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Scorries aim for a dream finish


By Will Clark

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Academy keen to end their campaign on a high.
Academy keen to end their campaign on a high.

IT started with a shock home defeat against Halkirk United in the North of Scotland Cup last July.

It could end with qualification to the Scottish Challenge Cup and a dream tie against SFL opposition this July.

Wick Academy finish their Highland League campaign against Rothes at Harmsworth Park tomorrow knowing that seventh place and finishing above Keith could be hugely lucrative to the club.

But Keith’s shock 6-0 victory over Forres Mechanics on Wednesday means the Scorries face an uphill task in their ambitions to qualify.

Despite Wick scoring eight goals without reply against Lossiemouth and Huntly, Keith restored their superior goal difference to seven goals.

Academy will either have to beat Rothes by nine goals, or more likely, hope that Keith fail to beat Deveronvale at Kynoch Park tomorrow. Manager David Kirkwood has said that he will set his team up as required to get the job done and secure a seventh place finish.

"Keith’s result during midweek has dictated what kind of team I am putting out on Saturday," he said.

"If we need to score by a certain number of goals then we will be on all-out attack against Rothes.

"Deveronvale will give Keith a good game on Saturday as manager Charlie Duncan is a born winner and he won’t allow his team just to roll over."

Michael Steven is set to make his comeback from suspension and Martin Gunn will be hoping to make his final game for the club a memorable one after 18 years’ service.

The 5-0 victory over Huntly extended Academy’s unbeaten home run to 11 league matches, smashing the club’s previous record of six home games without defeat last achieved in 2009/10. After a promising start when Rothes threw out the form book to be in the top five, their season has gone into free fall as they tumbled down the league to 15th, albeit still an improvement of one place from their last campaign.

Manager Graham MacBeath said that his side will have plenty of motivation for the trip to the Far North after beating Academy 2-1 at Mackessack Park in August, and they are looking to do the double over their hosts.

"In a season that started so promisingly for us, we have fallen down the table due to player injuries and the lack of cover," he said.

"Despite beating teams such as Wick, Inverurie and Turriff this season, we have had disappointing results against the teams around us, losing to Brora Rangers and Fort William as well as only being able to take a point off Strathspey Thistle.

"I’ve always gone for quality rather than quantity as a manager, but I’ll have to look at adding depth to the squad as the injury list has taken its toll on the team. Wick were one of the best teams to visit us this season and all that was missing from their performance was a few more goals.

"But knowing that we beat them before, we will go up full of confidence that we can beat them again."


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