Ashington boss Nick Gray praises players after 'thoroughly deserved' win against Emley

However, after seeing the Colliers trail at the break by a single goal, the boss got the best of both worlds. Not only did the Colliers turn the contest on its head to win the game 3-1, but they arguably gave their best 45 minutes of the season.

Gray had said last week that in the run in to the end of the season his lads faced six cup finals. On Saturday they ticked the first one off and emerged with flying colours.

Albeit the game was spoiled by a strong wind – and for the second period Ashington, who had the elements on their backs, played against a 10-man Emley side after their striker Joshua Ayres had been red carded in stoppage time in the first half.

Nevertheless, it was a beaming Gray who emerged from the dressing room to deliver his thoughts.

“The most important thing was the result – and I’m delighted,” he said.

“We’ve now played Emley twice in a month and they are a side who are in the play-offs. They are a good outfit but if I’m being honest, we haven’t looked out of sorts with them as we’ve competed with them.

“They won at their place and we have won here. We were so desperate for the points that I would have accepted an awful performance and for us to be second best in exchange for a win which we got – and we thoroughly deserved it.”

He continued: “The wind was really strong and we tried to go with it in the first half but it didn’t happen. We gave a soft goal away which we’re disappointed about but despite going in 1-0 down at half time, I was still confident we had an opportunity in the second half.”

He added: “At half time we had a good opportunity but as we had both our centre halves on yellow cards we had to be careful and I told the lads that if we kept 11 players on the pitch we’d get our rewards.

“I also mentioned that a key issue was for us to be aggressive in the first 15 minutes and the full backs had to be higher up the pitch. We got the equalising goal which gave us the lift to go again and we kept on being aggressive for the entire half.”

He went on: “You can say the sending off made a difference – however it doesn’t give you a divine right to win a game just because you are up against a team with 10 men.”

Gray also said a massive thank you to the fans and volunteers at the club: “With the Newcastle United parade taking place, it’s been hard for non-league football with a lot of volunteers, supporters and players also wanting to celebrate,” he said.

“However, to be fair I think Ashington made a great gesture by offering the fans half price admission to our match and I’ve got to thank the supporters and volunteers who came along today because it means a lot and is much appreciated.”