Ashington striker says his winner at Liversedge was 'one of the most important of the season'

And the 22-year-old striker revealed that his 14th goal of the campaign was probably one of the most important he has scored all season.

“It was a scrappy game,” said Wallsend-born Gilchrist afterwards.

“There wasn’t much in it and to be fair to Liversedge they worked hard and done the basics well.

“They’ve pumped it up and put us under a bit of pressure, but it was important that we stayed in the game, and I knew if we got one chance it would be the one chance we need.”

Gilchrist described his goal: “Jamie Holmes has slipped the ball through to me and I went one on one in the box.

“I did a little step over, hit it early and managed to put the ball in the bottom corner – and I knew as soon as it left my foot that it was going in.

“It is probably one of the most important goals I have scored all season and brought us a massive three points, although it doesn’t shake the table as much as we would have liked – but it’s in our hands.”

He continued: “If we keep picking up points which we can do – and we’ve got some important games coming up – then we’ll be fine.

“We’ve got Garforth Town at home on Saturday then face a massive two games against Sheffield and Heaton Stannington over the Easter weekend.

“We weren’t at our best today – all of the lads in the changing rooms know that – but it’s the sign of a good team when you are picking up points and haven’t played well.”

Ashington’s assistant manager Liam McIvor admitted that the game was ‘awful to watch’ – but said the 1-0 victory was a fantastic result.

“No one cares about how well you play when you are where we are in the table because it’s all about getting the three points,” he said afterwards.

“The game was terrible – the whole 90 minutes were awful to watch – but I’ll settle for that and take three points any day of the week.”