Formartine Utd 1
Wick Academy 2
League

Manager's Programme Notes

Wick Academy boss Tom McKenna hailed the “best defensive effort” he has seen during his two years at the club following Saturday’s 2-1 win at Formartine United.
Goals from Ryan Campbell and Gordon MacNab, either side of an equaliser from Conor Gethins, gave the Scorries their first win since the beginning of November.
The result was a much-needed boost for both manager and club and it was no coincidence that it arrived with McKenna being able to call upon a full substitutes’ bench.
Injury worries still persist at Harmsworth Park but the number of walking wounded had decreased enough for a full squad to travel down to Pitmedden.
A heroic rearguard effort was required for the Scorries to pull off the victory – a repeat of the result on Academy’s last visit to North Lodge Park, in 2018.
McKenna said: “I’ll be honest and say that in terms of possession Formartine had the better of the game.
“Were we lucky? Well, there are two sides to football, attack and defence, and we certainly excelled in the latter.
“We defended brilliantly and that has to be the best defensive effort I’ve seen our team put in since I took charge. They were superb.
“Someone can point to possession and territory and how much time Formartine spent in our half. I can point to the one statistic that matters – the final score.
“The communication among the back four was outstanding and the discipline was superb.
“We were under a lot of pressure at times but the organisation of our defence was fantastic and they gave us a great platform to play on the counter-attack.
“We put Danny Mackay in the centre of defence and he slotted in very well.
“He has established a good rapport with Alan Farquhar and that helped as he worked well alongside Alan.
“Danny is a good, honest player who is also strong and brave and he brings one hundred per cent effort every time he steps out onto the park.
“Alan as always played well at the heart of the defence, as did Colin MacRae and Gary Manson in the full-back roles.”
Ryan Campbell and Gordon MacNab provided the goals and McKenna was delighted to see how the opener was created.
“Given that our attacking players are not blessed with height, we’ve been working on our low crosses into the box to give the strikers a better chance of getting in a shot on goal,” the manager said. “Sure enough, that’s how our first goal came about. Davie Allan made a good run down the flank and he drilled in a low ball that fell nicely to Ryan and he put it away.
“Hopefully this gives us something to build on and I can tell you the bus journey back home was a lot happier than it has been these last few weeks.”

Interview by Matt Leslie – Caithness Courier.