Wick manager Manson takes positives after Brora rescue a point in stoppage time
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Wick Academy player/manager Gary Manson insisted on taking the positives from Saturday's 2-2 draw with Brora Rangers despite a lingering sense of injustice over both of the Cattachs' goals.
The Scorries led twice at Dudgeon Park, courtesy of well-taken strikes by Steven Anderson inside 10 minutes and Jack Henry 12 minutes after the break, only to be pegged back both times in contentious circumstances.
Just before half-time a header by Martin Maclean was adjudged to have crossed the line before being nodded away by Jack Halliday – a decision described by Manson as “bizarre”. Then, deep into the seven minutes of stoppage time, Dale Gillespie rescued a point for Brora, with the Wick boss questioning why referee Gordon Morrison had allowed the game to go on for so long.
Manson said: “I told the boys, I know it feels like a defeat but we need to take the positives. We should have won, there's no two ways about it.
“Where he got seven minutes from, I have no idea. I spoke to him at the end and he tried explaining it but he was kind of digging himself a deeper hole.
“If he had just played what it should have been we would have won the game.
“At the end of the day, we could have defended it better, so we'll just take the positives – a good point away from home against a good team. But it's disappointing that we didn't get the three.”
When asked whether Maclean's header had been cleared before crossing the line, Manson said: “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind. I was on the back post, so I was looking right along the line.
“Jack's feet were on the line and his head was forward. I have no idea what the linesman thought he saw – it was bizarre.
“It wasn't even close. His feet were on the line and he was leaning forward.
“After that first goal you could see it noticeably bothered the boys and we were getting a little bit het up, so I think half-time came at the right time for us.
“In the second half we came out and scored another good goal, and created another couple of good chances. It was just disappointing that we didn't get all three points.
“We kind of got done by decisions today but we'll take the positives from it.”
Brora manager Craig Campbell felt his team had shown a lack of quality.
“I'm nothing but disappointed with our performance," Campbell said.
“I tried to give them a bit of a roasting at half-time and I thought we would get a reaction.
“We did, to a certain extent. Jordan [MacRae] had a one-on-one. If we'd scored that it could have been a different game.
“Then they went up the park and they scored, and that gave them something to hang on to again.”
The result was a setback to Brora's hopes of retaining the title. It was the second Saturday in a row they had scored a crucial goal in injury time, following on from the 2-1 win at Huntly.
“Performances like that, and last week as well, are a bit flat for a team that is competing for a title," Campbell said.
“I thought the result reflected what we deserved out of the game. There was a lot of fight and determination but there was a lack of quality.
“We have actually shown good quality in a lot of games, but when we step off that quality to a certain extent we seem to struggle.”
Match report:
