Wick Academy aiming to come out on top in 'mini-league'
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Wick Academy will try to finish the season as the best among a group of clubs that are currently bunched together in the lower half of the Highland League.
Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Huntly meant the Scorries dropped to 13th in the table, below Keith on goal difference, as a result of the Maroons' 1-0 victory over Lossiemouth.
Keith, Academy and Lossie are all on 26 points, with Forres Mechanics four points further back.
Inverurie Locos and Rothes, 10th and 11th respectively, have some breathing space at the moment – but both could still potentially be caught, bearing in mind Wick's games in hand.
Manager Gary Manson said: "Since the turn of the year, the halfway stage of the season, we've improved quite dramatically – both in terms of performances and points on board.
"We'll be looking to continue that to the end of the season and hopefully get a few more points because it's getting quite tight around about us in the league. Lossiemouth and Keith are level with us now, so if we can get a few more points on the board between now and the end of the season then hopefully we can finish on top of that mini-league."
Saturday's match at Christie Park was goalless until the 70-minute mark when Andy Hunter put Huntly in front. Hunter struck again after 81 minutes.
Marc Macgregor reduced the deficit from the penalty spot with two minutes of the 90 remaining after Gordon MacNab had been taken down in the box.
"A draw would have been a fair result," Manson said. "They had slightly the better of the first half but we had the better of the second half up until they scored, so it was a really even contest – it was fifty-fifty all the way.
"They are two evenly matched teams. Obviously they are a bit higher than us in the league [sixth] but they had a bit of momentum at one stage of the season and that's all it really needs, to go on a run of five or six games and rack up the points.
"But there's nothing between the two teams, really. The boy who scored their two goals is a top player and he makes a difference for them.
"He's a good Highland League striker and he's scored over 20 goals this season. If you take him out of their team then I'd fancy our chances against them more often than not.
"Their first goal was a bit of a freak goal. It came from a long throw-in and it took a couple of ricochets and landed at their boy's feet and he just put it into the net.
"The second goal was a free kick from 22 yards. It was a really good strike, and there's not much you can do about that. It came down to fine margins."
The late spot-kick proved to be no more than a consolation.
"We had changed shape at that stage and we were just throwing bodies forward," Manson said. "We managed to get a penalty but we couldn't get the equaliser."
Manager Gary Manson insists Wick Academy don't expect any sympathy over their long-distance travelling commitments in the Highland League.
Saturday's match at Huntly was the third away game in eight days for the Scorries, who had been to Inverurie the previous weekend and Grantown-on-Spey in midweek.
It meant the players spent more than 28 hours sitting on the team bus during that period.
Manson said: "You know what you're signing up for. It's part and parcel of playing football at that level, I'm afraid, with our geographical position.
"There's nothing we can do about it – we just need to get on with it.
"Certainly the boys that have been there a long time are well used to it. We're not looking for any sympathy or anything like that."
Meanwhile, Craig Stewart described Deveronvale as "a mess" after resigning as manager following their 3-0 home defeat to bottom club Strathspey Thistle on Saturday. Second-half goals by Michael McKenzie, Owen Loveland and Ross Logan did the damage.
While admitting the performance was probably the worst of his eight-and-a-half-year spell, Stewart said it had little impact on his decision to stand down.
He said: "There are people involved at the club that I can't work with. It's as simple as that.
"That is nothing to do with the result on Saturday, it has been a bit of a build-up.
"The club is in a mess and there are people involved that have their own agendas and I'm not sure they have Vale at heart.
"People on the board need to work harder to make funds available to keep the club going.
"The chairman has tried his hardest to keep the club going but there needs to be a lot more."
Second-half goals by Grady McGrath and Murray Mackintosh gave leaders Brechin City a 2-0 win against Clachnacuddin at Grant Street.
Aaron Reid hit a hat-trick in Formartine United's 4-1 victory over Brora Rangers at Dudgeon Park.
Ten-man Buckie Thistle salvaged a 1-1 draw at home to Inverurie. Tam Reid put Locos ahead, then Buckie's Sam Morrison was sent off, but Josh Peters grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser.
Highland League results: Banks O' Dee 4, Forres Mechanics 0; Brora Rangers 1, Formartine United 4; Buckie Thistle 1, Inverurie Locos 1; Clachnacuddin 0, Brechin City 2; Deveronvale 0, Strathspey Thistle 3; Huntly 2, Wick Academy 1; Keith 1, Lossiemouth 0; Nairn County 0, Fraserburgh 3; Rothes 1, Turriff United 3.
Fixtures – Wednesday, March 20: Brora Rangers v Clachnacuddin; Buckie Thistle v Formartine United; Forres Mechanics v Fraserburgh; Huntly v Keith.
Saturday, March 23: Brechin City v Turriff United; Formartine United v Banks O' Dee; Forres Mechanics v Nairn County; Fraserburgh v Rothes; Huntly v Brora Rangers; Inverurie Locos v Keith; Lossiemouth v Deveronvale; Strathspey Thistle v Clachnacuddin; Wick Academy v Buckie Thistle.
