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).

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC’s vice captain Karl Ross admitted that his team mates have endured a ‘frustrating’ couple of weeks due to inclement weather conditions but with the forecast set to improve are hoping to begin another positive run of results in the Pitching In Northern Premier League East Division.

If the Colliers home clash against Newton Aycliffe goes ahead on Saturday (December 16), it will not only be their first competitive game since the 2-0 defeat against Liversedge three weeks ago but also the start of a run of nine games in the space of 29 days!

Ross who is based in Cramlington said: “It’s been a frustrating time training and then having no game. The lads were on a good run before the loss to Liversedge and we were eager for games to be played so as to continue the momentum and hopefully bounce back and return to winning ways.”

The 25 year old continued: “There are a lot of matches in a short space of time especially over the Christmas period but it is what it is. The lads enjoy getting together and playing football and hopefully we can put smiles on the faces of our supporters.”

He went on: “We are certainly looking forward to the challenge and just want to go on another good run.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Gary Ormston not only made his debut for Ashington in Saturday’s match against Liversedge at Woodhorn Lane – but also made his bow at Northern Premier League level.

An FA Vase winner with Whitley Bay and a league winner with North Shields, Ormston admitted that it is those ‘buzzes’ which drive him on.

Last week he signed for the Colliers from Newcastle Blue Star – a move which he says was a ‘no brainer’ and one which left him excited: “When I spoke to manager Ian Skinner, it was a no brainer,” he said, “Ashington are a top club with top people around. I’m really excited to be honest and now that I’m 40, to get excited again is quite a good thing!”

Benwell-born Ormston was named in the starting line up and he gave his reaction: “You are always trying to prove yourself in football but especially when you get a little bit older,” he added, “All I wanted to do today was to hit the ground running and do myself justice – and I thought I did that. The lads took to me quite well – I know most of them after playing against them for years – and I thought I fitted in quite well. I enjoyed it and hopefully my experience will help the team.”

Ashington lost the game 2-0 and Ormston said: “We huffed and puffed but Liversedge are a big strong side We played some football which was half decent and made some good chances and openings and I thought we were quite unlucky.”

Ormston – a builder – reflected on his successes beginning with Whitley Bay’s 3-2 triumph over Coalville Town in the 2011 FA Vase final at Wembley “Whitley had already won the competition the previous two years and we went on this unbelievable run,” he said, “We had lads in the side like Paul Chow, Lee Kerr and Paul Robinson and I literally just shored everything up. To win it was a dream and a fantastic experience.”

He continued: “To lift the Ebac Northern League first division title with North Shields at the end of the 2021/22 season was a memorable occasion too – and that’s why I’m still playing now – for those little buzzes. My best game of football was also for North Shields in the final of the Northumberland Senior Cup at St James’ Park in 2016 when we beat Blyth Spartans 4-3. I scored the opening goal with a curler from the outside of the box at the Gallowgate End and we clinched victory in the last minute.”

Ashington boss Ian Skinner said: “Obviously Gary is someone who I have known a long long time. We were preparing for the game against Liversedge and knew we potentially had nine players unavailable – four of which were central midfielders. We heard the news that things had changed at Gary’s club and we went through the formal procedures – and I thank Newcastle Blue Star for their co-operation in waiving the seven days notice. We spoke to Gary and joining us was something which he was keen to do -certainly in the short term to come and help us out on Saturday. We are having some discussions about potentially getting him to stay until the end of the season and hopefully we can come to an arrangement which will suit both parties. He arrives with a wealth of experience and also adds some height to the squad but I love the fact that he just keeps the game so simple and retains the ball – and I think he’ll be a fantastic addition for us.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner – after seeing his sides’ unbeaten run of five matches ended by Liversedge on Saturday – has thrown down a new challenge to his playing squad.

