Wick Academy 2
Keith 2
League
Wick AcademyWick Academy |
2 - 22 - 2 |
KeithKeith |
 |
League |
 |
| Goalscorers | |
|
Marc MacGregor (75) Marc MacGregor (94) |
Michael Selfridge (2) Craig MacAskill (5) |
| Team Managers | |
|
Tom McKenna |
Michael Brown (Assistant Manager) |
| Starting Eleven | |
|
Sean McCarthy Aiden Reid Gary Manson Alan Farquhar Danny Mackay Craig Gunn Richard Macadie David Allan Alan Hughes Sam Mackay Sean Campbell |
Greg Simpson Marc Young Andrew Smith Jamie McAllister Macaulay Rae Ryan Robertson Craig MacAskill Scott Gray Cammy Keith Callum Porteous Michael Selfridge |
| Bench | |
|
Marc MacGregor Gordon MacNab Grant Aitkenhead Greg Mackay Kuba Koziol Mark Macadie Gordon Clark |
Jamie Lennox Stewart Hutcheon Dean Donaldson David Day |
| Substitutions | |
|
Marc MacGregor for Richard Macadie (61) Gordon MacNab for Sean Campbell (73) Kuba Koziol for Craig Gunn (79) |
Jamie Lennox for Callum Porteous (76) |
| Cautions | |
|
Danny Mackay (70) |
Jamie McAllister (19) Craig MacAskill (24) Mchael Selfridge (55) |
| Red Cards | |
|
David Allan (70) |
Macaulay Rae (70) |
| Match Officials | |
|
Darren Munro (Referee) |
Match Report
Injury Time Winner From MacGregor wins a point
Marc Macgregor’s injury-time thunderbolt got Academy out of jail to earn a point. The striker had earlier come off the bench and had given the Scorries a lifeline with a well-taken strike before performing his late heroics.
It was hard lines on Keith who had raced into a two-goal lead after only six minutes and had looked well in control before Macgregor worked his magic.
The visitors were well organised, handled the strong wind well – in both directions – and looked a threat every time they attacked. Wick, meanwhile, never got going until boss Tom McKenna deployed his supersub.
Keith got off to a dream start with the first goal coming in-side two minutes. A corner was floated in from the right but, instead of dealing with it, the defence hesitated and Michael Selfridge cracked home a shot off the underside of the bar.
One soon became two when Keith were awarded a free kick some 20 yards from goal. The wind may have had something to do with the ball flying past Sean McCarthy and into the net. However, the keeper could have had better protection from the defensive wall which left a gap for Craig Macaskill’s shot that put Keith 2-0 up.
McCarthy had to be at his best to deny Scott Gray and the Academy number one had his heart in his mouth as Marc Young’s 40-yard attempt narrowly flew over the bar. Given how strong the wind was, Wick were expected to make full use of it in the second half but were unable to do so. What seemed to wake them up from their torpor was a punch-up that involved Danny Mackay who escaped with a booking – much to the chagrin of Davie Allan and Keith’s Macaulay Rae who were sent off, both adamant they were victims of mistaken identity.
Suddenly, and with Macgregor off the bench, Wick looked threatening on the attack and a sliding finish by the 24-year-old striker gave them a vital lifeline.
Going into the final seconds of injury time, it looked as if Academy were staring defeat in the face until Macgregor let fly with an effort from outside the box and, via the underside of the bar, dug his team-mates out of a hole.
Match report written by Caithness Courier - Wed, April 17, 2019.
