Home   Sport   Article

Confident Academy bounce back


By Will Clark

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!
Strathspey Thistle’s Matteusz Bobrowski is closed down by the Wick defence on Saturday. Photo: Frances Porter.
Strathspey Thistle’s Matteusz Bobrowski is closed down by the Wick defence on Saturday. Photo: Frances Porter.

STRATHSPEY THISTLE 1 - 3 WICK ACADEMY

Scorers – Strathspey: Ross (20). Wick: Macadie (22) Mackay (49, 55 pen).

ACADEMY manager Davie Kirkwood said his side’s comeback at the weekend shows real progress is being made.

Despite going a goal behind, the Scorries kicked up another gear to comfortably beat Strathspey Thistle.

Seafield Park has proven to be a bogey ground for the Caithness men. Before Saturday, Wick had only picked up one point out of six in Grantown-on-Spey since Thistle joined the Highland League in 2009.

But Saturday saw a side growing in confidence, intent on building a string of wins.

The Scorries currently lie in seventh place and only two points off the leaders.

A win next week against Rothes with other results going their way could see them go top of the table.

But Kirkwood refuses to get carried away after securing the second win of the season.

"We got ourselves out of a position that I don’t think they would have managed to last season," he said. "The start was very sluggish, but conceding the goal was the kick up the backside that we needed.

"We got the equaliser almost immediately and went on to dominate the match, which was very pleasing from my point of view.

"It was annoying that we went a goal behind despite dominating the game.

"That shouldn’t be happening, but at least it was early in the game where we had time to rectify that."

He added: "Seven out of 12 points is a decent start, but I think we should be top of the league.

"I’m still disappointed about the Lossiemouth game where we lost 1-0 as we should have won that comfortably.

"We are among a group of teams on seven points, but the league is won in April and we have to stay focused."

Wick Academy made two changes with Shaun Sinclair and Michael Steven back in the squad.

The home team took the lead in the 20th minute with a wonder goal from David Ross.

He took the ball off his chest and lashed a 35-yard volley over the top of Allan Bokas onto the underside of the bar.

Academy’s record goal scorer Richard Macadie replied instantly to bring the game back to level terms. Stealing the ball from slack defending, he went round keeper Andrew Klarklins before slotting home his first goal of the campaign.

The visitors took advantage of their dominance four minutes after the interval.

Gary Weir knocked a long ball down to Sam Mackay who collected it inside the Strathspey box, twisted his way past two defenders and curled a shot past keeper Klarklins into the corner of the net.

Mackay got his second of the game to put daylight between the sides.

The attacking midfielder was brought down in the box by Klarklins. He coolly slotted the ball into the left side of the net sending the keeper the wrong way.

The game ended on a low note for the visitors when Michael Steven allegedly threw a punch at Fraser Tulloch. Despite protests from the Scorries, referee Craig Sim gave the wing back his marching orders.

Strathspey’s assistant manager Colin Tansley said that an injury to Grant Rothney was a determining factor in the result.

"We were the better side for the first 25 minutes," he said. "Unfortunately we had to change our game plan after 30 minutes because of Rothney’s injury.We then conceded two early goals in the second half from individual errors on our part. You can’t do that against a side like Wick.

"There are a lot of positives we have taken out of the game and if we play like we did on Saturday, we will start picking up points soon."

Strathspey Thistle: Klarklins, Ritchie (Bobrowski 80), Wardrope (Tulloch 45), Donaldson, Munro, Sutherland, Hardie, Ross, Rothney (Swinton 38), Hill, Rodgers. Subs not used: Hill, Ridgers.

Wick Academy: Bokas, Cunningham, Manson (M. Steven 67), Farquhar, G. Steven, Shearer, Gunn, Mackay, Weir, Macadie (Sinclair 80), Allan (McKiddie 80). Subs not used: Allan, Hughes.

Referee: Craig Sim.


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More