Five-goal flourish for duo’s farewell game
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ROTHES 0 - 5 WICK ACADEMY
Scorers: Cunningham (9, 20) Mackay (43) Macadie (49) Weir (55).
Wick Academy's Colin Sinclair gets the better of Sean McIntosh, of Rothes, at the game at Mackessack Park.
ACADEMY co-managers Richard Hughes and Ian Munro got a five-star send-off in Speyside as they stepped down from the helm at the weekend.
Despite an indifferent season for the Scorries, the players made sure they said goodbye to the duo in style with a five-goal rout against Rothes.
The thrashing marked Wick’s third win in a row to make sure the season finished on a high.
However, 14th position is unacceptable for a side which believes it can compete with the best in the league.
Saturday’s goal-fest at MacKessack Park was a message to the rest of the clubs to write them off at their peril next season.
Whatever the scoreline, the day was always going to be about two men who have led the club to its most successful period in its short senior football history.
Munro said that the players put in a performance that he and Hughes always knew they were capable of.
“It said something about the game when their goalkeeper was outstanding,” he said. “We took the game by the scruff of the neck from start to finish and we could have doubled our tally by the final whistle.
“It was a complete team performance, even our goalkeeper and defence had a huge role to play in the outcome.
“14th is a false position and we are confident that the team will prove that next season.”
He added: “We have played, coached and now managed here. I don’t what the future will hold for us or if we will still be involved in some sort of capacity. However, we will always be devoted fans.”
“Wick Academy is in our blood and it has been a huge honour to be in charge of this great club.”
The Scorries set another club record by recording three clean sheets in a row for the first time since joining the league in 1994.
Rothes proved to be tough opposition at Harmsworth Park last week. The determined visitors managed to stop Academy’s slick passing game, forcing them to grind out a single-goal win. However, the Speysiders looked a shadow of that side as Academy went ballistic.
The Scorries have set a precedent this season for playing dominant football in the first half and they did not rest on their laurels for the last game of the ?season.
Stevie Cunningham opened his account for the day after just nine minutes. Latching on to a clever through-ball from Bryan McKiddie, he launched a low shot which was too strong for Ricky Horne to stop.
Cunningham was at it again 11 minutes later. This time it was supporter’s player-of-the-year Richard Macadie who sent him on his way with a neat pass which he thundered into the net from 18 yards.
Rothes’s day went from bad to worse just before the interval.
Sam Mackay launched a counterattack upfield playing a neat one-two with Macadie before rifling the ball home past Horne.
Academy have been guilty of letting their first-half efforts go to waste after the interval this season.
On this occasion, they picked up from where they left off. On 49 minutes, Stephen Fraser’s attempted passback from 25 yards wasn’t helped by the wind which held it up just enough to allow the ever-alert Macadie to nip in and flick the ball over Horne.
Macadie’s goal brought his tally for the season to 28 in all competitions, putting him fourth overall in the HFL scoring charts for 2010
The rout was completed six minutes later when Sam Mackay played a low ball into the danger area to find Gary Weir who strolled past two defenders and keeper to stroke it over the line.
Rothes: Horne, Grant (Gordon 82), Bowie, MacRae (Sutherland 74), Fraser, Dunn, Jack, Gallacher, Duncan, MacIntosh (Forsyth 74), Massie.
Wick Academy: Bokas, C. Sinclair (G. Shearer 69), Manson, Farquhar, Cunningham, C. Shearer, McKiddie (Dunnett 60), S. Mackay, Allan, Macadie, Weir (Taylor 80). Subs not used: Davies, M. Mackay.
Referee: Graham Fraser.