Goals by Joe Walton and Alex Wollerton gave the visitors a 2-0 victory in Wansbeck but the boss said afterwards: “Obviously I’m disappointed that our good run has come to an end. It was going to end at some point but we didn’t want it to be today especially with us being at home and after having had such a good performance on the road last week (at North Ferriby). It would have been nice to have put on a good showing but it wasn’t to be. We’ve been fantastic but now my challenge to the lads is to get back on the horse and start a new run – and see if we can extend it beyond five matches this time.”

Skinner thought there was nothing between the sides in the first half on Saturday: “I thought it was pretty even,” he said, “They (Liversedge) had a couple of opportunities to take the lead including when out ‘keeper Karl Dryden has made a little bit of an error with a poor clearance but we have defended brilliantly to get back on the line – and then we’ve had a couple of chances ourselves. The goalkeeper (Jordan Porter) has made a comfortable save at his near post from Connor Thomson then we’ve had a great little move where Wilson Kneeshaw has hit the crossbar.”

Ashington conceded in stoppage time and Skinner said: “I was really disappointed with the goal we conceded because I thought it was avoidable,” he said, “It came in the fifth minute of three minutes minimum to be added on. I thought as the ball is dropping out of the sky maybes if Ben (Williams) and Karl (Dryden) had communicated, I think we could have played it back to Karl. Ben sliced the clearance for a throw in which I thought we defended really well but we put it out for a corner. Karl has come to catch the corner and not quite got there and after a header by Walton, the assistant judges that the ball has gone over the line. So to go in 1-0 down right on half time was disappointing.”

Skinner was mystified as to why Wilson Kneeshaw had an effort ruled out ten minutes after the break: “I thought we started the second half quite brightly and had a couple of good opportunities,” he added, “For me, we’ve scored a perfectly good goal which I think has been ruled out for offside – and if was, I can’t explain why. I’ll watch it back on the veo but I’ll be gobsmacked if Wilson Kneeshaw (who netted) is offside. It was a big turning point in the game because if the goal had stood it would have made it 1-1.”

He continued: “We pushed bodies forward to try and get back into the game and we‘ve been caught again with a bit of a poor goal of the counter attack – but I take responsibility for that because I asked lads to push forward in their numbers. We need to keep playing the way we play and to stick to our principals as well as processes and our philosophy of when we go behind in a game because what is happening at the moment is becoming a little bit of an achilles heel for us. I know it’s difficult. Liversedge executed a classic away performance where they went 1-0 up and sat a little bit deeper. They let us have the ball and invited us to come onto them and see if they could hit us on the counter attack which they have done. They will say they had a plan and it was ‘job done’ and that’s fair enough. I just think that sometimes when the game runs into the latter stages when we are behind, we sacrifice a little bit of our short sharp incisive passing and our combination play in and around the penalty area and whether we get nervous or try and force things a little bit it doesn’t quite suit us. However, we’ll train hard this week and prepare for our away trip to face Grimsby Borough on Saturday.”

By Brian Bennett

Morgan Dart says he is ‘excited’ about joining Ashington after signing on the dotted line last week.

The 22 year old said: “We have got some very good players and coaches here and I’m excited. I want to be playing at as high a level as I can and with better players so this will be a great step up for me.”

South Shields-born Dart came on as a substitute in the closing stages against North Ferriby on Saturday – and had a one on one chance within 30 seconds: “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting the ball to come through so soon,” he said, “Kyle Errington has clipped it; the defender has mishit it and I just went through. The ‘keeper has made a good save but we got a goal from the corner so that was the main thing.”

Dart had earlier looked on as Ashington ripped North Ferriby to shreds after the break – and reckons he hasn’t seen a better second half performance for a long time: “To come here and play as well as we did against a team who are challenging for the play offs was unbelievable – it was a great win.” he added.

