Top two go head to head at Harmsworth Park
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The 3pm kick-off has all the makings of a classic game as a win for Academy will prove they deserve to be in pole position but at the same time United will be looking topple the Scorries and claim it for themselves.
Upping the ante further will be the new Scorries manager Barry Wilson going toe-to-toe with his former mentor Steve Paterson, who brought him to Inverness Caley Thistle over a decade and a half ago, fresh from a two-season stint with Raith Rovers.
“He did everything he could to persuade me to sign and I’m glad I did,” Wilson told the John O’Groat Journal.
“My career was probably at a crossroads at the time and Steve got my zest back for the game.”
“I went on to have four or five great years under Steve, taking Inverness from the third division right up to the top half of the first division and culminating in beating Celtic (in 2000).”
Aside from all the nostalgia, Wilson reckons his and Paterson’s love of good down-to-earth football will be in marked contrast to last week’s aerial battle between Forres and the Scorries.
“I’m really hoping it will be a good footballing game,” he said. “We had a bad result on Saturday but we have a great opportunity now to show that we mean business and that we are serious about what we are trying to do. It’s a sign of a good team if they react well after a defeat and it’s how you bounce back that defines you.”
As for the pressure of holding top spot, Wilson is staying cool.
“It’s too early in the season to be talking about pressure but it is top versus second, so there’s all the stuff that goes with that,” he said. “But hopefully it’s just a really good game of football and the team that plays best wins.”
The Scorries’ boss has a full squad to choose from, with defender Alan Farquhar expected to shake off a bout of illness to be fully fit by tomorrow.
“Hopefully we’ll get a good day for it and a good crowd to make it a good spectacle for the Highland League,” Wilson said. “That’s the important thing when it’s the top two teams – you hope it’s an open game of football.
“We’ll do our best to hold up that end of the bargain and I’m sure Steve will do the same.”
Wilson added: “They have a couple of danger players that we’ll need to try and keep quiet and if we do that, then we are halfway there.”
United boss Steve Paterson is also expecting a top-quality clash and highlighted that both sides have powered through from last season’s underdogs to the current top two.
“The parallels are very similar,” said Paterson. “Wick got to the North of Scotland Cup final and we got to the Aberdeenshire Cup final, both losing out narrowly in extra time and both of us having had good solid starts to our league campaigns, as reflected in our positions.
“I imagine Wick will have a slight edge, given their impressive home form. They are one of many in the league with a genuine chance of winning the championship this year.”
Paterson said the Wick players that remember their last encounter in March could expect a different team altogether after turning his squad around over the break, referring to United’s form last season as “absolutely awful”.
“I was quite busy over the summer and thus far the work has paid dividends,” he said. “We are really enjoying it so far.”
As for taking on his former player in a managerial capacity, the pair remain firm friends.
“Barry showed from a young age that he was quite interested in the coaching side of the game and obviously his dad was a football manager (Bobby Wilson, former Ross County manager),” said Paterson. “He’s got a lot of football intelligence in terms of understanding the game.
“To me, it’s a natural progression for him to move into coaching or management.”
Paterson’s squad of 20 is carrying three medium-term injuries in the form of defender Stephen Jeffrey and midfielders Tommy Wilson and Stuart Soane.
This still leaves the former Caley Thistle and Aberdeen manager with a good variety of players ahead of picking his starting 11 tomorrow.
“It should be the game of the day,” he said. “It’s great to see two teams vying for top spot and shows the good health the league is in.”
