Saturday January 19th
Hat-trick for Macadie as Scorries go five points clear
Richard Macadie hit a hat-trick and Lukasz Geruzel weighed
in with a double as Academy strengthened their grip on top spot in the Highland
League with a 5-0 victory over 10-man Rothes at Harmsworth Park.
The Scorries were not at their scintillating best – far from
it – but they were still far too strong for a Rothes side that offered very
little up front and relied on an effective use of the offside trap to keep the
score down. It really was a case of damage limitation for the Speysiders,
especially after their keeper Greg Sim was red-carded early in the second half
for a last-man foul on Macadie.
With Cove v Keith one of six matches to fall victim to the
weather, Academy took the opportunity to go five points clear having now played
the same number of games as the Allan Park club. Barry Wilson's team have won
five in a row since the beginning of December, keeping four clean sheets during
that run while banging in 25 goals.
The opener came in the 16th minute when Academy launched a
slick move up the right with a rapid series of one-touch passes and Stevie
Cunningham's low cross presented Geruzel with a tap-in at the far post.
The Scorries doubled their lead after 25 minutes following
another fine move up the right. Shaun Sinclair chipped the ball to Geruzel and
it was played wide to Davie Allan, whose cutback was driven high into the net
by Macadie from about six yards out.
Just before the break Sim made a wonder save to deny Geruzel
at point-blank range, but the Rothes keeper's involvement was to be cut short
seven minutes into the second half when he was sent off for bringing down
Macadie in a one-on-one situation.
Greg Simpson was the player sacrificed as Rhys Fyfe took
over in goal, but the substitute keeper was well beaten from the penalty spot
as Geruzel sent him the wrong way to make it 3-0.
The goal of the game arrived on 72 minutes when Macadie
seized on a loose ball just outside the box and let fly with a screamer. Fyfe
got a touch but couldn't prevent it going in off the underside of the bar.
Alan Farquhar and substitute Gary Weir both came close
before Macadie completed his hat-trick on 84 minutes after referee Andy Milne
spotted a foul on Grant Steven in the middle of the box. Fyfe again got a hand
to the ball but it ended up in the back of the net for Macadie's 109th
competitive goal for Academy and his 19th of the present league campaign,
putting him three clear at the top of the HFL scoring charts.
This was Academy's 550th HFL fixture and it extended the
club's record unbeaten home run in the league to 20 matches.
It also produced a record-equalling statistic. This was the
ninth time Academy had scored four or more goals in a game during the current
league campaign, matching the record for a whole season set in 2009/10.
Zander Sutherland hit a debut hat-trick for Brora Rangers
but it wasn't enough to prevent a 4-3 defeat as Nairn County mounted a dramatic
comeback at Dudgeon Park.
Sutherland, recruited from Buckie Thistle during the week,
opened his account for his new club on 24 minutes and he struck again four
minutes later. Nairn reduced the deficit a minute before the break with a
penalty from Conor Gethins.
Three minutes into the second half Sutherland completed his
hat-trick but John Cameron headed home Nairn's second goal five minutes later.
Craig MacMillan came off the bench with 20 minutes to go and
he was to make a decisive impact. The County substitute fired home the
equaliser in the 78th minute and his last-minute header wrapped up all three
points for Les Fridge's side.
In the early kick-off at Claggan Park, Fort William picked
up their first victory since November 2011 as they beat Strathspey Thistle 1-0.
The goal came in the 65th minute when Fort's Davie Forbes
was taken down in the box by Scott Hendry and Darren Quigg tucked away the
spot-kick.
Strathspey's Terry Swinton was sent off with 12 minutes
remaining and there was no way back for the visitors as ex-Academy keeper
Daniel Bell marked his Fort debut with a clean sheet.
Highland League fixtures for Saturday, January 26:
Clachnacuddin v Brora Rangers; Deveronvale v Fort William; Formartine United v
Cove Rangers; Fraserburgh v Wick Academy; Keith v Buckie Thistle; Nairn County
v Lossiemouth; Rothes v Inverurie Locos; Strathspey Thistle v Forres Mechanics;
Turriff United v Huntly.
