'Be patient' plea to Wick Academy fans
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LOSSIEMOUTH 1 - 0 WICK ACADEMY
Scorers – Lossiemouth: Archibald (71).
WICK Academy manager Davie Kirkwood has been left scratching his head in wonderment after a game full of opportunity failed to yield three points for his side.
The Scorries played away at Grant Park against Lossiemouth on Saturday and, despite a game full of ?promise, the visitors came away empty-handed.
The Coasters secured the win after a 71st-minute strike from Colin Charlesworth was deflected by Academy keeper James More before the ball was launched into the back of the net by Ross Archibald – taking Lossie to their first Highland League win this season.
Speaking on Monday night, Kirkwood said he had been trying to figure out just what went wrong since the final whistle blew.
“Since the game finished at 4.45pm on Saturday until now I’ve been trying to work out how we never actually won the game,” the manager told the Courier.
“I think we had about 99 per cent of the possession, I would reckon between 10 and 20 potential goals and then they win by that one point.
“I’m left sitting here thinking why are we not sitting at the top of the league with about 20 goals on the score card.”
Kirkwood, however, is far from gloomy about the result and is pleased that the squad’s potential is shining through. “It’s a hard lot to take because you are trying to say to players that it’s a step in the right direction but people look at the table and see one point,” he said. “But I see a massive progression. We’re just not getting the breaks.”
Striding out to their 500th league game, the Scorries were all go from the first whistle with Gary Weir, Sam Mackay and Richard Macadie all keeping Coasters goalie Darren McConnachie on his toes in the first half, with multiple shots on or near the ?target.
After the restart Lossie could have seized the lead but Craig Morrison’s header was off the mark.
Following on from his first-half untamed overhead kick that went wide of the goal, Macadie missed another opportunity when his cross across the goalmouth failed to find a pair of Wick shooting boots.
After such hopeful signs disaster then struck for the Scorries when Lossie scored the only goal of the match, before McConnachie denied Macadie again.
Wick’s Stevie Cunningham made one last try but his header hit the woodwork and with that the game was over and Kirkwood was left ?to rue his side’s missed chances.
Kirkwood said the problems with finishing could be attributed to bad judgement, wrong decisions and some great saves from the Lossie keeper – he added McConnachie stopped around six of the shots with “first-class saves”.
“It’s a matter of getting it right at the right time,” he said. “We need to put all these chances and goal-scoring attempts in the back of the net to progress up the league and that would then give people a clear indication of the squad’s progress.
“To the supporters I would say ‘just be patient’. The signs are all there.”
Kirkwood hinted the squad should be back at full strength for the home game against Buckie Thistle on Saturday. He said: “That itself gives me a headache in terms of who to play but we’re never going to stop being a team going forward.”
Lossie: McConnachie, Charlesworth, Milton, Stuart, Bell (Bagley 52), Flett, Milne (MacDonald 46), McMullan, Archibald (Archibald 83), Morrison, Grant. Subs not used: Smith, Wilson.
Wick: More, Farquhar (McKiddie 76), Manson, Ross, G. Steven, Shearer, Gunn, Mackay, Weir, Macadie, Cunningham. Subs not used: R. Allan, Budge, Hughes, Bokas.
Referee: Andy Milne.
n Highland League results: Clachnacuddin 1, Buckie Thistle 3; Cove Rangers 4, Brora Rangers 0; Formartine United 0, Deveronvale 3; Forres Mechanics 4, Fort William 0; Huntly 3, Fraserburgh 3; Keith 5, Turriff United 0; Rothes 1, Nairn County 5; Strathspey Thistle 1, Inverurie Loco Works 4.
Fixtures, Saturday, August 13: Brora Rangers v Clachnacuddin; Deveronvale v Cove Rangers; Fort William v Formartine United; Fraserburgh v Forres Mechanics; Inverurie Loco Works v Rothes; Lossiemouth v Strathspey Thistle; Nairn County v Keith; Turriff United v Huntly; Wick Academy v Buckie Thistle.
