Wick Groats pick up second trophy of season with David Allan Shield victory
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Wick Groats lifted their second piece of Caithness AFA silverware this season after a 4-1 victory over High Ormlie Hotspur in the David Allan Shield final in Castletown.
First-half goals by Jonah Martens, Greg Shearer and John Budge put Groats in charge at Back Park. Kuba Koziol pulled one back in the second period but Korbyn Cameron killed off any thoughts of a comeback.
It was the second final between the two teams this summer, with High Ormlie having won the Eain Mackintosh Cup at Halkirk in July.
Groats had won the first of the three main county knockout tournaments, the Colin Macleod Memorial Cup, in June.
The Wick side were ahead within six minutes on Saturday when a clever ball from Ben Sinclair found Martens in space and he fired it in at the near post.
Groats continued to pile on the pressure. After an inviting ball into the box, Hotspur keeper Lewis Gallacher made a tremendous reflex save but Shearer was on hand to tap in the rebound.
After 37 minutes Groats struck again. Budge pounced on a defensive error and volleyed it in to give them a comfortable three-goal lead at half-time.
Groats continued to create chances but were denied by some excellent goalkeeping from Gallacher.
Koziol nodded in from a floated cross to give High Ormlie a possible lifeline back into the game.
However, Groats soon responded and Cameron made it 4-1 when he received the ball on the edge of the box before placing it beyond the keeper into the far left corner.
Groats will clinch the county league title if they beat Thurso Acks on Tuesday night, then they have the Highland Amateur Cup final against Avoch at Harmsworth Park on Saturday.
Their manager Kevin Anderson said: “It’s brilliant to win the David Allan Shield. I felt it was a really strong performance from us.
"Now we need to focus on the two remaining games of the season.
“It’s really a case of taking it one game at a time. Big games keep on coming, but that’s what we all want – it shows we’re doing something right."
Anderson also gave credit to Lewis Gallacher, saying: “If it wasn’t for him we could easily have scored more.”
High Ormlie Hotspur co-manager Liam Sutherland said: “Up until the first goal everything was going well. I thought we played really good stuff at times but made mistakes as a team which cost us.”
He praised the spirit shown in the second half, saying: “We told the boys to come out fighting and that’s exactly what they did. We got the next goal and played much better until Groats got their fourth.
"I couldn’t be more proud of the way our boys fought back into the game.”
Assessing the season as a whole, Sutherland said: “We’ve had a strong league campaign and made two cup finals, winning one of them. We’ve had an excellent season and I’m really proud of how the boys have performed all year.”
Results – Highland League Cup, preliminary round: Wick Academy 0, Nairn County 1.
David Allan Shield final – High Ormlie Hotspur 1, Wick Groats 4.
SWF Highlands and Islands League: Caithness 4, Sutherland 1.
Fixtures – Monday, August 14 – Division Two: Swifts v Keiss; Top Joe's v Thurso Pentland; Watten v Lybster v (all 6.45pm).
Tuesday, August 15 – Division One: Acks v Wick Groats; Castletown v High Ormlie Hotspur; Pentland United v Wick Thistle; Staxigoe United v John O'Groats (all 6.45pm).
Caithness Ladies made a winning return after their summer break as they beat their Sutherland counterparts 4-1 in the SWF Highlands and Islands League on Sunday. The result keeps Caithness third in the table.
Carly Erridge scored twice at a rainy Back Park, with the other Caithness goals coming from Sarah Henderson and Chloe Stebbing. Henderson was named as player of the match.
Caithness Ladies' next match is at home to league leaders Buckie on Sunday, August 27. Buckie won 5-2 at home to Clachnacuddin at the weekend, while Ross and Cromarty drew 2-2 with Nairn.
