By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner says his outfit face a ‘difficult task’ – when they make the short journey to face West Allotment Celtic at East Palmersville in the quarter finals of the Newcastle Flooring Senior Cup.

The draw was made last week and the Woodhorn Lane boss said: “It’s a tough draw for us because West Allotment is never an easy place to go to and get a result. They are a good well organised side and on their day can beat anybody – so we’ll have to make sure that when we go there, we prepare properly.”

He continued: “We’ve got quite a few games to play before the clash so we’ll have to see how the squad and our season pans out. We may look to mix and match slightly but it’s a competition which we will be taking seriously. We are at the quarter final stage and we want to try and do as well as we can because it’s the last knockout competition we are left in.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner has spoken poignantly after the passing of Sir Bobby Charlton last Saturday.

Skinner – a relative of the family – will be in the home dugout on Saturday when Ashington take on Pontefract Collieries and it is sure to be an emotional afternoon.

Before kick off a minutes applause will be held and the club have asked supporters to wear something red as they will be dedicating the game to the memory of Sir Bobby.

Red is to symbolise both Manchester United – where Sir Bobby enjoyed 17 years as a player with the club – as well as it being the colour of the shirts which he and the England players wore when they lifted the World Cup final at Wembley Stadium in 1966.

Skinner said: “I got a phone call just before midday from my dad who let me know the sad news that Sir Bobby had passed and we got a couple of hours to get our heads around it as a family. Everybody is fully aware that he was Manchester based but probably the only time I saw him in recent years was at family funerals. You just need to look at the outpouring grief and condolences from all around the world to show what a gent Sir Bobby was and I think Manchester United display a banner in their stadium about him which reads ‘Born in Ashington – Made in Manchester.’

He continued: “Sir Bobby left Ashington as a 15 year old and made a life for himself in Manchester – but he never forgot his roots. In 1989 he brought the Manchester United team to Ashington to help out financially and he did a talk-in at the Comrades club in the town where all of the proceeds went to Ashington Football Club. His passing is a big loss to the family and to the footballing world. I’m sure Sir Bobby will be remembered – he was one of our own.”

by Brian Bennett

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner says his side face a ‘really tough test’ on Saturday (October 28) when they take on high flying Pontefract Collieries at their Woodhorn Lane ground which they hope will be turned into a sea of red.

The Colliers are dedicating the game to the memory of Sir Bobby Charlton, who sadly passed away last weekend and the club are asking supporters to wear red – the significance being that Sir Bobby wore the red shirt of Manchester United for 17 years – as well as England when they famously won the World Cup in 1966.

Boss Skinner said “After we received the call on Saturday to say our game against Sheffield was postponed, we gave the lads the day off – which is unusual for me – but we are training twice this week for what will be a really tough test at home to Pontefract Collieries. They have started the season really well and are in the play off places but we’ll be doing what we always do – whereby we’ve gathered some information on them and we’ll prepare as best we can. We’ll look at ways in which we can exploit some of areas to cause them one or two problems and I think it’ll be a good game.”

On the injury front, Skinner added that the past few days have brought mixed fortunes: “The only plus point with us not playing last weekend is that we have got one or two of the lads who have been carrying knocks and niggles and it has given us a little bit longer for them to clear up,” he said, “Oli Thompson has probably got a great chance of being back and involved on Saturday – albeit we have lost Dan Maguire who has had a little minor operation and will be out for a couple of weeks while he recovers.”

Skinner said that following his sides 4-0 thrashing against Winterton Rangers in North Lincolnshire, confidence had returned to the squad: “Obviously coming off the back of such a positive result at Winterton, all you want to do is for the next game to come along as quickly as it can,” he commented, “Confidence in the camp was high because that’s what winning games of football does to you. We were very much looking forward to going to Sheffield and the history that goes it, with them (Sheffield) being the oldest football club in the world. We were confident we could go there and continue our form and start to put a run of results together but the weather beat us. However when you see pictures of some of the places which were affected as badly as they were by Storm Babet and where a couple of people lost their lives because of it, football pales into insignificance.”

Saturday’s kick-off is 3pm.

By Brian Bennett

Connor Thomson was happy on Saturday night after he excelled on his debut for Ashington in their 4-0 win over Winterton Rangers.

After linking up with the Woodhorn Lane outfit on loan from Morpeth Town, the 27 year old striker went straight into the Colliers side for their important clash in North Lincolnshire – and made a sensational impact by scoring the opener early in the contest and later adding a second!

