Macgregor praised for making an impact
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WICK Academy co-assistant manager Ross Suttar praised the squad for their hard-earned 2-1 victory at home to Fraserburgh on Saturday.
Goals from Jack Henry and Marc Macgregor secured the points to move the Scorries up to seventh in the Highland League.
Academy had the rare luxury of having plenty of numbers to choose from – although seeing the likes of Macgregor, Richard Macadie and Craig Gunn on the bench did raise a few eyebrows.
However, part of football is to utilise your squad and it paid dividends for Wick as a strong bench, especially with Macgregor's late contribution, proved to be pivotal in the end.
Suttar said: "It was a good squad performance, let alone a team one. I'm sure a few eyes were opened when you saw who was on the bench. There were some big names sitting on it.
"A lot of young players got their chance and they delivered. It is important to have a big squad at this stage of the season when the pitches are getting heavier and the boys are getting tired and having injuries.
"It was hard to leave Marc on the bench. He's been fantastic this season and has done nothing wrong. He has come on and won us the game with a great finish.
"Marc is difficult to defend against at the start of a game, let alone when there's 20 minutes left and you're an opposing defender who is getting tired and then having to deal with a fresh Marc coming on. He's still young and he's still learning. To come off the bench and win the game for your team is an incredible feeling.
"Having to make decisions on who to start with and who to have on the bench is a lovely problem for the coaches to have when most of the boys are available and playing well."
Academy's first came after they finally unlocked Fraserburgh's offside trap that had been catching them out from the start.
Suttar added: "When you've got someone with the pace of Davie Allan, you are taking a big risk playing an offside trap so high up the pitch. They actually managed it quite well except for the one occasion where we sprang it.
"With the opening goal, Jack Henry has been doing this all season – running from deep as the third man, as he did here to produce a very good finish.
"We were the stronger team in the first half – we created more opportunities and our link play was brilliant. In the second half, they maybe dominated but our back four worked so hard and the organisation was fantastic. Apart from collecting a few cross balls, our keeper [Sean McCarthy] had very little to do."
* Read the match report in this week's Caithness Courier.
