Gunn shoots down home pitch despite starting with victory
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WICK THISTLE boss Peter Gunn was delighted at his side’s comprehensive thumping of Watten in their Cafa Division Two opener but was not impressed with the state of the pitch.
Andrew Falconer’s hat-trick along with goals from Greg Gunn, Ross McLeod and Ricky Cormack sent them on their way to a 6-2 victory over their visitors, whose consolation strikes came via Daryl O’Sullivan and Owen Cormack.
However, while Gunn’s men were winners on the pitch, the Upper Bignold venue’s surface appeared to put in a display as bad as Watten’s defence.
Gunn said: “The pitch was in a poor state. It was very bumpy for teams and didn’t help either of us try and play how we would like.
“It wasn’t ideal, especially at this stage of the season. It appears to have been half-heartedly repaired – a bit like the potholes on the roads.
“However, we had a very good win. Andrew got himself a hat-trick – the icing on the cake to him becoming a father to a baby girl recently.
“We’ve got a new team with a lot of youngsters. We’re aiming to develop the young boys and it was good to see those who played out there do well. To be honest, 6-2 sounds like a convincing win but I felt we could have scored more.
“We got relegated last year so obviously our aim is to go straight back up. We’ve been a bit of a yo-yo club of late so our long-term plan is to get up and stay there. But first things first.”
Thistle take on Watten again – bumpy pitch and all – in the Colin Macleod Memorial Cup this evening and Gunn is hopeful of a repeat performance.
He added: “I suppose there is the worry that having beaten them so convincingly we’ll drop our guard and, with them keen to reverse that defeat, we might lose out.
“However, we have some players who didn’t play the other night coming back into the squad and I’m confident that if we play to our potential then we can progress.”
Elsewhere, Thurso Acks got their campaign in Division One off to a flying start as they bagged a 2-1 win at Lybster.
Luke Manson and Conor Trueman were on target for Acks with Lybster’s effort coming from Billy Cairns.
In the first round of the Colin Macleod Memorial Cup, Staxigoe United edged out FC Retro 4-3. United’s goals came via Kyle Henderson (2), Marc Coghill and Darren Sheppard. Jamie Howden (2) and Jack Steven netted for Retro.
