Patience the key as Scorries face Lossie
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IT has been almost four months since Wick Academy manager Davie Kirkwood lost against Lossiemouth in what was only his second game in charge.
Tomorrow at 3pm the two teams will meet again, but this time the Scorries are on a run and have home advantage.
Since the first clash Kirkwood claims he has developed his squad. However, so has the opposition.
“We’re on a decent run with three wins out of four and hopefully, if the fans come out, it will be four out of five,” said Kirkwood.
“We played Lossie at the start of the season and I thought it was a bit one-sided, yet they still won.
“But they’ve definitely improved since then so it’s not going to be an easy game.”
The mood in the Academy camp was buoyant earlier in the week after defeating Clachnacuddin 2-1 at Grant Street Park, Inverness, last Saturday.
Kirkwood said that this was a turning point for the players as they prepare to enter the winter and start coming up against teams that they did not do so well against earlier in the season.
“We’re just glad the Clach game is out of the way because, as I’ve said before, that’s the sort of games we were losing at the start of the season,” he said.
“It’s going to be a big month for us so we had a pep talk on Monday just to make sure we’re ready.”
He added: “One thing we are still lacking is patience.
“When the boys get into the attacking half they only know one thing and that is to go towards goals.
“But the game lasts 90 minutes, so patience is what we are trying to preach.”
Not quite able to practice that yet will be Grant Steven, James More and Martin Gunn who look likely to miss the fixture due to injuries.
Nevertheless, Kirkwood hopes the lesson sticks with the players that do take to Harmsworth Park tomorrow.
“We have to prepare for the conditions, I don’t think the weather is going to be too calm this weekend and we know the way that Lossie are going to play,” he said.
“We are going to be patient, not too ambitious and play for the full 90 minutes.”
Meanwhile it’s numbers not confidence that is on Lossiemouth manager Charlie Charlesworth’s mind.
“We’ve actually got eight players missing for Saturday,” said the Coasters boss. “From a squad of 21 you can do the maths for yourself.”
Included in the missing or injured list this weekend are some of Charlesworth’s key starting players, including Colin Charlesworth, Martin McMullan, Bryan Bell and Gary Macdonald.
The Lossie manager said it was just a case of regrouping and hoping he could fill enough seats on the bus for the journey north.
“I just need to take stock of who is fit and change my game plan,” he said. “We always change our game plan a bit when we face Wick anyway, just due to the way they play.
“I’ve got a couple of youngsters out on loan and I can pull them in if need be.”
The manager said he imagined Kirkwood would be excited at the chance to beat the team that scored a 1-0 victory over the Scorries earlier this season.
“When we played them the last time it was the second game of the season and I was away on my holidays,” said Charlesworth. “Listening to Davie’s comments afterwards he couldn’t believe how he had lost the game, so he’ll be gunning for us this time.
“This will be a stern test for us.”
