Match Report

By Brian Bennett

Three defensive blunders inside the first half hour left Ashington with a mountain to climb in their clash against Bridlington Town on Saturday.

Conditions on the East Coast were perfect for football and it was the Colliers – with Sam Fishburn, their on-loan striker from Scunthorpe making his debut – who started the game well until they pressed the self destruct button in the 11^th minute.

The Wansbeck side won a corner but lost possession and play moved swiftly to the other end with Bridlington forcing a flag kick of their own on the left.

The ball was swung across where the unmarked Dan Hartley smashed it home with his right foot at the far post.

Barely two minutes later, ‘The Seasiders’ doubled their lead following a simple route one move.

Goalkeeper Jack Hall’s clearance bisected the Ashington defence and allowed Josh Barratt the opportunity to lob the ball over the advancing Ryan Catterick and into the net.

The visitors were shell shocked by the quickfire double but they eventually settled down and had their first opportunity when Josh Gilchrist struck a free-kick from 25 yards narrowly wide.

However midway through the half, the Colliers missed a glorious chance to reduce the deficit when Kyle Errington crossed from the right but Ben Sampson – arriving at the near post – placed his header wide.

On the half hour, the home side added a third. They took advantage after Ashington had given the ball away from a throw in and after making progress down the left, when it was played across the area, Sam Leverett was allowed acres of space to place his effort wide of Catterick.

After the interval, the Wansbeck side got the start they were looking for when they pulled a goal back. Skipper Marc Ellison crossed into the area and Sampson made no mistake as he lashed the ball into the roof of the net.

The goal gave the Colliers a much needed boost and five minutes later, there was a scare in the home area. Sampson found Errington whose cross was finger-tipped onto the bar by Hall and hastily cleared away.

That was as good as it got for the Colliers.

Within minutes Bridlington came close to restoring their three goals lead when Sam Kay fired just wide of the far post.

‘The Seasiders’ managed the remainder of the game whilst Ashington struggled to make any impact on the home goal.

Consequently the final half hour meandered to a dour conclusion.