End-of-season target for Wick Academy as they look to extend unbeaten run
Wick Academy will be seeking to extend their unbeaten run in the Highland League to six games when they welcome Nairn County to Harmsworth Park on Saturday.
Last weekend’s 1-0 victory at Keith made it four wins and an away draw for the Scorries since February 22 and they are on 30 points with three games remaining.
Three wins, or two wins and a draw, would allow Academy – currently 14th in the table – to surpass their 36-point tally from the 2023/24 campaign, when they finished 12th.
Manager Gary Manson said: “I set the boys that challenge probably four or five games ago – I said we can still match, or better, last season’s tally, and that is still the case.
“We’re going well, we’re picking up points every weekend at the moment, so that is certainly something in our sights.

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“Two wins and we equal last season’s points tally. If we can manage to get points out of our last three games there’s every chance of exceeding it.
“It’s good to still have something to aim for going into the last few games of the season. There are still about three teams we can jump above if results go our way elsewhere and we continue to win our games.
“It’s good just having that incentive and something to aim for.”
Another incentive for the Scorries this weekend is that they haven’t beaten Nairn for six years. The Wee County won 3-0 when the sides met at Station Park at the start of November.
The last time the result went Wick’s way was in March 2019 when Marc Macgregor and Sam Mackay got the goals in a 2-0 win at Harmsworth Park, before Manson’s time in charge.
“It’s certainly something we will be aiming to rectify,” the manager said.
“Looking at the league positions and the points tallies, there’s not an awful lot between the teams. It’ll be similar to the Forres and Turriff games that we won recently, it’ll be fifty-fifty, and we’ll just need to make sure that we’re on the right end of it.
“It’ll be a tight, keenly contested affair and probably one with not an awful lot of goals.”
Nairn beat Huntly 2-1 at the weekend but lost 3-2 at Keith on Tuesday night, so they remain 12th in the table.
As it is the last home game of the season, the supporters’ player of the year award will be presented after the final whistle. Votes were taken at the Lossiemouth match a fortnight ago.
Kyle Henderson scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win that day and he brought his goal tally for the season to 16 with his late strike at Kynoch Park last Saturday.
It was Academy’s fourth clean sheet of the season. Their last five outings have brought wins against Forres Mechanics, Turriff United, Lossiemouth and Keith and an away draw with Formartine United.
Highland League results from midweek: Huntly 0, Brora Rangers 5; Keith 3, Nairn County 2; Strathspey Thistle 1, Brechin City 4.
Fixtures – Friday, March 28: Deveronvale v Keith. Saturday, March 29: Brora Rangers v Banks O’ Dee; Formartine United v Brechin City; Forres Mechanics v Clachnacuddin; Fraserburgh v Strathspey Thistle; Huntly v Inverurie Locos; Lossiemouth v Buckie Thistle; Turriff United v Rothes; Wick Academy v Nairn County (3pm).
Brora Rangers continue to have the edge in the Highland League title race after easing to a 5-0 victory at Huntly in midweek.
The leaders were four up by half-time on Wednesday night after goals by Connor Bunce and Wallace Duffy followed by a Tony Dingwall double. Matthew Wright added the fifth with 10 minutes to go.
Brechin City overcame an early setback away to Strathspey Thistle before running out 4-1 winners.
The second-bottom Jags took the lead through a Liam Shewan penalty but Brechin hit back with two goals apiece from Cillian Sheridan and Mitch Taylor.
City remain level on points with Brora, but the Cattachs have a much better goal difference and that could prove decisive with the top two both having three fixtures left.
Aberdeen teenager Cammy Wilson scored his first senior hat-trick as Keith survived a comeback from 10-man Nairn County on Tuesday.
The 18-year-old, on loan at Kynoch Park from the Dons until the end of the season, netted twice in the opening three minutes.
Nairn had Wayne Mackintosh sent off early in the second period for a second bookable offence but they managed to pull level with a Ben Barron double.
The Maroons were awarded a penalty nine minutes from time and Wilson stepped up to complete his treble.