Match Report

By Brian Bennett

Ashington missed the opportunity to distance themselves further from the relegation drop zone on Saturday when they played out an uninspiring goalless draw against fellow strugglers Grimsby Borough at Woodhorn Lane.

Victory for the Colliers would have lifted them up to 14th place in the East Division league table but instead in a game where there was a lot of huff and puff and little in the way of chances, the visitors remain one point behind them.

Nevertheless seven points from nine is a good haul for the Wansbeck outfit who only a couple of weeks ago looked to be locked in the bottom four.

However, it’s a case of leaping from one six pointer to another as Marc Ellison’s side travel to face Newton Aycliffe – a side in the drop zone – on Friday (March 13) and interim boss Ellison will be reminding his players during the week that it was the County Durham side who cruised to a 3-0 win at the Lane at the end of October.

Ashington were looking to make it a hat trick of victories following back to back successes over Garforth Town and Consett and they made a decent start.

Josh Gilchrist picked up an early yellow card for a foul on the touchline but a few minutes later, home supporters were screaming for a different colour to be brandished by the referee after Craig Spooner’s pass had released Ryan Wombwell.

The midfielder took the ball past advancing Grimsby ‘keeper Kian Johnson and as he surged forward towards an empty net, appeared to be tugged back by a defender but the referee waved play on and the visitors cleared.
In the 20th minute, Dayle Southwell had the first shot of the game which was easily dealt with by Ashington’s on-loan ‘keeper Ben Metcalf before the home side made inroads down the right flank through Spooner and Rory Powell but the latter’s cross was blocked.

Just past the half hour mark, Southwell pulled the ball back from the left but Mariners skipper Sam Topliss sliced his shot then the Colliers got in behind again but Gilchrist’s flick was wide.

There had been little to enthuse the crowd on a spring-like day but in the 63rd minute, Metcalf earned rapturous applause when he pulled off a stunning save diving full stretch to his left to deny Southwell from a 20 yards free-kick as the ball arrowed towards the top corner.

Minutes later, Paul Walker headed across the face of the goal following a short flag kick on the right before the Wansbeck outfit were reduced to ten men when skipper Karl Ross saw red for a foul on substitute Bailey Wright.

Despite their numerical disadvantage the Colliers played well and shortly afterwards, substitute Sam Davison had a clear run on goal but clipped his shot wide.

Then in the 78th minute, Ben Sampson – making his 250th appearance in an Ashington shirt – played the ball through to Louis Burns.

The sub cut inside and let fly but saw his effort superbly pushed over by Johnson.

In the final minute of the 90, Southwell had a shot cleared off the line by Ryan Donaldson and despite five minutes of time added on, the scoreline remained blank – an identical result of when the two sides met in the corresponding fixture in October.