“As a debut it couldn’t have gone much better and I’m over the moon,” said Newcastle-born Thomson, “As a forward especially, you want to make an impact – either by scoring or claiming an assist – so for me to get a goal after six minutes gave me that confidence to crack on. My second from the spot was a pressure penalty – but you have to back yourself and I’m glad it went in. I took penalties for Morpeth last season and it’s something I like to do – so hopefully I can keep it up.”

Cramlington-based Thomson added: “I only knew a few of the lads beforehand but I loved every minute of my first game. I was delighted with the win even though we should have had scored more to be honest. I was looking to go on and get a hat trick but my legs started to give way a little bit and that’s why I came off – but I’ve scored two and I’m happy with that.”

Ashington FC coach Ritchie Hill said of Thomson: “He’s what we have needed and he made a great introduction. Connor just gives us a bit of everything. He’s strong; capable of winning headers; he’s quick and very direct and he’s previously played with Dan Maguire and Wilson Kneeshaw at Blyth Spartans so that helps. He just wants to play and he’s buzzing which is important. The management team at Ashington have been trying to get someone in to give us a bit of help at the top end of the field and Connor is a good fit. More importantly he’s a good lad and he’s fitted in well with the group.”

By Brian Bennett

Wilson Kneeshaw was named as the ‘Player of the match’ in Ashington’s 4-0 success over Winterton Rangers on Saturday – but the striker brushed the individual accolade to one side insisting that the overriding aspect was helping his side to a crucial victory.

Kneeshaw netted one goal and claimed three assists but he was also thwarted on several occasions by home ‘keeper Nathan Popple: “Obviously I have scored one and have assisted so I’ve helped the team,” he said, “I was disappointed that I didn’t get a couple more but the main thing today was coming away with the three points in what was a good performance. Now we can hopefully kick on and start moving up the table.”

For Darlington-born Kneeshaw, after receiving a pass from Nathan Buddle, his lay off which led to the opening goal from Connor Thomson took him back to his time with Blyth Spartans and Gateshead: “The three of us just linked really well,” he said, “I’ve known Connor from my days with him at Blyth and Gateshead so I know his game and what he’s about as a player – and the same goes for Nathan. I was happy for Connor to get off the mark and start his loan spell at Ashington with an excellent performance. He’s come in and brought something to the team straight away and obviously if I can assist and help with that then it’s really good.”

The 29 year old admitted that he has benefited by a change in mentality: “For my goal I was happy with the finish,” he said, “I changed my mentality over the past couple of weeks not to get down with myself because its been easy to do that in the past so I’ve been really trying to focus if sometimes things don’t go my way. Reflecting now I can look back on today’s game and say I probably should have scored in the first period but I got one in the second half – a left footer into the bottom corner – so I can’t complain.”

By Brian Bennett

One swallow doesn’t make a summer. Similarly one victory doesn’t define a season but Ashington coach Ritchie Hill is looking for Saturday’s 4-0 drubbing over basement side Winterton Rangers to kick-start the Colliers’ campaign.

Two goals from debutant Connor Thomson and one each from Wilson Kneeshaw and substitute Ben Williams saw the Wansbeck outfit claim three precious and well deserved points in North Lincolnshire as they look to climb away from the lower part of the Northern Premier League East Division table.

Hill said afterwards: “In the light of recent results it was a much needed win – and I thought we did it in style. The lads trained really well last week and they’ve converted it into a really good performance away from home. The final score was 4-0 but on another day it could have been seven, eight or nine. It was a pressurised game and we are happy but we’ve got to be realistic and not get too carried away. The important issue now is our game against Sheffield FC this coming Saturday because it’s imperative that we back up today’s result and kick on.”

Hill – who is based in Darlington – was delighted with Ashington’s opening as they took the lead in the sixth minute through Connor Thomson: “We set up really positively and I thought our first goal was brilliant,” he said, “I was wondering if the second (goal) was ever going to come because we had good chances and we needed it to settle us down. Winterton had a couple of moments but when we eventually got the second, the side grew in confidence and were really good. It was an important stage in the contest when Connor (Thomson) converted from the penalty spot to make it 3-0 and to be honest when the ball hit the back of the net, it was game over.”

