Ashington manager and captain 'proud' of team in narrow cup loss to Newcastle youngsters

Quality strikes from Dylan Stephenson in the first period and Jay Turner-Cooke shortly before the midway point in the second half put the young Magpies into a 2-0 lead before Dan Maguire reduced the arrears within a couple of minutes.

Ashington then threw everything at their opponents but just fell short. Skinner said afterwards: “It’s a little bit strange because we’ve lost the game and an opportunity to get into a final at St James’ Park which would have been an unbelievable way to end the season but I’m sat here quite relaxed because the boys gave everything and I just thought every single one of them was excellent.”

The boss was happy with how his side began the game: “I thought we started really, really brightly and probably should have gone ahead when Wilson Kneeshaw has had a great chance and you would back him to score. We’ve had some great play and then Connor Thomson has had another opportunity when you would also fancy him to find the back of the net.

"However, Newcastle scored against the run of play with a ball over the top and Dylan Stephenson has run through, applied a great first touch and a great finish. Dylan has scored lots of goals for whilst on loan at South Shields towards the back end of the season and he’s a good player.

"I thought it was a little bit unjust and the game developed into a more even contest. We were looking to get the ball down and play whilst they (Newcastle) were looking to stretch our back line with Stephenson running in behind.”

Addressing his players during the interval, Skinner said “It was a case of saying to them ‘we’ve got 45 minutes to extend our season and I don’t want you to come in at the end with any regrets so go out there and give it your best shot’ - and I thought they literally did go out there and they gave it everything. We took the game to Newcastle in the

second half but then found ourselves 2-0 down. We got caught a little bit on the break but take nothing away, it’s a great finish into the top corner for their second goal.

“However, I just felt at times we wanted that extra touch or we wanted the perfect shooting opportunity and when you play against lads who are as sharp as they are (Newcastle), that extra touch gives them that split second to get a block in or get behind the ball.”

Ashington pulled one back through Dan Maguire and exerted late pressure, including one shot blocked deep into injury time plus a penalty shout.

The game was witnessed by a record breaking attendance of 1447 and Skinner added: “It was a magnificent crowd with great support as usual but it didn’t surprise me in the least that the previous highest (attendance) was surpassed. To be honest, I think they would all go away slightly disappointed that we lost the game - but as I walked around the pitch at the end, every supporter had nothing but kind words and positivity for the display that they had just watched by us against a good Newcastle side.”

Skipper Karl Ross added: “Walking into the dressing room at the end of the game, all of the lads had their heads down and were gutted because Newcastle have come here and we’ve played them off the park. Not many teams will do that to them – but for their two goals, they had that little bit of quality.

“Things didn’t go for us like the drop of the ball, or the ball not bouncing for us but it was just good to see the lads go for it and I was proud of them all. We are a really close group – the closest group I’ve ever been with – so leading them out was a proud moment for me.”