Ashington 1-1 Steels

Stocksbridge Park Steels continued an unbeaten 2024 with a draw against Ashington.

The Steels managed to improve on their last trip to Woodhorn Lane by not conceding twice in the first ten minutes. Both sides took their time to feel out each other and most shots would end up being blocked.

But eventually, Stocksbridge did end up breaking through. Tomas Poole’s free kick caused problems in the box and was cleared out to Kurtis Turner. His shot was well saved by Ross Coombe but it fell to Jack Watson who was able to bundle it home. He was hurt in the process but he was happy just to get on the score sheet.

Both goalkeepers would be tested before the end of the half. Tomas Poole and Watson would get space to have efforts from outside of the box, but Coombe made the saves both times. At the other end, Karl Ross would force a near post from Harry Garman.

In the second half, Ashington would throw everything at the Stocksbridge defence. At first, Garman kept them at bay. The Colliers’ leading scorer Connor Thomson got the beating of his man but his shot was palmed away with a strong hand. Unfortunately, Ashington eventually got their equaliser. Stocksbridge failed to clear and a cross flashed across the six-yard box and Darren Lough smashed it in from close range.

The game would become to end to end as both teams chased a winner. However, it was a credit to both defences who prevented clear cut chances from opening up. It was Stocksbridge who almost had the final say as a series of corners from Turner caused chaos in the box but it just couldn’t be turned in.

The game did end on a bad mark. After Alex O’Connor was tussled to the ground, he squared up to Ross who had caused the issue. This led to the referee giving him his second yellow card of the game, and the match ended with a red card for the midfielder.