By Brian Bennett

Luke Salmon’s goal in Ashington FC’s 3-0 victory against Newcastle Benfield on Saturday may not have been in the spectacular bracket – but that didn’t alter the happiness which it brought to the versatile defender or midfielder.

After a spell on the sidelines, Salmon was recalled to play at full back for the Bishop Auckland game recently which the Colliers won 2-1 and last weekend, was handed a role on the left hand side of midfield – and poked home the crucial third goal.

North Shields-born Salmon, who lives in the town, netted in the 57^th minute to record his second league goal of the season and he said later: “It’s always good to get back into the side. I try hard in training and I try hard in the game but without a doubt, it’s always a better feeling when you score a goal.”

The 30 year old – a teacher – was withdrawn towards the end of Saturday’s contest – replaced by Bobby Taylor – and described his goal: “I thought the Benfield lad was trying to block it (the ball) and I thought I’d just kick it into the net – it was a simple as that! When I was taken off, I said to Mark (Ramsden) in our dugout: ‘a goal is a goal’ – whether it’s a 30 yard screamer or a scrappy affair.”

Salmon spoke of an attribute in the Ashington camp which is playing a vital role: “The attitude has been great,” he added, “The boss (Ian Skinner) has been honing in on good attitudes and today even though we won, it might not have been our perfect performance but the attitude of the lads counted for a lot.” He went on: “I think as a group, we’ve done brilliantly so far this season. We’d lost twice to Newcastle Benfield in the FA Cup and FA Vase so it was good to get a win.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner was clearly delighted after watching his side claim a thoroughly deserved victory on the road on Saturday as they brushed aside Newcastle Benfield at Sam Smiths Park.

And afterwards, Skinner was pleased on several fronts when he said: “First and foremost, I thought it was a good professional performance from the players. We spoke beforehand about needing to improve our away form. Our home record is second to none but we talked about being a little bit more difficult to play against (away from home) where the onus is on the home team really to take the game to us whereas sometimes we go away and take the game to them and we get caught and end up with high scoring games which we have seen in recent weeks. So today we said: “let’s be brave; let them as the home team bring the game to us and then when we do get the ball and we transition from defence to attack, we go and do what we are good at because I don’t think anybody can argue that we have got a talented group of players who in possession love to play and love to get the ball forward. However, what was equally pleasing today was visibly being able to watch that out of possession, people wanted to run to recover back into position; people wanted to run to get the ball back and that’s all we ask of them (the players) really. Football is a game where you can talk about formations; systems; tactics; game plans, game models and philosophies on how you want play but ultimately we want players to run around when we have got the ball – as well as when we haven’t – and I thought we did that today.”

From a personal angle, after being involved in the game for many years Skinner notched another ‘first’: “It’s probably – and without being disrespectful – as comfortable as I’ve ever been in a game,” he said, “I just felt from very early on as if we were in control without being brilliant. Our ‘keeper Adam (McHugh) has made a couple of good saves to be fair but we have limited them (Newcastle Benfield) to very, very little. For us, we have scored three different goals; Karl Ross’s effort was from the edge of the box and was a good strike; Luke Salmon has put over a great ball for the second goal for Lewis Suddick and although the third one scored by Salmon is a bit of a scramble, it was welcome and pleasing to see – because Ashington don’t score too many like that! Benfield then had to decide whether to stick or twist and as the home team the onus is on them to keep having a go. Consequently it opened up more space for us and we could possibly have had a couple more – but I’ll not be greedy and if anybody had offered me a 3-0 win before the game – as well as a relatively comfortable afternoon – I would have gladly accepted it.” He continued: “We made some brave decisions because some players have played a lot of football recently. So we changed the line up and although people may have looked at the team and wondered why Ashington changed a winning line up after the win against Bishop Auckland the previous week, I just think we are at that part of the season now where not only have lads played a lot of football, there is a case of in the middle of the park where pitches – including our own – are getting difficult so I just thought ‘let’s freshen up that central area.’ Also to factor in is that we play five games – including a couple of midweek matches – in ten days so there was one eye on that aspect as well. It was nice that having made the decision to rotate one or two (of the players), it resulted in a positive result – but that now gives me more headaches for Wednesday night when we are away to Redcar Athletic! You always say to lads ‘when you get an opportunity – take it’ and Ben Sampson and Karl Ross worked tirelessly in midfield; Dean Briggs came back in today and worked hard out of possession – as did everybody else – so it was a collective for us both in and out of possession. Overall, it was a good team effort and I was delighted with the three points.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner – furious with his side who threw away a 3-2 lead before ending up with a 5-3 defeat at the hands of Whickham the previous weekend – made wholesale changes on Saturday and was delighted as they came from behind to win 2-1 against Bishop Auckland at Woodhorn Lane.

