Groats target top trophy
DESCRIBED as the best team never to have won the Highland Amateur Cup, county league side Wick Groats will be hoping to put that statistic to rest tomorrow.
The amateur side will be taking on defending champions Avoch at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in Inverness, hoping to lift the cup for the first time in the tournament’s 34-year history. It will be the first time Wick Groats have reached the final in 25 years after losing 1-0 to arch rivals Pentland United in 1987.
They also reached the final in 1983 when they were beaten by west Caithness opposition in the form of Thurso Pentland.
The club has been unbeaten in the tournament in normal time for the last five years, having only gone out during extra time or penalties.
Manager George Groat (50) said the cup has not brought the side any joy over the years, but revealed a win will make previous defeats a thing of the past.
"This is without a shadow of a doubt the biggest game in the club’s history," he said. "Some people may say that winning the county league is more important but, for me personally, winning the Highland Amateur Cup would top that as it is the only trophy left that we haven’t won.
"Having played for the club for five years in the ’80s, I reached the semi-final but never the final so to win it would mean so much to everyone.
"We will go into the match as underdogs but if we reach the level that we are capable of, we can take the trophy home." Twins Graham and Grant MacNab have been highlighted as the key players by the manager if Wick Groats are to win the cup, as the strike force has been in devastating form in front of goal all season. The match kicks off at 12.30pm.