He continued: “It’s been very frustrating for us and I think some of our performances have deserved more but results are what it is all about at the end of the day. We started the game today one point ahead of Winterton and defeat would have seen us in serious trouble. If you go unbeaten for three or four games, you leapfrog teams then all of a sudden you become connected with the sides in the place off places so it’s all about trying to put a run of results together. It’s an old cliché but we’ll take one game at a time. Today was important and a clean sheet was brilliant because the last time we didn’t concede was in the Emirates FA Cup against North Shields – and that came on the opening day of the season at the beginning of August.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner said his side ‘lost their way’ during the 4-1 defeat against Stockton Town at Woodhorn Lane on Saturday.

The Teessiders looked a well drilled and organised outfit – but after going into the interval with the game goalless, Skinner commented: “At half time I was happy. We chatted about one or two things and we talked about being a little bit more positive and playing a little bit more on the front foot but I thought we came out and started really poor and Stockton were brighter than us. Then we lost our way and they scored a really good second goal. We made some changes and tried to push real high numbers up front to just try and steal some territory and pin them (Stockton) back a little bit – and we did that for a little spell only we didn’t really threaten the goal anywhere near enough. We moved the ball too slow and allowed Stockton to get into a low block and credit to them because they worked really hard. After that whether it was a lack of belief that we weren’t going to break them down I don’t know but they (Stockton) scored two goals in the last few minutes which was really disappointing. However all in all, I don’t think anybody can begrudge Stockton leaving here with three points as I thought the best team on the day won.”

Skinner said his outfit did well in a first half which he found to be ‘uneventful.’ He added: “I thought Stockton started the game brighter than us; they were on the front foot and quicker than us and they moved the ball with pace and purpose more than we did. However credit to our lads as we managed to dig in and find a way into the game and the second half of the first half petered out into a sparring match where both sides had the ball for a little while but there weren’t any real great opportunities and I thought it was a pretty uneventful first half.”

Skinner described Wilson Kneeshaw’s late goal as being the only ‘bright spot’ in the second 45 minutes: “To be fair the only bright spot for us to take out of the second half was Wilson’s goal. I thought he worked tirelessly all day and we’ve tried to really work with him, looking for him to run in behind – which is more of his strength – and to use his pace albeit I thought when he did get in behind and took all those extra touches he might have missed the chance which resulted in the goal – but fair play to him. He’s danced inside and danced inside again so I was pleased for him.”

Ashington now have two away games on consecutive Saturdays – against Winterton Rangers and Sheffield FC – and the boss added: “We have got two huge fixtures coming up – they’ll not be easy but we’ll prepare properly as we always do. We’ll study the video footage this week from the Stockton game and review it as a group – but what we won’t do is to fall out with each other. There’s still a long way to go in the season but the sooner we start winning games of football the better.”

Meanwhile Skinner spoke about the updates on four players. He said: “Striker Scott Heslop has chosen to go to Birtley Town and we wish him all the best whilst Oli Thompson picked up an injury at Gateshead hence that’s why he hasn’t been available.  Max Emmerson has been out of action for the best part of two years. He’s getting five minutes here and ten minutes there and I think we’re at a stage with him now where he really needs to go and test himself in terms of playing regular so he’s going to Whickham on a 28 days loan. Charlie Exley – who is suspended for us at step 4 level – can play at the level below us so we’ve allowed him to join West Auckland also on a 28 days loan.”

He concluded: “We are actively looking to possibly bring in one or two players but at the moment it’s difficult to do that.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner admitted after his sides single goal defeat against Cleethorpes Town on Saturday that it was a ‘hard one to take.’

Shortly after half time, Will Annan scored for the Owls then Skinner looked on as his outfit were unable to find the net despite carving out a handful of chances inside the final quarter hour.

The boss said afterwards: “It was a hard one to take today to be honest because I thought from one to 16 we were really, really good. We looked very well organised and limited them (Cleethorpes) to very little. In fact they only had one shot on target and scored and it came from a little bit of an error and Paul Van-Zandvliet is distraught by it. Mistakes are part of the game and at the moment we just seem to get punished when we make them. However, I’m not sure I could have asked much more from the players today.”

He continued: “There wasn’t a lot in the game if I’m honest. First half we had a chance early on cleared off the line and I don’t think they (Cleethorpes) had a shot on target in the first half. After the break, we came out and did okay and were on for what I would call as being a classic away performance whereby we were solid and we tried to play on the counter attack. The mistake led to the goal and they (Cleethorpes) have scored. With 20 minutes to go we changed one or two things to go on the front foot and we’ve dominated possession. We’ve also created some very good chances; their ‘keeper (James McKeown) has made two or three very good saves; we’ve had a couple of scrambles in the box whilst Craig Spooner has hit the bar – and I don’t anyone could have complained had we taken something from the game.”

