Faithful TF scribbler by day, fearless Ashington FC groundsman by night, Scott Robson gives us the lowdown on last week’s Northumberland Senior Cup semi-final, and the trials and tribulations of life down the pyramid. (Photo credit: Ian Brodie)

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Anyone who’s been on the tour of St James’ Park will know that a trophy cabinet does exist. This is giggled at by the rest of the football cognoscenti. As much use as a chocolate fireguard etc etc.

Before things got a bit of a creatine boost there after the takeover, it wasn’t unrealistic to see such trophies as Kevin Dillon’s ten pin bowling salver, Irving Natrass’ fly fishing plate, and Zurab Khizanishvili’s prized Cumberland wrestling shield. It was all worth the price and the effort, let me tell you.

One bona fide football Trophy usually lives there. The Northumberland Senior Cup. Going at it since 1884 and United (in various guises) have won it 39 times. For the last 50 years it’s been all we have had to buff and shine.

When Newcastle do win the thing it’s not going to get an open top bus parade as a result, just a nod and a firm handshake and move on pretty quickly. Newcastle’s involvement on and off the pitch, though, is a lifesaver for the rest of the teams involved in the tournament as it can actually be the difference between life and death for the dozen or so clubs who enter every year.

Take last week as Newcastle United under 23s visited Ashington at Woodhorn Lane.

Ashington play in the Northern Premier League East Division which stretches from South East Northumberland to the South Kesteven area of Lincolnshire. It’s a long stretch, and in November Ashington had to go to the nuclear option of asking fans to fund the near future of the club through a go fund me page: ten thousand pounds were raised.

Utility bills rising 150% for the club, a £2,100 floodlight repair bill, and a £20,000 fee for getting the ground up to league standards (since recouped through the football foundation) immediately swallowed that up, and with the incessant rain meaning a lot more match day revenue lost to more games called off, it means the club has had to live day to day, hand to mouth. If the whole club was having a haircut, it would be a skinhead. Everything that could be shaved, had been.

The draw for the Senior Cup then was a massive boost. We had to beat West Allotment and did so, the rain leaving it dangling. Bedlington v NUFC was postponed so many times that the seasons had changed before we knew who Ashington would play in the semi finals. Eventually after a ground switch, NUFC won.

That was in concrete; then, the club could figure in a massive financial boost when working out how to see the season out. It was estimated that just that one game’s revenue could pay the player wage bill for the remainder of the season. Essential.

The game was put in for 9 April. Ashington sold 800 tickets on a pre-sale basis, and everything from ambulance cover and pitch preparation to stewarding and extra bar stocks were covered.

Until, which was entirely apt considering the record breaking rainfall since October, Ashington was hit by a day of incessant torrential rain. By 3pm the town was actually cut off. Every road was flooded and the game was off. A devastating blow.

The arranging of another date was full of pitfalls. NUFC wouldn’t pick a day that the first team were playing, and Ashington had a backlog of fixtures to play including four in seven days. It was like pulling teeth.

Eventually the game was rearranged for May 4. Almost a week after Ashington’s season finished, meaning players’ contracts needed extending for the game. If they had won, the contracts would have to be extended by a near month for the final. A severe headache logistically and financially for admin and financial volunteers. For some, the problems of finding a date had taken the fun out of the whole affair.

For me personally, as the groundsman, the original date saw the pitch sodden even before the downpour. A tedious battle against waterlogging had been fought for months, chewing at the soul to the point of actually taking over my head. It was a hard winter. Such are the ups and downs of being a groundsman at this level. The pitch now had dried out to the point of being too hard, enough to raise eyebrows for United’s pampered youngsters. With being at work all day, the chances of a sprinkler going on were slim, and I thought maybe it gave us an advantage anyway. From soaking to bone hard in a fortnight. You couldn’t make it up.

Behind the scenes, tickets were going well, with almost a thousand being sold before the day. Northumberland county council set the limit at 1,500, which would mean a ground record. Not quite the 13,000 record at our former Portland Park ground, but a milestone none the less. The expectation was that this was highly attainable.

Same script as the first time: ambulance, beer, stewards (from NUFC), plus a hired portable floodlight (usually used on major infrastructure projects) after one of the lights picked the worst time to give up, only months after that huge bill for fixing it.

If it metaphorically doesn’t rain but it pours, then at least the weather was dry. Cold and sunny. The prized meteorological result.

1,447 piled in. The crowd is about 700 more than our highest of the season. A mix between Ashington fans trying to top the season with a cup final and NUFC supporters looking at the next big thing.

Ashington roared out the blocks, missing a sitter on two minutes and hitting the post with another soon after. However NUFC led at the break through Dylan Stephenson’s decent finish. It was against the run of play.

One fan near me said Tonali should have been made to play. His point was a punishment I think, but it got me thinking, could the FA have thought about this? It would give North East football some boost by giving him community service on the pitches of the North East from Berwick to Bishops? Just a thought.

Newcastle were playing poorly and were direct. Ashington had struggled to come to terms with the usual failure to take chances followed by conceding, and things worsened when a debatable free kick was handsomely lashed into the top corner by Jay Turner Cooke.

Instantly, though, Ashington replied as Dan Maguire bundled in after Wilson Kneeshaw’s run caused havoc.

That meant twenty minutes of home pressure and only Hefferenan stopped a last second equaliser which would have been well deserved. NUFC held on to face Blyth Town in the final at St James’ Park.

The logistics of paying players another month to play in a final may have brought out cold sweats, but as the temperatures dropped, everyone in that ground was willing an equaliser which unfortunately didn’t come.

The financial aspect from this game will enable Ashington to plan for a wage structure going into next season and help with costly pitch renovations. It’s essential.

Newcastle did their bit by not taking a cut of the gate money. This is laudable, but it’s worth noting that it was the same when Ashley was in situ; it’s not just something that has come about since the takeover.

Yes, we might scoff, but some club not far away from us have allegedly taken their cut for Durham Challenge cup games, which makes you sick being honest.

The final whistle of a long, long season brought a huge sigh of relief from all involved with the club. It was manager Ian Skinner’s last game. A lot of things could have gone wrong with a big crowd and in the town of Ashington. Nothing did, it was seamless.

One final take for me was as the players ran down the tunnel. One lad had a ball and a marker. He wanted signatures. I presumed it was NUFC players he wanted, but he looked straight through them and waited patiently for two Ashington players to sign his ball.

It was a nice end to a frustrating season and another small sign that football in this town will always be king and always pull at the heart strings. It’s also a sign that the sleeping giant is waking up.

That could be used for both clubs.

If you can, get along to the NSC final at St James’. This is a competition we need and we need NUFC in it. Long live the Northumberland Senior Cup and Kevin Dillon’s ten pin bowling.

Scott Robson