Both
sides created chances in the early stages and Sam Mackay came close with
a shot
that cannoned off Andy Reid's knee as the Inverurie keeper sprawled on
his
line.
David
Allan sent the ball to Richard Macadie with a deft head-flick and,
running on
to the return pass, seemed to have done everything right only for his
effort to
drift wide.
Academy's
pressure was rewarded after 27 minutes when Allan won possession and set
off on
a great run past three defenders before unselfishly clipping the ball
ahead of
Gary Weir, who controlled it on the bounce and volleyed it past Reid.
The
visitors finished the half on the front foot, Craig Ross testing Alan
Bokas
with a 15-yard drive and Neil McLean firing over.
Half Time 1 – 0
A
fine passing move brought Academy's second goal after 54 minutes.
Stewart
Ross flicked the ball inside to Alan Farquhar who played a one-two with
Andrew
Macleod. The ball then went down the right to Mackay who chipped it
first touch
ahead of Macadie and the midfielder gave Reid no chance, picking his
spot just
inside the post.
Weir,
Cunningham and Allan all came close to adding to the tally.
The
86th-minute introduction of a young substitute by each team
led to
some excitement late on. Ciaran Duffy ran on to a pass from Weir, dodged
past
keeper Reid and steered the ball towards the bottom corner of the net,
Steven
Park racing back to clear off the line.
As
players jostled for position on the goal line awaiting Macadie's corner,
Reid
aimed a kick at Allan and was red-carded. Jamie McKinnon took over the
keeper's
jersey but was only a spectator as a Ross header was cleared off the
line.
With
only a minute of normal time remaining, a McLean cross from the left was
cleared to Lewis Donald who hit a spectacular 25-yard volley in off the
underside of the crossbar to set up a frantic final few minutes.
Academy
survived to take the three points and edge above Locos in mid-table.
Inverurie
boss Dave Cormie said: "I chose to agree to a Sunday fixture to help
clear the
backlog of games and it has given us a chance to see some of our
youngsters.
"The
biggest kick for me was that young laddie, Lewis Donald, from our youth
team,
who came on for five minutes and scored a great goal – he'll not forget
his
first visit to Wick!
"It's
difficult playing two games within less than 48 hours but it was the
same for
both teams.
"We've
both gone through indifferent spells recently but Academy against Locos
is
usually a good game of football and again we served up an entertaining
game
with a lot of endeavour and excellent goals.
Full Time 2 – 1
Sponsors Man of the match Stevie Cunningham
Pictured receiving his award from Presented by Donnie Munro on behalf of match sponsor Mackays Hotel and Bin Ends
