Manson wants to make Harmsworth Park a 'fortress' as Scorries keep another clean sheet at home
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Manager Gary Manson insisted there is much more to come from his squad after Wick Academy picked up three points and a clean sheet for the second home game in a row.
Saturday's 2-0 Highland League victory over Turriff United followed on from their 1-0 win against Keith at Harmsworth Park a fortnight earlier. The Scorries are eighth in the table after four games, having lost away to Buckie Thistle and Fraserburgh – last season's runners-up and champions respectively – in their other two fixtures.
Jack Henry got the opener on the half-hour mark when he met a left-wing cross from Ryan Campbell and directed a powerful header past Turriff keeper David Dey.
Mark Macadie doubled Wick's lead five minutes into the second period with an accomplished first-time shot after a defence-splitting pass from Gordon MacNab.
Manson said: "It's the old cliché, you want to make your home ground a bit of a fortress.
"Yes, we've beaten Keith and Turriff, maybe not teams at the top end of the table, but you can only beat the teams in front of you. That's two clean sheets and two reasonably comfortable wins.
"Turriff are a good side now. They came up and they gave us a good game, which was expected, but we were just that bit more clinical. Our two goals were really well worked.
"We probably could have and should have added to that. We had two or three good chances in the second half on the counter-attack.
"But overall I'm really pleased. It was what you want to see when you play at home. We were putting our bodies on the line when we had to, we played passes when we had to."
Jack Halliday was at the heart of much of Academy's good work in the middle of the park.
"Jack has started this season really well," Manson said. "You know what you get with Jack – you get plenty of energy, you get plenty of running, you get quality on the ball, and that's exactly what he did again today."
Manson was able to freshen things up in the second half by bringing on loan signing Harry Hennem, trialist Sean Munro and experienced campaigner Ross Allan.
"We changed the shape for the last 10 minutes because we could," the manager said. "In previous weeks we might not have been able to do that, but we changed to a back five just to see the game out and with the substitutes we had available we were able to do that.
"Young Harry came on again and did really well – he almost scored from a good long-distance shot.
"There's more to come from this squad. Once we realise that we're a good side and show that self-belief and go out there with confidence, we're a match for anyone.
"We have a big game now on Wednesday [away to Clachnacuddin in the North of Scotland Cup] and we'll go into that full of confidence."
Turriff United were left wondering how they failed to score after creating numerous chances before going down 2-0 to Wick Academy.
"They caught us on the counter-attack twice and scored two good goals," Turriff manager Dean Donaldson said.
"They created a couple of other things when we changed to a back three, but overall I think we had 12 chances and missed them all."
He felt that his players had been "soft and naive" at key moments.
"I'm looking for leaders to take the game by the scruff of the neck," Donaldson said. "In the end we didn't have that.
"I'm frustrated today but I still think there are good signs there. Wick are a good side, they've got good players and they'll punish you, but we should have won the game."
Turriff looked dangerous for much of the first half as they mounted a series of pacy attacks down the slope.
Jack McKenzie was allowed too much room on the edge of the box and his shot came back off a post before Graeme Williamson saved McKenzie's follow-up effort.
Academy opened the scoring on the half-hour mark after a well-worked move up the left wing. Mark Macadie linked up with Ryan Campbell, whose perfectly judged cross was headed in powerfully by Henry.
Williamson was soon called into action again and he showed quick reflexes to keep out a head-flick by Keir Smith.
Smith came even closer when he got on the end of Liam Cheyne's floated free kick only to poke the ball wide of the target from about the six-yard line.
Williamson was unquestionably the busier of the two goalies. With half-time approaching, he saved another shot from McKenzie before tipping a Jordan Cooper effort over the bar.
Academy doubled their lead five minutes into the second half after another slick move as they switched the ball from right to left. Jack Halliday dummied Gordon MacNab's diagonal pass and Mark Macadie timed his run to perfection as he sent an unerring first-time shot low into the opposite corner.
Halliday then saw a long-range drive tipped round the post by David Dey.
There was another scare for the Scorries on 68 minutes when Cooper was presented with a clear sight of goal but Williamson got a vital touch to divert the ball away for a corner.
A swift break gave Academy a chance to add a third goal as Halliday picked out Sean Campbell but the midfielder's shot was beaten away by Dey. Substitute Hennem saw a shot blocked and MacNab hit the rebound over the bar.
Wick Academy: Williamson, Hughes, R Campbell, Farquhar, Anderson, Henry, S Campbell (S Munro 79), Halliday, MacNab, R Macadie (R Allan 86), M Macadie (Hennem 72). Subs not used: Manson, More.
Turriff United: Dey, Kinsella, Cheyne (Gordon 61), Chalmers, Stuart, Cooper (Nicol 72), Gray (Brown 61), K Smith, Reid, Clark, McKenzie. Subs not used: E Smith, Findlay.
Referee: Billy Baxter.
The top three in the Highland League – Buckie Thistle, Brora Rangers and Brechin City – maintained their 100 per cent starts to the season with wins on Saturday.
Buckie moved to the summit after an eight-goal demolition of Strathspey Thistle, with former Hibs and Elgin City striker Josh Peters grabbing four goals against one of his former clubs.
Brora kept up the pressure with a 3-0 home victory over league newcomers Banks O' Dee. Brechin also made it four wins out of four with a 3-1 win at Deveronvale.
Champions Fraserburgh hit the goal trail with a 7-0 victory against Lossiemouth at Grant Park.
There was a first win of the season for Keith, 2-1 at home to Clach.
Huntly and Rothes are both still searching for their first league win after playing out a 1-1 draw at Christie Park.
There were wins for Formartine United and Forres Mechanics against Nairn County and Inverurie Locos respectively.
Results: Brora Rangers 3, Banks O' Dee 0; Buckie Thistle 8, Strathspey Thistle 0; Deveronvale 1, Brechin City 3; Formartine United 3, Nairn County 1; Huntly 1, Rothes 1; Inverurie Locos 0, Forres Mechanics 1; Keith 2, Clachnacuddin 1; Lossiemouth 0, Fraserburgh 7; Wick Academy 2, Turriff United 0.
Fixtures – Wednesday – North of Scotland Cup quarter-finals: Brora Rangers v Strathspey Thistle; Clachnacuddin v Wick Academy; Forres Mechanics v Lossiemouth; Rothes v Elgin City.
Saturday, August 20 – Highland League: Banks O' Dee v Keith; Brechin City v Buckie Thistle; Clachnacuddin v Turriff United; Forres Mechanics v Huntly; Inverurie Locos v Formartine United; Lossiemouth v Wick Academy; Nairn County v Deveronvale; Rothes v Brora Rangers; Strathspey Thistle v Fraserburgh.
