Academy went into Wednesday's match without midfield
duo Martin Gunn, who was suspended, and Sam Mackay, who had work
commitments.
That meant a starting place for 16-year-old Ross Allan, who proved to be
a real
livewire throughout.
Ross's brother David burst through in the sixth minute
only for his well-struck shot to be deflected away by the trailing leg
of
keeper Chris Bowles.
Academy remained on top for much of the first half but
just couldn't find a way past the massed ranks of blue shirts as
Strathspey
defended in depth. The closest the Scorries came to making the
breakthrough in
that first period was when an Andrew Macleod header cannoned off a post
from a
Richard Macadie corner.
McKiddie's injury came when he raced to the edge of
the box after a swift exchange with Ross Allan, only to be sent
sprawling to
the ground by a defender – and yet referee Cammy McKay saw nothing
amiss.
Clearly the Jags were determined to show how
streetwise they had become after eight months in the Highland League.
Euan
Donaldson and Murray Ross were yellow-carded in the first half for fouls
on
Gary Weir and Alan Farquhar respectively, Joe Hardie joined them in the
referee's notebook after the break when he flattened Gary Manson, and
Craig
Ireland was booked late on when his challenge on Ciaran Duffy almost
sent the
newly-introduced substitute into the perimeter fence.
In between the argy-bargy the teams shared four goals
and Academy will view it as two points lost, having come from behind to
take
the lead with less than 10 minutes to go.
Strathspey opened the scoring two minutes into the
second half when keeper Alan Bokas failed to deal with Gordon MacNab's
speculative lob into the box and Polish frontman Mateusz Bobrowski was
on hand
to hammer the ball into the net.
The Scorries got themselves level after 61 minutes
when Weir was tripped in the penalty area and Macadie fired the
resultant
spot-kick high past Bowles.
There were claims for a second penalty shortly after
when David Allan took a tumble but the striker was harshly cautioned for
simulation.
Allan pulled a shot narrowly wide after 75 minutes but
Academy's top marksman was not to be denied.
With nine minutes remaining, Allan controlled a fine
through ball from Macadie, created space for himself and lashed it
beyond the
helpless Bowles from the edge of the box.
It seemed Academy had done just enough to secure all
three points, but the home side had other ideas and they equalised after
86
minutes. Bobrowski tried a low shot that was pushed behind by Bokas, and
Hardie's corner from the right was headed in by Scott Hendry.
A final push by Academy in injury time saw Farquhar
force the ball into the net but Mr McKay had spotted an infringement and
so it
finished all square.
Co-manager Munro said: "We totally dominated the first
half, we just couldn't score. They sneaked a goal at the start of the
second
half and we knew it was going to be uphill.
"We got back into it with the penalty and then went
2-1 up. We should have maybe tried to kill the game but we were still
going
forward. We gave the ball away cheaply, they got a corner from it and
they made
it 2-2.
"But all in all I can honestly say I think that's the
dirtiest team we've played this year. It's a tough, tough league but I
feel
that team just went out there tonight to kick our players off the park.
"That's the way they got their point – it wasn't
through football, it was kicking the guys off the park.
"I'm not saying our team was all nicey-nicey either
but we had to get tough. Alan Farquhar in the first half was more on the
deck
than he was on his feet because they were just chopping him down
everywhere.
"Bryan McKiddie is off to Raigmore, his shoulder's
out. It was just horrendous.
"We realise that's part and parcel of football, but
that's honestly the dirtiest team that we've played."
Donly McLeod praised the commitment of his players as
they picked up only their seventh point of the campaign.
"Fair play to the boys, they got stuck in tonight and
competed – that's what they hadn't been doing over the last two or three
games," the Strathspey boss said.
"We stopped Wick playing, that was our main objective,
and obviously getting the first goal was a real bonus. I thought the
penalty
was a wee bit soft – the boy was looking for it – but these things
happen.
"Wick's second goal was a cracker, there was nothing
we could do about that, but we got back in it again with the header.
"I think over the piece we deserved a point from the
game. The boys gave us everything, absolutely everything, and that's all
you
can ask for.
"We know the quality is not quite there to match some
of the better teams, but tonight the boys fought for every ball and the
substitutes came on and did their bit as well. I'm really pleased to
come out
with a point.
"We flooded the midfield because Wick like to play
their passing game and we stopped them doing that. I thought the boys
did
really well tonight and we deserved a point overall."
When asked to respond to Munro's remarks, McLeod
offered no apology for his team's robust approach.
"If he wants to come out and make comments like that,
that's up to him," McLeod said. "There's maybe a wee bit of sour grapes
on his
part.
"He wasn't standing on the terracing at Wick when we
got gubbed 8-1 and were eight-nothing down at half-time. It's all very
well for
him to come down here and say that, but we're not going to stand back
and watch
them playing pretty patterns like they did in the game up at Wick –
we've got
to get stuck into them.
"If he wants to make comments like that, that's fine –
but obviously I don't agree with him. I felt quite honestly some of
their boys
were dropping like flies and maybe need to have a wee look at
themselves.
"But I don't want to get involved in a slanging match.
These things happen, people come out and make comments in the heat of
the
moment. We just take it on the chin and move on."
