Preparations going well, says Wick Academy manager Gary Manson after victory in Orkney
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
It was plain sailing for Wick Academy on Saturday as they continued their preparations for the new Highland League campaign with a 4-0 win in Orkney.
Steven Anderson struck twice for the Scorries at Kirkwall's Pickaquoy Centre and the striker was denied a hat-trick by a penalty save. Ryan Campbell had netted the opener and Davie Allan rounded off the scoring before accepting the Ken Green Challenge Cup, which is contested annually between Academy and an Orkney AFA select.
Manager Gary Manson was happy with the all-round performance and took the opportunity to give some game time to a few of the club's up-and-coming youngsters.
“All the boys played really well – they scored four goals and kept a clean sheet,” Manson said.
“It was a competitive game but we ran out quite comfortable winners. It was a good run-out and Orkney didn't really put us under too much pressure.
“Everything that we asked of them at the start, they delivered – so it was a very pleasing afternoon.”
The trip to Kirkwall followed on from Academy's first pre-season game, a 3-2 victory in Thurso. They have one more friendly lined up – away to Inverness Caledonian Thistle under-20s next Wednesday – before the 2021/22 Highland League season kicks off on Saturday, July 24, with a trip to take on Forres Mechanics.
“We've had a slight lack of friendlies but we made up for that by having two bounce games just between our squad – we split the squad up into two different elevens and we had two of those," Manson explained.
“Preparations are going well. All the boys are working hard and we're trying to get our ideas across to them in training. A lot of those things came out on Saturday against Orkney so it was pleasing to see.”
Four members of Wick's under-18 squad – Joe Anderson, Liam Bain, Conor Farquhar and goalkeeper Lewis Cowan – have been training with the first-team squad throughout pre-season. Farquhar didn't travel at the weekend but Anderson, Bain and Cowan all featured.
"They've been doing exceptionally well," Manson said.
"Joe started on Saturday and looked extremely comfortable. Liam came on with 20 or 25 minutes to go and again looked very comfortable and didn't look out of place whatsoever.
“Lewis came on as well and they all did themselves proud.”
Meanwhile, Manson hopes the club's record goalscorer Richard Macadie will make a quick recovery from a knee injury he sustained during Saturday's match.
The 34-year-old attacking midfielder went off in the first half at the Pickaquoy Centre.
“He came straight off," Manson said. "First impressions were that it was a bad one, but we won't know the full extent of it until we get him checked out.
“Hopefully it's not as bad as was first feared. We'll just have to wait and see.”
Macadie has scored 201 goals for Academy since making his debut in 2003.
“Richard has come back this pre-season in particularly good shape," Manson said. "He has done a lot of work on his own during the off-season and he has come back looking really sharp and fit and eager.
“It's a shame he got injured on Saturday but hopefully he's not out too long.”
The manager added: “Due to other circumstances we were probably five or six players short on Saturday and we actually got two injuries in the first half – Brandon Sinclair went off injured as well.
“We couldn't make wholesale changes at half-time but everyone that went over got at least 20 minutes under their belts.”
