Ashington boss Skinner is happy as his side grind out a league win

The Colliers – a goal behind when Andrei-Vasile Ardelean stunned the home supporters as he put the Lawyers ahead – hit back to equalise through Luke Salmon before Ben Harmison clinched the points after scoring with a late penalty.

The fight back and consequent result was just the tonic for Skinner and the whole of the home contingent coming only four days after their pulsating and exhausting 3-0 win in their Emirates FA Cup replay against Stocksbridge Park Steels - and it meant the Colliers kept their unbeaten league record intact.

Skinner said afterwards: “You should always be pleased with a win. Conditions were difficult with a swirling strong wind and a pitch which was a little bit sticky and awkward at times.

"I thought we started the game quite brightly and moved the ball well but were a little bit passive especially coming down the bank with the wind on our backs. I just thought at times that we could have played forward a bit quicker instead of playing sideways and we fell into the trap where the player on the ball looks up and had lots of people running away from him with nobody really coming short.

"Midway through the first half, we changed our shape slightly to see if we could get a few more numbers forward and a couple of minutes after doing that we conceded - so I’ll take the blame for that. We certainly got caught giving the ball away then were wide open and one pass has been played through to Ardelean who has finished it really well.

"Credit to us because we scored a great equaliser after what was a good move. Yannick (Aziakonou) has been really positive and stepped onto the ball before providing a great cross and Luke Salmon has made up a fantastic amount of ground to get to the back post and head it home so I was pleased with that.”

He continued: “Second half I thought we looked much better playing against the wind. We got a penalty for handball and Ben (Harmison) has stepped up and scored and we’ve managed to see the game out. If someone had said to me beforehand that we would win 2-1, I would have taken it, so I’m delighted.”