Matty Waters fired the visitors ahead in the first minute of the second half but goals from Bobby Taylor and Lewis Suddick secured the victory which completed the double over the Heritage Park outfit this campaign.

Skinner explained his decision when he said: “I made six changes and if the truth be known and without being disrespectful, earlier in the week I was probably going to make more. However, the flip side of that is that it’s a big shout. If I made more than that with seven, eight, nine, ten or 11 then you’ve got to think ‘what sort of performance are you going to get in terms of it being an 11 which will not have played together too often or played together recently. We made the changes because we wanted to be a bit more solid and that’s no disrespect to the players who dropped out from last Saturday. We’ve had people since the turn of the year like Luke Salmon and Karl Ross who have been very, very patient, and their attitude and application in training week after week has been first class. They have accepted the decision which we have made in terms of why they haven’t been playing and I just felt they deserved an opportunity to play today – and I thought both came in and performed admirably.”

He continued: “Making the six changes was a little bit of a) there are some players who deserve an opportunity to play and b) I just needed to freshen things up a little bit because I keep telling players when I leave them out at a weekend that it’s a squad game and that we’ll need you. Having won only one (game) in four before today, if I hadn’t given some of them an opportunity, suddenly they’ll be saying ‘if you don’t need me now, when will you need me’ so there was a little bit of that attached to it as well.” One of the six changes was in goal where Adam McHugh came in for Karl Dryden: “We have got two fantastic goalkeepers at the club,” added Skinner, “No other team in this division will have two ‘keepers as good as we have got. Karl (Dryden) has played the last 12 matches and again has performed really, really well but I just felt as if I needed to give Adam (McHugh) a game and he has come in today and done everything which he has been asked to do.”

Photo: Ian Brodie

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC’s Lewis Suddick netted the winner against his former club Bishop Auckland on Saturday as the Colliers wrapped up a 2-1 victory at The dwmedia Stadium.

It was Suddick’s third goal in five matches since he put pen to paper for Ian Skinner’s side and significantly was the first which resulted in the Wansbeck side picking up points after his previous strikes came in the 2-1 defeats – and consecutive matches – against Sunderland Ryhope CW (on his debut) and North Shields.

But whilst he was delighted to score what proved to be the decisive goal midway through the second half, North Shields-born Suddick, who lives in the town, declared that the only thing which mattered was the result: “It was a really good feeling to score and especially the winning goal – but the most important thing was for us to get back to winning ways,” he said, “everyone in the dressing room knows the quality we have got even though some of our recent results haven’t really reflected that.”

The 24 year old – a PE teacher – described his strike: “I caught the ball lovely and as soon as it left my foot I knew it was going in,” he added, “I had a few chances today so I’m really glad that one of them went into the back of the net – and luckily for me it was the winner!”

Suddick was impressed with the display from Ashington after Matty Waters had opened the scoring for Bishop Auckland with an outrageous strike: “They (Bishop Auckland) scored a really good goal and sometimes you’ve just got to hold your hands up, and to be fair to the lad (Matty Waters) he’s hit an absolute worldy,” said Suddick, “but what our supporters saw from us today was a more disciplined performance without the ball and I thought we did really well in terms of being harder to break down and finding the right balance between staying tight and keeping their chances down to a minimum whilst we played some really expanse football at times which culminated in two really good goals.”

Suddick also believes Ashington have learned quickly: “The previous week at Whickham, we were 3-2 up and should have seen the game out,” he said, “I think we have learned from that with the way we ‘managed’ the game today in the last 10-15 minutes. We really killed the game off and made it hard for them (Bishop Auckland) to get back into it so it was a more mature performance from everybody.” Ashington FC boss Ian Skinner said: “Lewis (Suddick) has been great since he came to the club. I knew he would want to do really well against his former club and he’s popped up with what turned out to be the winner. Lewis has got real quality and is technically very, very good. He’s chipped in with goals – that’s three in five matches – so you can’t argue with his goals per game ratio. I was pleased he scored today and I think he was too – judging by his celebration! Lewis is somebody who we’ll be looking to try and pin down long term – because he’s also the type of player that we’ll be looking to try and build the side around.”

