Scorries shine after confusing kit clash
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Wick Academy 3
Ross County 1
A CLASH of colours threatened to cast a dark shadow over this match but it was Wick who shone brightly with a superb second-half display.
When the teams ran out for kick-off, spectators could have been forgiven for wondering which team was which as it appeared a basic refereeing howler had occurred.
Yet whistler Gordon Seago saw nothing confusing about Wick’s black and white tops and Ross County’s dark blue and white shirts.
Sure enough, fans soon couldn’t tell the difference and passes were going astray. It all culminated with a goalmouth scramble that saw players tackling their own team-mates when common sense finally prevailed.
At Academy’s suggestion, referee Seago allowed for a kit change with the home side swapping their traditional colours for their yellow shirts.
Once that farce had ended, we finally had ourselves a game. Ross County’s young stars were knocking the ball about particularly well, with promising young midfielder James Wallace causing the Scorries no end of bother.
It was no surprise when County took the lead in 19 minutes – although this was a moment that Wick keeper Sean McCarthy will want to forget.
A defensive mix-up allowed Joel MacBeath to run along the byline and, with no-one running into the box for a cutback, the County man had no option but to try his luck from a seemingly impossible angle.
His effort was scuffed to say the least. However, McCarthy allowed a routine carry to slip past his fingers and through his legs for a freak goal.
That seemed to wake Academy up. Craig Gunn came close when his long-ranger was brilliantly tipped over by County keeper Joe Williams.
Sam Mackay was next to try his luck from distance only to see Williams palm his free kick past the post.
However, the resulting corner saw the ball headed back into the box and Davie Allan turned his marker the wrong way to smash a shot into the roof of the net.
The second half saw the Scorries take control. Even though this was their first pre-season game, the fitness work done beforehand appeared to have paid off given the amount of running and closing down being done.
County’s youngsters tried hard to keep up but wilted under pressure. The only surprise was that it took Wick until the 75th minute to grab a second. Davie Allan burst into the box and his pull-back was superbly driven home by Gunn.
County tried to retrieve matters but Thomas Brady’s shot was cleared off the line by Michael Steven.
Eight minutes from the end, the game was wrapped up. Gary Manson’s in-swinging free kick from the right was missed by all and floated into the back of the net – despite Davie Allan’s claim that the ball clipped a strand of one of his hairs.
Academy co-assistant manager Ross Suttar said: “They were out of the blocks quicker but we expected that and we just had to make sure our shape was good and weather the storm.
“Once we did that, we managed to get our foot on the ball and force them back into their own half. We looked dang-erous and it was good to see.”
Wick Academy: McCarthy (Clark 79), Hardwick (M Steven 65), Manson, Farquhar (G Mackay 79), D Mackay, R Allan (Halliday 45), Gunn (Aitkenhead 79), S Mackay, MacGregor (Macadie 69), Macadie (Hughes 58),
D Allan. Subs not used: Henry, G Steven.
Ross County XI: Williams, Kelly, McCourt (Reid 46), Johnstone, Murray, Grant (Wright 58), MacBeath (Brady 65), Hughes, Watt (Fraser 58), Wallace (Goodhall 78), MacIver (Noel 38). Subs not used: Stephen, MacDonald.