Ashington boss Ian Skinner said: “Morgan is a player who came to our attention through one or two people within the game that we trust in terms of their opinion after they’ve seen and watched him. They’ve monitored him for us over a number of weeks and they said it was time to have a look at him. We put seven days in for Morgan then brought him in and he trained really well. Obviously numbers wise we were short at North Ferriby today and were keen to get him on the pitch. It’s an ideal opportunity to get a new player onto the pitch when you are 4-0 up in a game and he went clean through with his first touch and did everything right to be fair to him. He cut across the defender, squared the goalkeeper up then tried to put the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs who got the faintest of touches with his heel and it’s gone behind for a corner. What a start that would have been!”

Skinner concluded: “Morgan is a livewire and adds more pace to the team. He’s a willing runner and I think he’ll be good for us – and we’re looking forward to working with him and watch him flourish.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington FC’s teenage defender Ben Williams believes he has fitted ‘quite comfortably’ into the Ashington set up – thanks to his team mates!

The 19 year old has put in some sterling performances over the past few games after coming into the side and he said: “I think I’ve slotted in quite comfortably. The lads around me have all helped and I’m really loving my football.”

The Newcastle-born defender was happy with his own performance on Saturday as Ashington crushed North Ferriby 5-0: “I thought everything which I did today was solid,” he added, “I block tackled everything which came my way so I was very pleased with how I performed.”

Williams looked on as the Colliers hit all five goals in the second half against an outfit that are in a play off position: “I have played in a few games in my time but not many like this one,” he said.

Bedlington-based Williams says the Ashington forwards play an integral part: “It’s such a relief when you see our strikers always making those runs – or you can find others in-between,” he commented, “It makes things so much easier for us to play out from the back.”

By Brian Bennett

Wilson Kneeshaw took his goals tally for the season to eight after scoring a brace on Saturday as Ashington claimed a convincing 5-0 victory over a shell shocked North Ferriby side in their Pitching in Northern Premier League East Division clash.

And afterwards, the 29 year old said: “It was a great performance. Credit to North Ferriby because I thought they also played football which really aided the game. First half it was 50-50 – they had chances and we had chances – but we just weren’t quite as sharp as we have been recently in and around the box. To be fair the coaches said at half time that we would get those chances – and in the second half we just steamrolled them (North Ferriby). We quelled all of their chances and continually created ones for ourselves. We knew we were going to be in a game but the coaching staff prepared us well and I don’t think anyone put a foot wrong.”

The home side struggled to cope with Ashington’s pace particularly from Kneeshaw and the Darlington-born striker – who is an artist – added: “I travel to training with our assistant manager Andy Coyles and coach Ritchie Hill and we’ve been talking about our side having so much pace,” he added, “Up front apart from pace, we can also play as well which really confuses defenders. However, all of the lads have done really well by playing the balls at the right times – and long may it continue.”

After the sides had drawn a blank in the first half, Kneeshaw quickly broke the deadlock and added a second minutes later: “I was really happy that I could help the team and put us in front,” he said, “For the second goal it was a great ball by Dan Maguire which put me through one on one with the ‘keeper. To be honest I tried to touch the ball around him (the ‘keeper) but then I saw it was going to roll into the goal and when it did, I celebrated with the fans.”

Meanwhile Max Emmerson, who was introduced as a substitute for injured skipper Karl Ross earned a massive pat on the back from Kneeshaw: “I thought Max was fantastic,” he added, “He came on and really grabbed his opportunity. I thought he was solid in midfield and did everything you could want.” Kneeshaw concluded: “We are all working for each other; our team spirit is fantastic and defensively and offensively we are doing so well at the minute.”

By Brian Bennett

In many ways, Ashington’s 5-0 demolition over North Ferriby on Saturday was reminiscent of their majestic performance against Glossop North End in the Inter Step play off victory which earned them promotion to the Pitching In Northern Premier League.

Also at the end of April, the volume which the travelling band of supporters generated down in Derbyshire was unbelievable – and the fifty or more fans that made the trip down to North Ferriby gave their side noisy backing throughout the 90 minutes.

In reply, the players gave the supporters plenty to shout about especially in the second half. After a goalless first period, Wilson Kneeshaw and Conor Thompson both netted twice and in the closing stages Craig Spooner also got his name on the score sheet.