Photo: Ian Brodie

By Brian Bennett

Thomas Kalthoeber played a significant role on Saturday as he was involved in both goals as Ashington came from behind to win 2-1 win against Bishop Auckland at Woodhorn Lane.

And afterwards, the 20 year old defender – who slotted in on the right hand side of the back four – revealed that although he was delighted to earn a recall to the side, it nevertheless came completely out of the blue.

“I was pleased to get back into the team – but I wasn’t expecting to return at full back,” said Kalthoeber who had a spell with Percy Main Amateurs – members of the Northern Alliance League – earlier in the season, “I hadn’t played in that position (full back) since I was at Ashington last term and to be honest I thought I would be on the bench.”

Newcastle-born Kalthoeber was heavily involved in the action and described his involvement in the two goals: “They (Bishop Auckland) kept utilising the other flank which allowed me to have a lot of space on my side – so I kept driving forward to try and beat my marker and to create things,” he said, “For the equaliser, I took a throw in which went over the head of the centre half and Adam Johnson has spun his marker and crossed for Bobby (Taylor) to nip in and score. A few minutes later, I got the ball out wide. I drove forward against the left back, cut inside and played it (the ball) with the outside of the boot to Lewis (Suddick) who applied a really good finish for what turned out to be the winner. I was really happy with the result especially after we lost when we should have won at Whickham the previous week in horrible conditions.”

Kalthoeber – who is based in Longbenton – is hoping to get the nod for the away game against Newcastle Benfield at Sam Smiths Park on Saturday (February 26) but knows there is competition for places: “I got my opportunity and hope I did enough to keep the shirt – but I’ll just have to wait and see,” he added. Ashington FC boss Ian Skinner said: “Thomas (Kalthoeber) played really well today. The only reason we took him off with 20 minutes to go was because he was getting into great positions and covering a lot of ground down the right hand side but he took a couple of heavy knocks and just seemed to be tiring a little bit. We were getting lots of space and lots of opportunities to attack Bishop Auckland down that side and we thought a fresh pair of legs might help. As it happened when we changed, they (Bishop Auckland) altered their shape a little bit and ended up with two players in the wide area because they tried to play 3-5-2 which meant we could play two versus one against them (in wide areas). Then they changed to a 4-3-3 so they had two players in the wide areas which made it a bit more difficult for Liam Doyle (who had replaced Thomas) to get out. However, Thomas should be really, really pleased with his performance. He played a couple of games at centre back for us after coming back from Percy Main and performed really well and was probably a bit unlucky to drop out of the side when Curtis Coppen came back in. Today I asked him (Thomas) to play right back which he’s no stranger too as he’s played a number of games there before.”

The EBAC Northern League Management Committee has decided to run two separate cup competitions for Division One and Division Two.

Previously the plan was to run the Brooks Mileson League Cup which is for teams in both divisions, along with the Ernest Armstrong Cup which is just for Division Two clubs.

However, the two competitions were suspended before the first round matches due to uncertainty over the pandemic and the weather affecting the league fixture programme. The League Cup will now be replaced by a cup competition just for Division One clubs.  This is due to the pressure of fitting all the ties for a competition for teams in both divisions alongside league matches, which are the priority.

The draw for this has been made, and Ashington will travel to Thornaby in a Second Round match on Wednesday 9th March.

The full draw is as follows

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC manager Ian Skinner said after the 2-1 victory over Bishop Auckland at The dwmedia Stadium on Saturday that he was looking forward to watching the video footage of the game – after revealing that he missing his sides equaliser scored by Bobby Taylor!

The boss – wearing a broad smile – commented: “The most pleasing thing was that we bounced back from a disappointing reverse at Whickham last week – with a win. The players have done that on a number of the occasions this season – except the 2-1 defeat at home to North Shields – where they have hit back with a positive result following a defeat so fair play to them. I thought we played really well in spells today but another aspect which left me happy was that after having a bit of a discussion about being a bit more difficult and a little bit more solid to play against and trying not to give away as many avoidable goals as we have done in recent weeks, the players took that on board. However, what we have got to bear in mind is there is a trade off which comes with that. So today we may not have been as fast flowing and as slick as we have been in previous home games – although in the first half I thought we played some lovely sweeping moves and one touch play where we have switched the ball from right to left – and that’s because we need to get the balance right. If we are going to be a little bit more solid and a little bit more difficult to play against then obviously that will come at the expense of us being as expansive and free flowing as we have been.”

