It should have been six or seven, says Manson as Wick Academy extend winning run
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Gary Manson admitted two late goals by Deveronvale took some of the shine off what should have been a “statement win” for Wick Academy.
The Scorries led 3-0 and 4-1 at Princess Royal Park on Saturday before the home side rallied in the last few minutes. It was Academy's sixth victory in a row in the Highland League, and they have now collected 24 points from a possible 27 in their last nine games, but the Wick manager felt they should have won much more convincingly.
“When we came in at full-time it was tinged with a little bit of disappointment – it just took the gloss off of what should have been a real statement win, I thought,” he said.
Steven Anderson struck twice for Academy, with the others coming from Davie Allan and an own goal.
“The whole game, up until about the 85th minute, we were flooding forward and we were getting in behind and getting good opportunities to score,” Manson said. “We scored four goals, which was pleasing, but it could have and should have been six or seven.
“We played really good flowing football. It was a joy to play in and a joy to watch, I would imagine.
“I would say it's as good as we've played, in possession, this season. We should have had more goals and been a lot more comfortable in the game.
“In the last five minutes we maybe dropped back a little bit and just took our foot off the gas. They got their second and it was only a couple of minutes after that they got their third one.
“Anything can happen then, but if we hadn't taken the three points out of that game it would have been a massive injustice. Fair play to the boys, we saw it out.
“We put so much into the game – dominating the ball, dominating the territory, dominating the chances. Once a goal goes in, if you concede another one straight away then boys do kind of panic and sit back a little bit more than they should and invite balls into the box.
“Overall I've got to be pleased – another three points on the board, another four goals scored and an away win, which is always good, so it keeps the momentum going.
“I said to the boys before the game, we've been really good for about 45 minutes against Keith and against Turriff – can we string a full 90 minutes together and be really good for the full 90?
“To be fair to them, we were very good for about 85 minutes and then just dropped off and let them get a couple of goals back. It was a little bit of panic stations at the end.
“It wasn't like a ding-dong affair, it wasn't the end-to-end stuff that you might associate with a 4-3 if you've not watched the game.
“In the first half we were camped in their half and just creating opportunity after opportunity. In the first 10 minutes of the second half we had three glorious opportunities and only took one of them.
“For large parts of the game it was very one-sided. It's just a shame because people will see the result and think, 'Wick won by one goal, they've maybe just sneaked it again,' but it wasn't like that at all. It was quite a dominant display for about 85 minutes.”
Mark Munro's contribution to the 4-3 win against Deveronvale came in for particular praise from Wick Academy manager Gary Manson.
The teenager, on loan from Ross County, came off the bench with 25 minutes gone after Joe Anderson suffered a knee injury.
Munro was instrumental in creating Academy's second goal, as he raced up the left and delivered a low cross that was knocked into the net by backtracking defender Kyle Willox.
“Mark came on for Joe and he played exceptionally well,” Manson said. “It was as good a game as he's had for us.”
Manson hopes Anderson will make a quick recovery.
“Joe landed awkwardly on his knee,” the manager said. “Hopefully he's not too bad. It was sore at the time but on the bus journey home it was getting a bit better.”
Steven Anderson marked his return to the side with two well-taken goals. The opener, after 11 minutes, was a header following a knock-on from a corner.
After the own goal just before half-time, Anderson added his second of the afternoon on 53 minutes when he got on the end of a long ball from Jack Halliday and calmly slotted it past keeper Sean McIntosh.
Deveronvale trialist Kyle MacKillop-Hall reduced the deficit midway through the second half, but Davie Allan restored Wick's three-goal advantage after 75 minutes with a shot that went in off a post following good work on the right by Mark Macadie.
Innes McKay headed home Vale's second goal on 88 minutes and Dane Ballard added another in stoppage time.
It was a landmark occasion for Alan Hughes, who played his 150th match for Academy. Gordon MacNab had played his 100th game against Keith the previous weekend.
Academy have lost only two away games in the league so far this season. Both of those were in August against teams they have subsequently beaten at home – Lossiemouth and Keith.
Buckie Thistle manager Graeme Stewart reckoned his team produced their best performance of the season as they thumped Formartine United 4-0 at Victoria Park on Saturday.
Andy MacAskill struck twice for the Jags, with the others coming from Sam Urquhart (penalty) and Marcus Goodall.
It was only the second league outing since November 27 for Buckie.
Stewart said: “Formartine beat Brechin and drew with Brora recently, two teams who will be challenging for the league. So for us to beat them 4-0 was absolutely outstanding.
“After having three weeks of Covid problems and virtually no training, it was probably the proudest I’ve been as a Buckie manager."
Garry Wood hit a hat-trick in Brechin City's 4-0 victory over a hard-working Fort William side at Glebe Park. It was Fort's first competitive outing under their new manager Shadab Iftikhar.
League leaders Fraserburgh were 2-0 winners away to Inverurie Locos, with Aiden Combe and Scott Barbour getting the goals.
Rothes – Wick Academy's next opponents – had a comfortable 3-0 win against Huntly at Mackessack Park with goals from Gary Kerr (2) and Alan Pollock. It was the Speysiders' first game in almost a month.
Brora Rangers won by the same score against Nairn County, courtesy of Andy Macrae's hat-trick inside the first 31 minutes at Station Park.
Keith's James Brownie and Scott Gray struck twice each as the Maroons cruised to a 5-1 home win against Strathspey Thistle.
James Anderson hit a double for Clachnacuddin as they won 3-0 at Turriff, while Lossiemouth and Forres Mechanics drew 0-0.
Highland League fixtures for Saturday: Brora Rangers v Brechin City; Clachnacuddin v Keith; Formartine United v Inverurie Locos; Forres Mechanics v Nairn County; Fort William v Buckie Thistle; Huntly v Fraserburgh; Lossiemouth v Turriff United; Strathspey Thistle v Deveronvale; Wick Academy v Rothes.
