Allan is key player for Wick in triumph

Quickfire hat-trick helps dump Keith

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WICK Academy co-manager Richard Hughes praised hat-trick scorer David Allan, who scored his treble in less than quarter of an hour at Harmsworth Park as the hosts defeated Keith.

The visitors almost fought back to earn a point having scored three quickfire goals themselves – including one from goalkeeper Andy Shearer – but it was not enough as Wick triumphed.

Hughes said: “I was delighted for Davie because he works really hard as the lone attacker. He was supported well by Richard MacAdie, Sam Mackay and Stevie Cunningham from midfield and did really well to get his hat-trick.

“We got there in the end with the win and even at 4-0, I thought we should have had a few more because we had one or two chances to kill the game off.”

Keith manager Martin Allan added: “It was atrocious conditions, both sets of players did well. In the first half, Wick had the winds behind their backs and I was delighted at half-time that we managed to keep the score to just 1-0.

“Unfortunately for us, in the first 20 minutes of the second half they opened us up a number of times to get the goals.”

Wick grabbed the only goal of the first half on 17 minutes when Richard MacAdie clipped the ball into the path of Sam Mackay who showed a cool head to place the ball beyond Shearer.

Allan started his hat-trick eight minutes into the second half when he latched on to Alan Farquhar’s pass and placed a low effort into the net. The attacker doubled his tally on 61 minutes when he was teed up by MacAdie before shooting low into the net. Then just six minutes later, he netted his third when he tapped home Steven Cunningham’s pass.

Keith started to mount their fightback on 73 minutes when Jamie Lennox’s drive beat Wick goalkeeper Alan Bokas thanks to a wicked deflection. Then came Shearer’s strike as his long kick down the pitch bounced over the goalkeeper’s head and into the net.

Substitute Dean Donaldson scored Keith’s third goal in the space of just four minutes when he headed home Gary Harris’s cross from the right at the back post.