Ashington manager Ian Skinner was obviously jubilant with the crushing win but when he emerged from the dressing room, he immediately deflected all of the praise onto his players: “Listen, the boys deserve all of the credit,” said the boss, “we are on this run of form whereby everybody is buying into what we are trying to do and everybody is together. When we’re on our game, it’ll take a lot to beat us – but we just need to make sure that we’re ‘on it’ week in week out because it’s a tough league. However, little tiny things really please me and late in the second half we may have been 3-0 up at the time when their number ten (Josh Whitley) – who I thought was excellent – went clean through. Our ‘keeper Karl Dryden has come rushing out; the number ten has gone around Karl but Kyle Errington has busted a gut to get back and block the ball on the line. Five or six players of our lads have then run over and patted Kyle on the back – and that’s what this group of players are about.”

He continued: “We only trained once during the week due to the amount of injuries we had plus unavailability and we travelled down today knowing that it was going to be a good footballing game. Hats off to North Ferriby who try and play similar to us and I think that showed in the first half because it was pretty even if the truth be known. We had a great chance very early in the game where Conor Thomson has gone clean through and the ‘keeper (Jordan Douglas) has done really well to save. North Ferriby had a couple of chances and I remember one lad has skipped past one or two challenges and gone around Karl (Dryden) but we’ve blocked it on the line.”

He added: “At half time we got in and said to the players that we couldn’t ask for much more really in terms of the performance and we always thought we would be a threat going forward because of the pace and power which we had. I thought we started the second half really brightly. There were a couple of good quick incisive passing moves and we managed to get runners in behind – and we scored within two minutes of the restart. Then when we get in front, this group of players are really difficult to play against because they know that the opposition have to come out and try and have a go at us. When teams do that, it leaves space for us and with our forward players, we know we will hurt anybody – and today we’ve been clinical and got through the back line maybes up to six times and ended up scoring five goals. The other pleasing side of that was how when we were even 4-0 up, the lads were still throwing their bodies in the way and defending the box manfully. I’m delighted because they are an unbelievable group of players who I enjoy spending time with and they can achieve whatever they want to achieve – only I don’t tell them that very often because if I did they may take their eyes off the ball. At times we are our own worst enemy – and that’s why we always keep on their backs to be the best they can be.”

He went on: “We lost Karl Ross late in the first half and I keep saying that injuries are part and parcel of the game but we travelled down today without eight players – hence why we could only name three substitutes including Morgan Dart, a young lad who we have signed. In the last two weeks, when the players are on their game and ‘at it’ – we are as good a side as anybody in this division.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington FC defender Si Jakab lauded his team mates with praise following their 4-0 victory over Nottinghamshire-based opponents Carlton Town on Saturday.

The Colliers went through an unprecedented first half where despite holding a 2-0 lead, they sustained a succession of injuries which forced them to use their maximum allocation of three substitutes with almost an hour of the game remaining: “It’s always difficult when you get injuries early in the game but there were three in a row within ten minutes,” said Jakab, who is based in Sunderland, “On the pitch, you keep swapping positions and changing formation and it’s not easy to adapt to it. However I thought we did fantastically well and the subs that came on did themselves proud because sometimes it’s difficult to get into a game especially early on but credit to them and the whole squad.”

Jakab – who was born in Budapest in Hungary – believed that despite the changes, Ashington were comfortable: “Carlton posed some threats but as a back four – or a back five when we needed to depending on injuries – I thought we dealt with everything and having the midfield lads in front of us made us a bit more comfortable at the back,” he said. The 23 year old is enjoying his football with the Colliers and took time out to appreciate the whole set up at Woodhorn Lane: “It’s difficult to get into a team where you have got good people on and off the pitch,” he said, “But absolute credit to the management – they have put things together really well. I love it here – whether it’s at training; being in the changing rooms or spending time after the games. I feel we’ve got a squad who on our day can beat anyone because we stick together.”