Four new Ashington signings

Having already signed Robbie Dale, Skinner was delighted to confirm that he had bolstered his squad further by announcing that Andrew Cartwright, Lee Mason, Darren Lough and Damen Mullen had all agreed terms and put pen to paper on contracts.

Cartwright was part of a successful North Shields outfit who clinched promotion from the Ebac Northern League first division last season and the 27 year old said: “I loved my time with them (North Shields) and winning the title was the icing on the cake. Now I’d like to do it again. Joining Ashington presents me with a fresh challenge and I’m looking forward to my time with them.”

Mason who joins from Dunston UTS, said: “With the personnel that the manager is bringing in to boost last season’s squad, it’s exciting times at the club and I cannot wait to get started.”

Meanwhile Lough and Mullen both return to their hometown club after having previous spells with the Colliers. Lough said: “A couple of clubs in the League above came in for me but when I heard of Ashington’s interest, I knew that’s where I wanted to play.”

Mullen said: “I got in touch with Ian Skinner and said I’d be interested in coming to Ashington and things just snowballed from there. I had a couple of offers from other clubs but I chose Ashington because it just seemed like the perfect place to come back.”