Staxigoe ‘going in right direction’ with five-star display against Wick Groats
A five-star display against champions Wick Groats showed that Staxigoe United are “starting to click”, having extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to seven games.
Assistant manager Colin Davidson hailed Tuesday night’s 5-0 league victory at the Upper Bignold Park as “a big result” as Staxigoe kept a clean sheet for the fourth time in a row.
“From the word go it just seemed to work for us,” he said. “We pressed them, we got in their faces and didn’t let them play. Some of the goals were out of this world.”
There was no way back for Wick Groats after Staxigoe established a 4-0 lead by half-time.
Martin Banks hit a hat-trick, firing in two long-range strikes in the first half before bundling home Staxigoe’s fifth in the second period after being set up by Grant Aitkenhead.

The others came from Grant MacNab, with a free kick that eluded everyone and landed in the net, and a John Budge own goal.
“The defensive side of things hasn’t been the issue this year,” Davidson said. “Scoring was the problem, but now we’ve boosted it by another five.
“It was a big result. The way we’d been playing and missing chances, we were due to click and beat a team by a few goals. We weren’t really expecting it to be tonight, but it was on the verge of coming at some point.
“It’s starting to click and turn around for us now. There are points to be dropped all around that league. The four teams up there [Pentland United, High Ormlie Hotspur, Wick Groats and Staxigoe] have all got to play each other, so there are points to be dropped and points to be gained.
“We seem to pull off a result once a season against Wick Groats. We usually manage to beat them at least once – they’ll agree with that. But never to the extent of this.
“They had a 10-minute spell maybe at the start of the second half when they were on top. We expected them to come out flying.
“They did hit the bar with a free kick, but once we got the fifth goal that really killed it.”
Davidson added: “That’s seven games undefeated and four clean sheets in a row, so we are going in the right direction.
“A lot has been made of the attacking talent we have taken in but the defence has been excellent recently, especially young Arran Bain who we keep forgetting is only 16. Our goalie Leo Shearer deserved a shout out too.
“The mid-season break may have come at the wrong time for us, but we are carrying a lot of injuries so it’ll be good to get some players rested and back fit.”
Wick Groats manager Kevin Anderson said: “It was an extremely disappointing result, a bit of a freak game.
“Did we do enough to get anything from it? Absolutely not. Is 5-0 a fair reflection of the game? Not for me. We’ve been undone by three screamers, all from 25 yards or more, and a poor own goal.
“That’s football, though. Credit to Staxigoe, they’re a very good team when they’re at it, and they thoroughly deserved their victory.
“That’s the third time we’ve played them this season and every game has been tough.
“We just need to dust ourselves down, make the most of the two-week break to hopefully get three or four boys back from injury, and be ready to go again.
“We’ll have some big league and Highland Amateur Cup games straight after the break.”
Pentland United and High Ormlie Hotspur now share top spot in Caithness AFA Division One after they racked up convincing victories over Castletown and John O’Groats respectively.
In-form striker James Murray again led the way for the Stabbies with a hat-trick in their 7-0 win at Ham Park on Tuesday night. There were doubles for Cameron Montgomery and Sean Munro.
High Ormlie Hotspur made it six wins in a row in all competitions as they swept aside John O’Groats 5-0 at Ormlie. William Cannop, Liam Bain, Kieran MacGregor, Ethan Kevill and Mark Munro got the goals.
Pentland United and High Ormlie are joint top on 20 points, with the Dunnet side having a game in hand. This season, clubs voted to use head-to-head results to determine league placings when teams are level on points and United have the advantage on that basis.
Wick Groats drop to third place on 19 points after their defeat to Staxigoe United, who are fourth on the 15-point mark.
Results – CAFA Division One: High Ormlie Hotspur 3, Castletown 1; Wick Thistle 0, Staxigoe United 2; High Ormlie Hotspur 5, John O’Groats 0; Pentland United 7, Castletown 0; Wick Groats 0, Staxigoe United 5.
Division Two: Pentland 0, Watten 3; Top Joe’s 0, Keiss 4.
Colin Macleod Memorial Cup final: Pentland United 2, Wick Groats 1 (at Castletown).
Eain Mackintosh Cup, quarter-finals: Halkirk 0, Watten 2; Swifts 0, Lybster 3.
Fixtures – Wednesday, June 12 – Division One: Wick Thistle v Lybster. Division Two: Swifts v Acks; Watten v Halkirk (all 7.30pm).