It’s about introducing the young boys now, says Wick Academy captain
Wick Academy captain Richard Macadie believes there are promising signs for the club with the emergence of so many young players this season.
Eight teenagers have been given game time in the past few weeks, and Macadie – who is roughly twice their age – says they have earned their opportunity.
The 37-year-old midfielder made his 650th appearance for his home-town team in last Saturday’s Highland League defeat to Brora Rangers at Harmsworth Park, although his contribution was cut short as he went off injured after 20 minutes.
Macadie suffered a dead leg after coming into contact with a Brora knee and he was struggling to walk after being substituted.
Academy ended a run of eight losses in all competitions with their 4-0 victory over Rothes last month but have now suffered back-to-back 3-0 defeats, to Turriff and Brora.
They remain third from bottom ahead of this weekend’s tough-looking trip to eighth-placed Fraserburgh.
Macadie, who will be 38 by the end of the season, has considered making this his final Highland League campaign. However, he has yet to come to a firm decision on that.
“I’m playing just now and enjoying it,” he said.
Macadie is the club’s record scorer, having found the net 204 times since making his debut in 2003. But he accepts that a lack of goals has been a problem for the team this term.
“It’s just a case of being unlucky again,” he said after the Brora game. “Even though we didn’t score, we had the chances and that has been the story of our season.
“We just need to start scoring more goals.
“You could see the difference when we scored against Rothes. We started passing the ball about and we were well in control once we had a two-goal cushion.
“We weren’t putting pressure on ourselves and chasing the game. We just need that finishing touch.”
Euan Kennedy, on loan from Ross County, and Orkney-based George Ewing were in the starting line-up on Saturday and they caused plenty of problems for the Brora defence. Fellow teenagers Matthew Robertson, Matthew Aitkenhead, Owen Bain, Arran Bain, Louis Hancock and Jayden Bremner have also featured in recent games.
Macadie said: “It’s about introducing the young boys now. It’s promising. George has pretty much nailed down his position, and Euan will too.
“There will always be injuries, and unavailability at the end of the season, so there will be chances for the young boys to get experience. That’s what is needed now.
“It’s hard to attract players when you’re up here. You’ve no money to throw at it.
“You’re only going to be as good as what’s around at the time. It just depends on what comes through.
“There’s a good group at that age and it’s just going to take time to bed them in. Hopefully they stick it out.”
Macadie has battled back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2021 to re-establish himself as a key player and take on the role of skipper.
This weekend Academy would happily settle for a repeat of the result from the opening day of the season, when they ran out 2-0 winners over Fraserburgh at Harmsworth Park.
Manager Gary Manson said: “Fraserburgh away is always one of the toughest fixtures, year in, year out. It doesn’t matter where they are in the league, you always get a tough game down there.
“We’ll need to patch up the boys and see what kind of squad we can put together because we’ll probably be missing eight players, maybe more.”
Highland League fixtures – Friday, February 14: Inverurie Locos v Deveronvale. Saturday, February 15: Brechin City v Buckie Thistle; Clachnacuddin v Huntly; Formartine United v Strathspey Thistle; Forres Mechanics v Banks O’ Dee; Fraserburgh v Wick Academy; Keith v Rothes; Turriff United v Brora Rangers.
Wednesday, February 19: Banks O’ Dee v Formartine United; Brechin City v Keith; Brora Rangers v Strathspey Thistle; Deveronvale v Fraserburgh; Rothes v Forres Mechanics; Wick Academy v Clachnacuddin (8pm).
Highland League bottom four: 15 Lossiemouth (played 24, points 16, goal difference -33); 16 Wick Academy (24, 16, goal difference -39); 17 Rothes (22, 10, goal difference -63); 18 Strathspey Thistle (19, 9, goal difference -45).