Title pendulum swings back to Groats
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THE CAFA title race pendulum swung back towards Wick Groats after their crunch Division One clash at Pentland United.
Goals from Ben Sinclair and a brace from Sandy Sutherland gave them a 3-0 win over their championship rivals who themselves could have clinched the league had they beaten Groats.
Instead, next week’s final round of fixtures will see Wick Groats retain their title should they win at John O’Groats. A draw will also be good enough for them providing Pentland don’t beat Lybster by a 16-goal margin.
However, should Pentland win at Lybster and Wick Groats lose to John O’Groats, the Dunnet men will be crowned champions.
Wick Groats boss Kevin Anderson is delighted that his team have the title destiny in their hands going into the final game but has cautioned the players not to think that winning the league will be a foregone conclusion.
He said: “I’m delighted with the win – the boys were immense. To be honest, were it not for their goalkeeper James More we could have won by a bigger margin.
“It was a game with high stakes but the boys have been here before. They’ve won trophies in the past and know what’s required of them and how to handle the pressure surrounding this type of fixture.
“Put simply, we had to win. A lot of people wrote us off but from first to last minute we were immense.
“Now we have to get ourselves over the finishing line but John O’Groats will not make it easy for us. We know on their day they can beat anyone so we will keep the champagne on ice for a little while longer.
“Hopefully we can get the win which will allow us to crack it open.”
Pentland United’s Michael Gray conceded that Groats deserved their victory and admitted their own title hopes are in the lap of the gods.
“I’m bitterly disappointed,” he said. “Not just with the result but the performance as well. We had an impressive crowd show up at Ham Park and I can only apologise to our supporters for our display.
“I didn’t get a lot of sleep afterwards as I was still thinking about the match and how it went.
“Congratulations to Wick Groats – they played very well. All we can do is win at Lybster and hope John O’Groats can do us a huge favour.”
Elsewhere, Halkirk are relegated from Division One after a 5-1 loss at Thurso Acks.
