We want to continue this run, says Wick keeper Graeme Williamson
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Goalkeeper Graeme Williamson says he and his Wick Academy team-mates are determined to maintain the good run of form that has seen them climb to eighth place in the Highland League.
The Scorries made it five wins from six games as they saw off Lossiemouth at Harmsworth Park on Monday. Williamson has kept three clean sheets during that sequence of results – against Forres Mechanics (2-0) and Strathspey Thistle (1-0) before the 2-0 victory over the Coasters.
“It took us long enough to get one," Williamson said. "Hopefully we can keep it up.”
Williamson (31) is in his first full season with Academy, having signed in August 2020. The Scorries managed only two league games and two Scottish Cup ties before the 2020/21 campaign was cut short by the pandemic, but fixtures have been largely uninterrupted this time around.
“I've been enjoying it since the start of the season," Williamson said. "It has been good to get back to training twice a week.”
Academy had to wait until the beginning of October for their first league win this term, a 3-1 success against Fort William, after a series of six score draws and three defeats in their opening nine fixtures. But they have collected 15 points from a possible 18 since losing to Inverurie in early November.
Looking back on that frustrating start, Williamson said: “I would say it was a slight confidence issue. Of the first six or seven games, we deserved to win probably three or four of them.
“But the boys have just stuck together and dug in and we're finally starting to get a few wins, so it's good.”
Academy showed how resolute they can be in Monday's match when, leading through Ross Archibald's first-half own goal, they had to withstand some pressure from Lossiemouth in the closing stages before Davie Allan broke upfield to make sure of the points. “We defended our box really well in the last five or 10 minutes,” Williamson said.
Academy's first game of 2022 is away to second-bottom Turriff United on Monday and the keeper says it has to be viewed as a potentially winnable fixture.
"It would be good to get it played just so that we can keep this run going, with a bit of luck," he said.
“Hopefully we don't regress too much in the next two or three weeks, and we keep on going and finish the season strongly. Having a more settled side definitely helps.”
Meanwhile, with pitches inevitably cutting up and becoming heavy at this time of year, Williamson acknowledged that he and other members of the goalkeeping fraternity need to be especially careful when dealing with pass-backs and clearances.
“It's very hard to play football on that sort of park," he said. "You've got to watch – any back-passes could make you look silly if you don't keep your eye on it.”
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