Wick Academy cash in with three points and a clean sheet at breezy Harmsworth Park
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Wick Academy manager Gary Manson admitted that if he’d been a paying spectator he would have been asking for a refund after the scrappy, wind-blasted, goalless first half of Saturday’s Highland League encounter with Keith.
By full-time at Harmsworth Park, however, the Wick fans had got their money’s worth in the shape of three points and a clean sheet.
The 2-0 win took Manson’s men to within one point of the 12th-placed Maroons with the teams due to meet again at Kynoch Park on the last day of the season on Saturday, April 27.
Gordon MacNab and Marc Macgregor got the goals after the fierce gusts thankfully began to drop from the 40mph-plus that had made it impossible for either team to play constructive football.
“During that first half, if I was a fan I’d have been asking for my money back,” Manson said. “But you can’t criticise the players because it was the conditions.
“You could have got the best players in the world on that park in that first half and they wouldn’t have put on a spectacle.
“So fair play to the boys for trying their very best. It was very difficult at times.
“In the second half it did get a little bit easier for the boys to play and we took advantage and scored two goals, so I can’t fault them.”
Gary Pullen had Academy’s best effort of the first half, a long-range shot that was punched away by keeper Craig Reid.
The wind strength was underlined later in the first period when the Keith keeper booted a clearance up the park which bounced once before flying towards the top-left corner of the net. It was a rare moment of concern for Graeme Williamson but the Wick goalie was alert enough to leap and push the ball away.
MacNab broke the deadlock on 73 minutes when the ball broke for him in the penalty box and without hesitation he slammed it low past Reid.
Macgregor made sure of the points in the last minute of the 90 when he weaved his way through the Keith defence on the Academy left and forced the ball home at the base of the post.
It was the Scorries’ sixth victory in their last 12 games.
Macgregor said: “We did well to come through with the win.
“We've improved a lot. The team is gelling better together now and fighting for each other too.”
Keith manager Craig Ewen is adamant that he doesn’t want their season to “end with a whimper”.
The Maroons have suffered back-to-back defeats without scoring since their 10-game unbeaten run in the Highland League came to an end at the beginning of last week.
Speaking after Saturday’s wind-affected 2-0 loss to Wick Academy at Harmsworth Park, Ewen said: “To be honest the game was spoiled by the conditions. It was always going to be very difficult.
“When I arrived, I thought the wind was across the pitch but then nearer kick-off it seemed to switch more diagonally up the pitch.
“We didn't capitalise or use the wind effectively for the whole first half. We didn't take enough shots at goal, we were wanting too many touches, and Wick were quite happy to sit in.
“In the second half I felt for the first 20 minutes we were arguably the better team. Wick had four shots at goal from 35 yards but it was never really a threat and we had a couple of line breaks without having any quality on the front end.”
Ewen added: “On reflection, Wick created a good first goal and that’s maybe the bit of quality that won the game.
“The second goal was a mistake right near the end. We had four up front near the end so you’re just trying to chase it and get something out of the game.
“We’re disappointed because we haven’t shown any good attacking intent. We had heavy touches and poor decision-making.
“It’s one of those where you need to try and get your nose in front when you’ve got the wind.
“Round about 60 minutes we couldn’t really see either team scoring. I thought that was the pattern of the game.
“From our point of view, a point up here would have been a reasonable result. I’d have taken that.
“But fair play to Wick, they got the job done. We weren’t good enough.”
The teams meet again at Kynoch Park on April 27.
Keith’s 10-game run was halted by a 3-0 home defeat to Buckie last Monday. The Maroons face the Jags again this weekend – but first there is a home match against the other main title contenders, Brechin City, on Tuesday night.
“We had a good 10-game run but we don’t want our season to end with a whimper either,” Ewen said. “We’ve got three difficult games and two of those are against teams going for the league, so we have to regroup and go again.”
There was no change at the top of the league on Saturday as the leading five clubs picked up maximum points.
Brechin City fell behind against Forres Mechanics at Glebe Park but came storming back to win 6-1, while Buckie Thistle beat Deveronvale by the same scoreline.
Fraserburgh had a 5-1 victory away to Strathspey Thistle, while Banks O’ Dee got a stoppage-time winner to beat Brora Rangers 2-1 at Dudgeon Park. Formartine United thumped Rothes 6-1.