He went on: “Nobody likes to get beat and I acknowledge that we have lost but I’m not sure the performance warranted a defeat today and its one of them where at the end I said to the lads ‘listen, you’ve performed really well both in and out of possession; we’ve had a plan and stuck to it and on another day we could have won it or at least certainly taken a point.’ If you look at statistics we will have had more of the ball than them (Cleethorpes) and had more shots than them both on and off target – but we just haven’t put the ball in the net.”

For the all round trip of over 350 miles to North East Lincolnshire, Skinner travelled down without nine players and he said: “Nine were out but I’m not using that as an excuse – far from it. The lads who played today stood up and were counted and were brilliant – and it shows the strength and depth of the squad that we have got. Cleethorpes are on a good run whilst we were also on a good run and I thought we deserved something from the game. However sometimes football can be cruel and we’ve been punished for a mistake and we’ll learn by it. We’ll dust ourselves down; train twice this week and prepare for Stockton Town at home on Saturday.”

By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie

Ashington FC’s assistant manager Andy Coyles admitted that the ‘chat’ in the dressing room at the interval proved pivotal on Tuesday night as the Colliers reached the quarter finals of the Newcastle Flooring Senior Cup after a 5-1 win over Newcastle University.

“We said at half time that if the lads from the University had been 3-1 in front they would have deserved it – 100 per cent,” he commented, “We had a couple of opportunities ourselves but they had two one on ones and a penalty and I thought they had the better of the chances. We were open and honest with the lads as we always are and we thought we were very fortunate to be in front. We broke it down and said to them ‘we are 1-0 up and they need to score two goals away from home to actually win the game – lets not make that happen.”

He continued: “It was a classic case of a game of two halves. I thought in the first period we were very poor – poor by our standards considering the standards that we set a week ago against Dunston. We made a few changes in order to protect a few lads going into Saturday’s league game at Cleethorpes – only we couldn’t get going. We got off to a great start with a goal inside two minutes but I think it was probably the worst thing that could have happened to us. Our standards slipped from the minute Declan Bisset put the ball into the back of the net and the way we conducted ourselves and the way we played the game just wasn’t us – it wasn’t what we have been doing.”

He went on: “We had a ‘chat’ at half time and the second half was a lot more promising and a lot more pleasing. We produced a lot more combination play; the link up play was good; decision making was better and as a result we got our just rewards.”

Coyles added that the crowd of 320 had been treated to some ‘great’ goals: “The first which we scored came after excellent build up play out wide and great link up play by Wilson Kneeshaw with Declan Bisset in a great position to score,” he said, “In the second half Declan (Bisset) has added another fantastic goal and I thought he was close to – if not – being the player of the match. Declan and Si Jakab gave two terrific performances and of the lads who came on, I thought Scott Heslop deserves a mention after netting twice and nearly getting a third – but there were some great goals tonight. The University also scored with a fantastic effort in the second half which put us under a lot of pressure at 2-1. However, the job tonight was to win the game and we’ve done that – but we just need to make sure that we don’t replicate that first half performance anytime soon!”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC’s assistant manager Andy Coyles has said that the Woodhorn Lane club will be treating Tuesday night’s match against Newcastle University in the Newcastle Flooring Senior Cup seriously.

Its ten years since the Colliers last won the competition – with a 3-0 victory over Whitley Bay at St James’ Park – and Coyles commented: “It’s a competition which we will be treating seriously and we’ll be going for it – it’s as simple as that. We’ll be managing the minutes of the boys as well but we are fortunate that we have got a big group and we’ll be making sure they are fit, fresh and ready to go.”

Ashington were without a fixture at the weekend and Coyles – who praised the supporters last week for showing their understanding – is hoping for another good turn out on the terraces. He said: “To be honest after we won 3-1 against Dunston, it was a shame that we didn’t have a fixture on Saturday. It will not be an easy game on Tuesday night and our fans can play their part. The noise they generate is tremendous and we need them to get behind us.”

Meanwhile Newcastle University – members of the Ebac Northern League second division – make the journey to Wansbeck after recording a 6-4 win over Kendal Town in their Isuzu FA Vase second qualifying round match in Cumbria on Saturday. Kick-off on Tuesday night is 7.30pm.