Wick Academy hoping to make amends for shootout loss at Huntly
Wick Academy will be hoping to make amends for their Scottish Cup shootout loss at the hands of Huntly when the teams meet again at Christie Park on Saturday.
This time it’s a Highland League Cup first-round tie and the match represents the Scorries’ last chance of a cup run this season.
Manager Gary Manson said: “The cup draws haven’t been very kind to us this year – away to Huntly in the Scottish Cup and the Highland League Cup, and away to Brora Rangers in the North of Scotland Cup.
“But we’ll go down there and give it a good shot, like we did in the Scottish Cup. The Scottish Cup game showed that there was nothing between the two teams.”
The tie at Christie Park at the end of September finished 2-2 after extra time after Academy twice came from behind through goals from Marc Macgregor and Kyle Henderson. Huntly prevailed 5-3 on penalties, then were beaten 3-2 at Brechin City in round two.
The Scorries dropped to 14th in the Highland League after last Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Nairn County at Station Park. Sixth-placed Huntly won 3-2 away to Inverurie Locos.
“If you look at the league table, they’re obviously more consistent than us,” Manson said. “If you can put together a consistent run of results, even if it’s just three results in a row, then it’ll push you right up the table.
“There’s not a lot between the teams on their day. Hopefully we get the little bits of luck and the bits of quality and we can progress into the second round – that’s what we’re aiming to do.”
Manson added: “The squad will be stretched a little bit because we’re missing a couple. We’ll see what we can put together, we’ll see how training goes this week and see what team we can put on the field, and we’ll give it our best shot.”
Academy have won only one tie in any cup competition since October 2022. That was a 4-0 victory over Invergordon of the North Caledonian League at Harmsworth Park in the first round of this season’s North of Scotland Cup.
Highland League results: Banks O’ Dee 0, Brora Rangers 2; Brechin City 3, Formartine United 1; Buckie Thistle 2, Lossiemouth 1; Clachnacuddin 4, Forres Mechanics 2; Inverurie Locos 2, Huntly 3; Keith 3, Deveronvale 1; Nairn County 3, Wick Academy 0; Rothes 3, Turriff United 2; Strathspey Thistle 2, Fraserburgh 2.
Fixtures for Saturday, November 9 – Highland League Cup, first round: Brechin City v Inverurie Locos; Buckie Thistle v Clachnacuddin; Fraserburgh v Forres Mechanics; Huntly v Wick Academy; Keith v Brora Rangers; Lossiemouth v Deveronvale; Nairn County v Banks O’ Dee; Rothes v Formartine United.
