Rothes 3
Wick Academy 1
League
Rothes |
3 - 1 |
Wick Academy |
 |
League |
 |
| Goalscorers | |
|
Fraser Robertson (31) Allen Mackenzie (41) Craig Cormack (74) |
Craig Gunn (49) |
| Team Managers | |
| Ross Jack |
Tom McKenna |
| Starting Eleven | |
|
Ewen MacDonald Alasdair Stark Dale Wood Bruce Milne Jamie Duff (C) Alan Pollock Allen Mackenzie Fraser Robertson Gary Kerr Alasdair Sutherland Craig Cormack |
Sean McCarthy Gary Manson Alan Farquhar Danny Mackay Ross Allan Ryan Campbell Jack Halliday Jack Henry Sam Mackay Alan Hughes Craig Gunn |
| Bench | |
|
Ryan McRitchie Aidan Wilson Ben Johnstone Paul MacLeod Jack Farren |
Mark Macadie Jonah Martens Grant Aitkenhead David Allan Gordon MacNab Richard Macadie James More |
| Substitutions | |
|
Aidan Wilson for Gary Kerr (67) Paul MacLeod for Dale Wood (70) |
David Allan for Jack Henry (46) Richard Macadie for Alan Hughes (70) |
| Cautions | |
| Fraser Robertson (69) | None. |
| Red Cards | |
| None. | None. |
| Match Officials | |
|
Mat Northcroft (Referee) |
Match Report
Academy saw the welcome return of Jack Henry today for our visit to Mackessack Park. This was Henry’s first outing of the season returning from injury. Ben Sinclair is out injured and Davie Allan made the bench.
The match started off pretty even but Midfielder Fraser Robertson finished from 6 yards out to open the scoring for the home side, latching onto a Gary Kerr cross from the right after he had been slid in by Craig Cormack.
4 minutes before the half-time break Allen Mackenzie doubled their advantage rifling home past McCarthy into the corner of the net from the left side of the penalty area.
A great turn from Sam Mackay saw him break up-field and he played the ball onto Craig Gunn who smacked the post with a left foot strike.
McCarthy had to look sharp up the other end to palm away a fierce drive from Craig Cormack.
Half Time – Rothes 2 – Wick Academy 0
Craig Gunn pulled one back for Academy shortly after the restart, his 11th of the season. It came from a strong run from Alan Hughes who drove forward and fed onto Davie Allan on the left. Keeper Macdonald seemed to get something on Allan’s effort but the ball looped up over him for Gunn to run onto and stick home into the empty net from close range.
Academy failed to clear the ball out of defence, and it was picked up by Alasdair Stark who passed it forward to Craig Cormack and he riffled home with a cracking strike to put the game beyond Academy.
The win extended manager Ross Jack’s winning start to four wins from four games.
Full Time – Rothes 3 – Wick Academy 1
Match report written by John Briskham
Click here to view newspaper report.
Newspaper extract from Caithness Courier - 16th October 2019.
Squad Statistics (as at October 12th, 2019)
| 2019/2020 | All Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Nat |  |
 |
|
|
|
| Sean McCarthy (GK) | 26 |
|
14 | - | 182 | - |
| Danny Mackay | 28 |
|
8 | - | 144 | 5 |
| Jack Henry | 27 |
|
1 | - | 48 | 4 |
| Ross Allan | 26 |
|
14 | 1 | 235 | 12 |
| Gary Manson | 35 |
|
14 | 1 | 649 | 47 |
| Alan Farquhar | 31 |
|
11 | 1 | 327 | 5 |
| Jack Halliday | 25 |
|
10 | 2 | 81 | 13 |
| Alan Hughes | 24 |
|
14 | - | 113 | 5 |
| Sam Mackay | 30 |
|
13 | 3 | 339 | 143 |
| Ryan Campbell | 20 |
|
6 | - | 12 | 1 |
| Craig Gunn | 32 |
|
14 | 11 | 98 | 46 |
| Richard Macadie (sub) | 32 |
|
14 | 3 | 541 | 198 |
| David Allan (sub) | 30 |
|
8 | 3 | 355 | 148 |
Team Sheet (Scanned Photo)
League Table (as at October 12th, 2019)
| Pld | W | D | L | +/- | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Buckie Thistle | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | +24 | 33 |
| 2. | Brora Rangers | 11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | +31 | 27 |
| 3. | Inverurie Locos | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | +15 | 27 |
| 4. | Fraserburgh | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | +26 | 26 |
| 5. | Rothes | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | +19 | 25 |
| 6. | Formartine Utd | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | +23 | 22 |
| 7. | Nairn County | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | +4 | 20 |
| 8. | Forres Mech | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | +7 | 14 |
| 9. | WICK | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | -4 | 14 |
| 10. | Keith | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | -20 | 14 |
| 11. | Deveronvale | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 10 |
| 12. | Strathspey | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | -8 | 10 |
| 13. | Turriff United | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | -19 | 8 |
| 14. | Huntly | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | -15 | 7 |
| 15. | Clachnacuddin | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | -16 | 5 |
| 16. | Fort William | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | -29 | 3 |
| 17. | Lossiemouth | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | -33 | 3 |
Manager's Programme Notes
Interview by Matt Leslie – Caithness Courier.
Wick Academy boss Tom McKenna has issued a rallying call to his strikers to join hitman Craig Gunn at the top of the goalscoring charts.
Gunn, who has been in red-hot form this season, is the Highland League’s top scorer after his strike in Academy’s 3-1 loss at Rothes took his tally for the 2019/20 campaign to 12 goals.
However, despite the Scorries creating a number of chances, Gunn’s one was the only time the ball hit the back of the net with a whole host of opportunities being spurned.
The Speysiders found their way past Academy’s defence three times with Fraser Robertson, Allen Mackenzie and Craig Cormack on the scoresheet.
While Gunn’s excellent form has been a boon for Wick, there does appear to be an over-reliance on him – something McKenna is keen to address.
“We can’t just rely on one person,” the manager said.
“Craig, as I’ve said before, has been fantastic for us this season and looking like his old self.
“His goal on Saturday was all about him once again being in the right place at the right time and that’s something good strikers have an instinct for.
“Craig is top of the goalscoring charts but we do need others to join him.
“We played well at Rothes and created some good chances.
“But the final scoreline tells its own story. They scored three times and, while you could argue that all three came during periods of play when we were on top, the fact is that when they got their chances they took them.
“Admittedly their keeper made some good saves and played well. However, despite having much more of the ball than they did, there is little point in dominating possession if you don’t put the ball in the back of the net.”