Draw at North Lodge Park ‘keeps momentum going’ for Wick Academy
Wick Academy manager Gary Manson suggested that Kyle Henderson is having a personal goal-of-the-season competition after the latest stunning strike by the 25-year-old forward in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Formartine United.
Henderson put the Scorries 2-1 up five minutes from half-time at North Lodge Park when he deployed his trusty left foot to send a brilliant free kick high into the net past diving keeper Ewen MacDonald.
Formartine had gone ahead after nine minutes through Marc Lawrence, only for Marc Macgregor to produce a clinical finish on 24 minutes after being set up by Davie Allan.
Academy looked poised to make it three wins in a row, having beaten Forres Mechanics and Turriff United at home on the previous two Saturdays, only for Robert Ward to salvage a point for the home side after 86 minutes with a lob over Lewis Gallacher.
In the circumstances it felt like two points dropped rather than one gained for Academy.
“Straight after the game I felt a little bit frustrated,” Manson said. “The boys were deflated in the changing room because we were leading for so long and we were looking quite comfortable in the game as well.
“I couldn’t really see them scoring, but then they got their equaliser.
“There are two ways of looking at it. It is a good point on the road, there is no doubt about that – playing away to a top team at a tough venue and getting a point out of it is not to be dismissed.
“But, after leading for the best part of 45 minutes, it looked like we were going to get all three.
“It keeps a bit of momentum going – that’s two wins and a draw in our last three games.
“I said to the guys before the game, it’s not just the two wins that we had previous to Saturday – in games before that we were competing really, really well.
“We went down to Fraserburgh and got a point, and on another day we would have taken something out of the Brora game at home as well.
“I was always quietly confident we would do something on Saturday and it proved that way.”
As for Henderson’s free kick, Manson said: “He’s having his own goal-of-the-season competition. If we look at a compilation of our goals at the end of the season, he’ll probably have about five on it.
“That’s the third or fourth direct free kick he has scored this season. We know that he’s got that in his locker.
“He’s up to 12 goals now, which is a good return by anyone’s standards. With five games to go he might add to it as well.”
There was a suspicion of offside about Ward’s late strike for Formartine.
“Looking back at the video, it was extremely tight,” Manson said. “Whether he was offside, I’m not sure from the angle of the camera.”
Academy remain 15th in the table, eight points clear of 16th-placed Lossiemouth, who visit Harmsworth Park this weekend, and two points behind Keith, both of whom have played fewer games.
A last-gasp winner by Fraser Macleod gave Brechin City all three points at home to Turriff United as they pulled themselves level on points with leaders Brora Rangers.
City’s 1-0 win, coupled with Brora’s 3-2 loss at Buckie, means the leading two are neck-and-neck going into this weekend’s top-of-the-table clash at Dudgeon Park with both teams having six fixtures left after that.
Brora took an early lead at Victoria Park through Colin Williamson but found themselves behind at the break after goals by Fin Allen and Josh Peters.
Peters continued a memorable week – which had seen him score four goals against his former team Strathspey Thistle – by adding Buckie’s third.
Matthew Wright pulled one back for Brora in the closing stages.
There was late heartbreak again for Strathspey Thistle as Banks O’ Dee scored in the last minute of normal time to win 2-1 at Spain Park.
The Grantown side remain ahead of bottom team Rothes on goal difference, and that margin was widened by the Speysiders’ 7-0 defeat at Clach – their 11th league loss in a row.
Troy Cooper scored a hat-trick for the Lilywhites.
Forres Mechanics beat Deveronvale in Banff, while Keith battled to a 1-1 draw with Fraserburgh.
Inverurie Locos needed an early Paul Coutts goal, on the rebound after his penalty was saved, for a 1-0 win at Nairn County.
Sam Robertson’s first-half effort gave Huntly a 1-0 success at Lossiemouth.
Highland League results: Banks O’ Dee 2, Strathspey Thistle 2; Brechin City 1, Turriff United 0; Buckie Thistle 3, Brora Rangers 2; Clachnacuddin 7, Rothes 0; Deveronvale 2, Forres Mechanics 4; Formartine United 2, Wick Academy 2; Keith 1, Fraserburgh 1; Lossiemouth 0, Huntly 1; Nairn County 0, Inverurie Locos 1.
Highland League fixtures – Wednesday, March 12: Forres Mechanics v Huntly; Strathspey Thistle v Clachnacuddin.
Saturday, March 15: Brora Rangers v Brechin City; Deveronvale v Formartine United; Forres Mechanics v Buckie Thistle; Fraserburgh v Nairn County; Huntly v Keith; Inverurie Locos v Strathspey Thistle; Rothes v Banks O’ Dee; Turriff United v Clachnacuddin Wick Academy v Lossiemouth.
