise to the occasion when they meet Blyth Spartans in the local derby at Woodhorn Lane on Boxing Day.

Substitute Sam Davison scored a stoppage time equaliser for the Colliers in the clash at Croft Park which ended 1-1 on August Bank Holiday Monday after Patrick McClafferty had nudged the green and whites ahead just before the hour mark.

Ashington will go into the contest on the back of four consecutive victories which has seen them climb out of the relegation drop zone up to 14^th in the Pitching In Northern Premier League’s East Division whilst Spartans – following their 2-1 home defeat against Consett last Friday night – are on the bottom of the table.

However, it’s a well worn cliché that in derby matches, the form book goes out of the window and is all about which side turns up on the day.

Colliers boss Gray said: “Whenever we’ve played in front of a big crowd at home, our performances have been a little bit disappointing and we haven’t really showed what we can do. Now I’m hoping the players will take the confidence which they’ve got into the game against Blyth Spartans and rise to the occasion. To be honest, the match earlier in the season wasn’t a great spectacle but on the day you go into the game looking forward to it –  and this one will be no different. We’ve got four wins under our belts in our last four outings and I’m obviously hoping my players can keep this run going in what is a big game for both clubs.”

He continued: “You want to be in football to relish these types of games.  At Croft Park, the attendance was in excess of 1200 and there will be a big crowd on Boxing Day – hopefully into four figures again.”

The match has a 1pm kick-off and Ashington are encouraging supporters to buy tickets online and to arrive early to minimise congestion at the turnstiles.

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