Squad Statistics (as at April 13th, 2019)
| 2018/2019 | All Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Nat |  |
 |
|
|
|
| Sean McCarthy (GK) | 25 |
|
30 | - | 166 | - |
| Danny Mackay | 28 |
|
24 | 1 | 134 | 5 |
| Aiden Reid | 20 |
|
2 | - | 10 | - |
| Sean Campbell | 22 |
|
2 | - | 2 | - |
| Gary Manson | 35 |
|
37 | 6 | 632 | 46 |
| Sam Mackay | 30 |
|
24 | 3 | 322 | 139 |
| Alan Farquhar | 31 |
|
32 | - | 314 | 4 |
| Richard Macadie | 32 |
|
34 | 7 | 524 | 194 |
| Alan Hughes | 23 |
|
25 | - | 96 | 4 |
| Craig Gunn | 31 |
|
31 | 6 | 81 | 35 |
| David Allan | 29 |
|
33 | 8 | 345 | 143 |
| Gordon MacNab (sub) | 24 |
|
34 | 8 | 52 | 14 |
| Marc MacGregor (sub) | 24 |
|
29 | 15 | 120 | 39 |
| Kuba Koziol (sub) | 23 |
|
3 | - | 4 | - |
Team Sheet (Scanned Photo)
League Table (as at April 13th, 2019)
| Pld | W | D | L | +/- | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Cove Rangers | 33 | 29 | 3 | 1 | +87 | 90 |
| 2. | Brora Rangers | 33 | 27 | 3 | 3 | +87 | 84 |
| 3. | Fraserburgh | 34 | 26 | 1 | 7 | +88 | 79 |
| 4. | Formartine Utd | 32 | 21 | 6 | 5 | +57 | 69 |
| 5. | Inverurie Locos | 34 | 20 | 6 | 8 | +48 | 66 |
| 6. | Forres Mech | 33 | 20 | 3 | 10 | +34 | 63 |
| 7. | WICK | 31 | 14 | 6 | 11 | +12 | 48 |
| 8. | Buckie Thistle | 33 | 13 | 7 | 13 | +14 | 46 |
| 9. | Huntly | 33 | 13 | 7 | 13 | -9 | 46 |
| 10. | Rothes | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | +14 | 41 |
| 11. | Deveronvale | 34 | 13 | 2 | 19 | -10 | 41 |
| 12. | Nairn County | 33 | 12 | 3 | 18 | -7 | 39 |
| 13. | Keith | 33 | 10 | 7 | 16 | -4 | 37 |
| 14. | Strathspey | 33 | 10 | 3 | 20 | -39 | 33 |
| 15. | Turriff United | 34 | 9 | 5 | 20 | -17 | 32 |
| 16. | Clachnacuddin | 32 | 6 | 6 | 20 | -30 | 24 |
| 17. | Lossiemouth | 34 | 2 | 2 | 30 | -110 | 8 |
| 18. | Fort William | 32 | 0 | 2 | 30 | -215 | -7 |
Manager's Programme Notes
Interview by Matt Leslie Caithness Courier.
Wick Academy boss Tom McKenna insists striker Davie Allan is becoming a target for the Highland League’s hatchet men.
Allan, along with Keith’s Macauley Rae, was sent off after a melee in the middle of the pitch following a rash challenge by Wick’s Danny Mackay.
Both Allan and Rae protested their innocence but, for the former, it capped off a frustrating afternoon where Keith defenders took it in turns to chop him down.
Given the confusion of the second-half brawl in the Highland League clash at Harmsworth Park, it was hard to see if Allan was a guilty party or not. But if he was, it would have been the result of his own frustration boiling over after receiving little protection from the officials.
For McKenna, it’s the latest in a long line of games where other teams have set out to nobble one of his best players.
Speaking after the 2-2 draw, the manager said: “I didn’t see exactly what went on as everybody just came together. But Davie’s really disappointed he was ordered off.
“Everyone bar the officials were contesting his sending off. Danny [Mackay] was involved and just got a booking but no-one knows why Davie went.
“Davie’s really brassed off because that’s him out of the Brora game [tonight] now.
“He seemed to be singled out for treatment long before that incident happened.
“I lost count the amount of times he was chopped down – it was ridiculous. It seems to be a recurring theme with other teams targeting Davie early on.
“It must be frustrating for him after being fouled time and again. It must be really difficult to keep your composure when you’re being kicked week after week – it must take its toll.”
Keith assistant manager Michael Brown protested his own player’s innocence as well. He said: “I don’t think Macauley was anywhere near to what happened.
“He’s been victim of mistaken identity and the Wick player who actually started it all escaped with just a booking.
“The whole incident disturbed our momentum as Academy got back into the game after that. We lost two points in the final seconds but the positive is that a draw was at least what we deserved.”
Of Wick’s own performance during the game, McKenna was far from impressed with his team.
He added: “We just didn’t get going. We went 2-0 down to two set pieces that were avoidable.
“We just stalled through-out the game. Thankfully Marc Macgregor came on and rescued us – his second was a superb strike.”