He continued: “I thought Bishop Auckland – who came to us unbeaten in their last four games – scored with probably their only shot on target and again it was an error that wasn’t avoidable but to be honest, that’s sometimes the way it goes against us. It happened at Whickham where Curtis Coppen cleared the ball and it bounced off the Whickham player and into the net. At 1-0 behind today I didn’t panic too much. Obviously the goal came really early into the half – but we still had a lot of time to get back into it. And to be fair we did, turning the game around by scoring two good goals. I have to be honest and say that I was contemplating changes and scribbling notes in my notepad when the equaliser went in so I actually didn’t see it – so I’m delighted that I can watch the game back! When Bobby (Taylor) scored to bring us level, from a managerial point of view, it changes things a little bit but not completely – whilst the second goal is a good move which was finished off really, really well by Lewis Suddick.”

He went on: “Another pleasing thing was that they (Bishop Auckland) had one chance where there has been a bit of a scramble and our ‘keeper Adam McHugh has made a fantastic save to be fair really close to him and we’ve managed to scramble it clear. Other than that, we limited Bishop Auckland to very little and near the end when the board went up to show there was to be four additional minutes, I thought we managed the game really well. It might not be everybody’s cup of tea to keep possession deep into their half and in and around the corner but the way things have been going for us of late where we had only won one in four – albeit that performances in a couple of those defeats were really good – we just needed to make sure we won the game. The lads showed great character to come from behind to win at home in front of another noisy crowd and send our supporters home happy.”

He concluded: “Overall I was really pleased that we got back to winning ways but we now need to go on a mini run starting at Newcastle Benfield on Saturday. We will be looking to go there and be equally as difficult to play against and see if we can get a positive result. I say to the players ‘enjoy it when you win – go away and enjoy the rest of your weekend knowing that you have picked up three points.’ So we’ll come back in for training on Tuesday and Thursday ready to work hard as we prepare for Saturday’s trip.” Midfielder Paul Robinson should be available to return to the squad but Tom Bramley and Max Emmerson remain sidelined.

Photo: Keith Saint

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC’s Tom Bramley could be excused for not knowing which way to turn after picking up a freak injury which has left him on the sidelines – almost six months later!

The 24 year old defender revealed that the ankle knock which he sustained in a friendly for the Colliers against Durham University is the first injury he has ever picked up in his footballing career: “I snapped the ligaments in my ankle,” said Wallsend-born Bramley, who is also based in the town, “It’s been an up and down kind of road for me so far because just when I thought I was making progress I’ve had setbacks so to be honest things have been very frustrating. I’d never been injured before so it was a shock to my system.”

Bramley – who is training to be a teacher – continued: “As a club, we had had a decent start to the season and it was going well. Then I did the injury inside the first 20 minutes of the friendly – without anyone near me. I went up for a header and landed awkwardly when I came back down, putting all of my weight on my ankle. It’s disappointing but just one of those things which happen in football.”

Bramley was initially on crutches but has returned to the fold – although he hasn’t set any date on a comeback: “I would like to be back in the swing of things – but there again I could be out for the rest of the season,” he added, “I did my first full training session which was full of intensity and completed the whole programme although still unable to do a full sprint – but I’m definitely getting there. I’ve got to keep chipping away and see what the club say but the manager (Ian Skinner) and the team have really looked after me and have given me a chance.”

He concluded: “I don’t think I’ve played a full season in the Northern League and was hoping to put the record straight this campaign – but now I’ve got to look to do that next year!” Ashington boss Ian Skinner said: “The incident happened in September and at the time looked like an innocuous injury where Tom landed badly with nobody near him – and he’s now been out for over 20 weeks. It’s frustrating for both the player and the club but it would be remise of us to rush him back – so we’ll be patient and wait for as long as it takes for him to heal properly.”

By Brian Bennett

Ashington manager Ian Skinner emerged from the dressing room following his sides 5-3 away defeat at Whickham on Saturday and revealed: “I’m still in shock.”

The Colliers went ahead in the contest on no fewer than three occasions but gave an abject second half performance, capitulating in the final ten minutes and Skinner said: “To be honest I’m still in shock that we have lost the game 5-3 despite being really poor and below par. We were 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 up and when you go 3-2 ahead with only 14 minutes remaining you should never lose the game – the very least you should come away with is a point. If someone beforehand had stated those statistics to me and that we were going to lose 5-3, I wouldn’t have believed them – but it’s happened and it needs to be addressed quickly. The fifth goal you take because defender Ben Harmison has gone up front and stayed up there and we are all over the shop a little bit. It’s one of those situations where you are losing 4-3 and you take a risk to try to make it 4-4 – but the chances are you might also concede and then the game has gone from you.”

Reflecting on a first period which saw the Colliers go in at the break holding a slender 1-0 advantage, Skinner said: “It was a game of contrasting styles (of play) to be honest. We knew it would be. We know that Whickham look to get the ball forward as quickly as they can and we know they are big and physical so it’s something we always challenge our players about. We have got some technically excellent footballers who want to get the ball down and play but I just thought today we were way below par both in and out of possession. Out of possession we didn’t work hard enough to make it difficult for them (Whickham) and in possession we were really sloppy. We didn’t play to the levels we are capable of – that said we found ourselves 1-0 up at half time after a good header by Ben (Harmison) and you hope that that is going to be the catalyst to kick on in the second half. But after the break I just thought we were miles off and were really, really poor. Again out of possession as a team we didn’t seem to defend. We didn’t defend the box well; we allowed them (Whickham) to get into the area too easily and the goals we conceded were really poor – and I think that is three or four times now this season where we have been away from home and have shipped four of five goals – and that’s not good enough.”

He continued: “Collectively you defend as a team and it was too easy to expose our penalty area and then we didn’t defend the box well enough. There were some individual mistakes in there as well which you can’t legislate for but we’ve got to be more difficult to play against because otherwise the flashes of brilliance that we show like for the second goal to go 2-1 up and the third goal to go 3-2 up, count for nothing and leave me frustrated. In short spells, two of the three goals are great moves, great football, great play and a great finish but again they count for nothing because we haven’t rolled our sleeves up and haven’t made it difficult for them and that’s the disappointing thing. We will dust ourselves down as we always do, we’ll reflect on it ahead of training this week but the lads who haven’t played today as well as those who weren’t in the squad have to come into contention for Saturday’s home game against Bishop Auckland otherwise they’ll come and knock on my door and ask ‘when do I get my chance?’ – and it’s only fair that we look at freshening things up.”

He concluded: “To be honest, I didn’t see eight goals being in the contest today and when they (Whickham) drew level at 1-1 from a free kick which went straight in which admittedly was a great strike, I thought ‘we’ve got a game on here.’ I just felt that they (Whickham) worked harder than us; were stronger and more physical than us whereas we didn’t quite look up for it today – for whatever reason and we need to get back to winning ways.” For Saturday’s 3pm kick off – against a Bishop Auckland side who lifted themselves out of the bottom three following a 2-0 win at Sunderland RCA at the weekend – midfielder Paul Robinson is unavailable.

Photo: Ian Brodie

By Brian Bennett

Ashington FC skipper Ben Harmison said after the 4-2 victory over West Allotment Celtic on Saturday that the players at the Woodhorn Lane club are still harbouring thoughts of promotion come the end of the season.

Following consecutive yet narrow 2-1 defeats against both Sunderland Ryhope and North Shields, the Colliers returned to winning ways in awful conditions at The dwmedia Stadium against West Allotment. Ashington currently sit fifth top of the Ebac Northern League’s first division with 11 matches remaining.

Harmison said: “We have a belief amongst the squad in the dressing room and the way we are playing, we think we can put some points on the board and be amongst those promotion spots. It’s game by game I know but we have got some great fixtures coming up and I don’t see why we can’t be up there challenging. The players are still talking about it and with the squad we’ve got it’s still feasible. We want to be promoted and until it’s mathematically impossible we’ll keep trying.” The 36 year old added: “This is definitely one of the best Ashington sides I have been part of. It is a different style of playing and from my point of view, I’m now in the defence whereas in the past I’ve been up top as a striker. The team spirit is brilliant but the way we pass and move the ball is excellent. Today for example (against West Allotment Celtic), we got on the ball and did what we wanted really.”