Highland League round-up
Saturday December 17th
Mackay hits first-half double as Academy move up
Wick Academy moved up to 11th place in the Highland
League after a comfortable 4-1 victory over bottom club Strathspey Thistle at a
wintry Harmsworth Park.
The hard work of the ground staff paid off as the pitch
was deemed playable by referee Billy Baxter and the orange match ball made an
appearance.
The home side made a purposeful start, with Richard
Macadie hitting a post inside the opening minute.
If that was a warning for Strathspey, it went unheeded as
Academy opened the scoring in their next attack. Gary Weir advanced up the
right and slipped the ball inside to Davie Allan, whose shot went in off the
far post.
Allan came close again in 17 minutes after a brilliant
solo run but he was denied by Strathspey keeper Willie Ridgers.
The visitors enjoyed a decent spell before Academy
doubled their lead in the 26th minute. Macadie and Weir combined well on the
right to present Sam Mackay with a tap-in.
Strathspey's Mateusz Bobrowski blazed over from a good
position before the Scorries extended their lead just after the half-hour mark.
Mackay fed the ball to Allan, whose low shot was blocked, but the rebound sat
up perfectly for Mackay as he nodded in his second goal of the afternoon.
Academy finished the first half well on top. Allan hit a
post after his lightning pace took him clear of the defence, then Stevie
Cunningham tried a volley from the edge of the box after a good build-up
involving Weir and Craig Shearer. Cunningham's well-struck effort would have
posed a real problem for Ridgers had it found its way through a clutch of
defenders.
Cunningham wasn't to be denied, though, as he added
Academy's fourth after 66 minutes. Receiving the ball from Allan in a crowded
box, he neatly sidestepped a defender and placed it beyond Ridgers into the far
corner.
Terry Swinton tested Michael Gray with a low shot after
73 minutes as the Grantown Jags mounted a rare attack.
The visitors did get a consolation goal after 76 minutes
when Swinton delivered a corner from the left and Alan Farquhar sliced it into
his own net. It was tough luck on Farquhar as the corner had only come about as
he executed a spectacular clearance to prevent a certain goal.
Academy should have added a fifth in the last minute as
Mackay went marauding down the left to set up an easy-looking chance for Weir,
but the striker's shot was kept out by one of three retreating defenders.
There were bookings for Weir and for Strathspey's Sandis
Reinsons.
In the only other HFL fixture to beat the freeze,
Fraserburgh edged closer to the top three with a 3-2 victory over Formartine
United at Bellslea Park.
Formartine took a 12th-minute lead through a Bobby Mann
free kick but the Broch levelled with a volley from Graham Johnston and they
went ahead on the half-hour mark when Peter Alexander Bruce supplied another
impressive finish.
Allan Hale fired home Fraserburgh's third after 63
minutes. Stuart McKay reduced the deficit with a quarter of an hour to go but
Kris Hunter's men held on, and they are now just a point behind Nairn and Cove
and five adrift of leaders Forres.
Formartine drop to 12th, with Deveronvale and now Academy
above them on goal difference.
Highland League fixtures – Friday, December 23: Brora
Rangers v Wick Academy; Buckie Thistle v Deveronvale; Clachnacuddin v Fort William;
Formartine United v Turriff United; Forres Mechanics v Nairn County; Huntly v
Inverurie Locos; Keith v Lossiemouth; Rothes v Strathspey Thistle.
Saturday, December 24: Cove Rangers v Fraserburgh.
