Wick look to defend Fortress Harmsworth
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IT has been almost 12 months since Wick Academy were defeated in a league game at home when they lost comprehensively 3-1 to Fraserburgh last October.
The Buchan men, who return to the far north after securing the first silverware of the season by picking up the Aberdeenshire Cup after a penalty shoot-out victory over Formartine United, stand in the way of making it a full calendar year without defeat at Fortress Harmsworth.
The Scorries also recorded some success of their own in a cup competition when a record midweek crowd saw them book their place in the North of Scotland Cup final with a 3-0 win over Brora Rangers last week.
Rounding off the week with a 4-0 romp at Rothes, the highlight of the win in Speyside was Gary Weir scoring twice as he made a strong claim for a place back in the starting line-up.
The problem is not so much of a headache for caretaker manager Richard Hughes, but with Davie Allan and Lukasz Geruzel to choose from, who to start with is a puzzler.
“Gary got his chance against Rothes to show what he could do and he didn’t let me down,” Hughes said.
“It’s a nice problem to have as it adds an element of competition between the three of them and that brings the best out of everybody.
“But all round the park we have players who are capable of scoring goals for us and can also play in a number of different positions.”
Craig Shearer is recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered in the North of Scotland Cup semi-final and remains a doubt for tomorrow’s game in an otherwise clean bill of health for Academy.
Hughes praised the response of his players after a tense fortnight regarding the managerial situation and said it could be finally Wick’s time to win their first senior trophy.
“We are fourth in the league and we have some big cup games against Berwick in the Scottish Cup followed by the North of Scotland Cup final in October,” he commented.
“Despite everything that has happened, it has been a good period for us on the pitch and we will look to continue that.”
Fraserburgh have been tipped by many pundits as contenders for this year’s Highland League crown, despite having a rather average start to their campaign so far.
After a successful stint at Turriff United, Kris Hunter has earned the reputation of one of the best managers in the league, turning around the fortunes of the Bellslea outfit last season and transforming them into genuine title contenders.
After winning the Aberdeenshire Cup despite having been two goals down, Hunter said his team have a mentality of not knowing when they are beaten and will head to Caithness full of confidence.
“Being the last team to win at Harmsworth Park in the league shows what a difficult place it is to win,” he said.
“There are eight teams that have a reasonable shout of winning the Highland League this season and we can definitely claim to be one of those.
“We have lost some key players but we have brought in a raft of new faces and the success of this year will depend on how they settle in.
“What is different from our squad last season is that we have a desire to go and win games and trophies. Hopefully that winning mentality is here to stay.”
