Formartine hand out a harsh lesson to halt Wick's momentum
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Wick Academy manager Gary Manson admitted that Saturday's 4-1 defeat to Formartine United was a harsh lesson for his team.
The Scorries had been looking to keep up the momentum after taking full points against Huntly and Forres in their previous two Highland League outings.
But Formartine ran out comfortable winners at Harmsworth Park to edge closer to the top six, with Academy's best spell coming after Gordon MacNab had reduced the deficit to 2-1.
There was a bad-tempered finale as players from both sides became involved in a kerfuffle in the middle of the park, and visiting manager Paul Lawson was red-carded for his intervention.
“I don't think 4-1 reflects that game,” Manson said. “It was a scrappy game, it's as simple as that, and they took their chances when they arrived and ended up scoring four goals.
“On reflection it wasn't a 4-1 game whatsoever, but those are the harsh lessons you have to learn when you're playing against good players that will take chances when they are served up.
“It was a cold, windy day on a pitch that's getting quite bobbly. It's not ideal for playing football.”
After Alan Hughes was injured in the warm-up there was a first start for Liam Bain, one of five teenagers who featured for Academy.
“That's the road we're going down," Manson said. "They're good enough, so why not play them? They just need to learn from it.
“Last week [at home to Forres Mechanics] we were comfortable 2-0 winners, but you're not going to do that every week – you're coming up against a better team this week so you just need to learn, and hopefully they will.
“Liam Bain got his first start and acquitted himself really well in a tough game, so he'll learn from that and he'll go from strength to strength now.”
Academy threatened when Ross Allan delivered a defence-splitting pass through to his brother Davie but the ball was forced out for a corner.
The Pitmedden side took the lead on 33 minutes when Academy's Joe Anderson was slightly short with a pass and Kevin Hanratty took full advantage, sending a composed finish into the net from a tight angle from wide on the Formartine left.
Academy continued to get glimpses of goal and they created another decent opening when Davie Allan made progress up the right and cut the ball back to Gordon MacNab, whose shot drifted just beyond the junction of post and bar.
Formartine doubled their lead five minutes into the second half when a corner by Hanratty was slammed in from close range by Ryan Spink.
Wick reduced the deficit two minutes later when Jack Halliday took a corner from the right and MacNab sent a powerful downward header beyond the diving Ewen MacDonald.
At the other end, Graeme Williamson kept his team in contention with a couple of good saves. But he was beaten for a third time after 63 minutes when Scott Lisle attacked up the left and played the ball across to Tyler Mykyta, who had time to control it before placing a low shot into the net.
Williamson then produced a spectacular fingertip save as Mykyta tried his luck from the edge of the penalty area.
Lisle completed the scoring after 81 minutes when he got on the end of a long through ball and rounded Williamson before slotting it in.
Formartine United manager Paul Lawson acknowledged he made a mistake by running onto the field to intervene in the stoppage-time stramash at Harmsworth Park on Saturday.
With the visitors 4-1 up and the final whistle just seconds away, players from both teams became caught up in heated exchanges in the centre circle.
Lawson's attempts to resolve the situation earned him a red card from referee Gordon Seago. Formartine's Daniel Park and Wick's Ross Allan were booked for their respective parts in the incident.
“I entered the field of play and I shouldn't have,” Lawson admitted. “I just feel as though you need to defend your players and that's what I went on there to do.
“I need to take that on the chin – it's my own mistake. But you get caught up in the emotions of the game, and when something like that happens my first instinct is to defend my players.”
His Wick counterpart Gary Manson said: “I don't really know how it came about or what really happened.”
Lawson was satisfied with the result itself.
“It's never easy coming here,” he said. “It's always a difficult game. There's a lot of factors – the travelling, the conditions weren't great, it was a bit blowy – so ultimately you come here for the three points and we got that so we've got to be pleased.
“Some of the stuff we played at times I thought was good and we were happy with the goals.”
Wick Academy: Williamson, S Campbell, R Allan, Mackay, J Anderson (Munro 66), R Campbell, Bain (M Macadie 74), Halliday, MacNab (C Farquhar 85), S Anderson, D Allan. Subs not used: Manson, Mathieson, More.
Formartine United: MacDonald, Crawford, Smith (Park 66), S Anderson, Spink, Norris, Rodger, Lawrence (Greig 73), Lisle (C Anderson 81), Mykyta, Hanratty. Subs not used: Lynch, Paterson, Wilson, Dumus.
Referee: Gordon Seago.
In Saturday's only other Highland League fixture, Brora Rangers moved up to second place after a 4-0 home win against Huntly. All three Highland League Cup quarter-finals scheduled for Saturday were postponed.
