Wick Academy withstood a late Deveronvale fightback to overcome their hosts by the odd goal in seven in a highly entertaining encounter.
The Caithness outfit led 4-1 with only five minutes remaining having controlled most of the game but late counters from Vale saw them hanging on at the end to claim the points.
Wick manager Gary Manson said: “We were in cruise control and then all of a sudden we were defending a free kick into the box to deny Vale drawing level.
“That’s six wins in a row however which we are delighted with and had we taken other chances early in the second half when we started really well it could easily have been five or six to be honest.
“The only disappointing thing is the injury to Joe Anderson but hopefully he will not be missing for too long.”
League table following today's games pic.twitter.com/P5WI4UXgtt
— Wick Academy FC (@WickAcademyFC) January 15, 2022
Wick opened the scoring after 10 minutes when Steven Anderson headed home from close range before Kyle Willox couldn’t keep a Mark Munro cutback out of his goal, diverting the ball into his own net.
Anderson added a third with a fine finish five minutes after the restart but Vale’s trialist pulled one back in the 64th minute with a blistering shot from 14 yards.
David Allan looked as though he had put Wick out of sight with a close-range effort seven minutes later but a header from Innes McKay after 85 minutes and a Dane Ballard strike a minute from time set up a nervy final few minutes for the visitors.
Vale manager Craig Stewart admitted Wick deserved to win the game but praised his players for fighting right until the final whistle.
He said “The game showed why Wick are on a good run. They are a team that has been playing regularly while we were rusty in all areas of the park due to not having played in nearly a month.
“Once again we have scored three goals at home but come away with nothing due to conceding bad goals and we have to learn to cut out the mistakes.”
Keith stroll to Strathspey success
Keith marked their 1200th Highland League win of all time with a 5-1 success against Strathspey Thistle.
Doubles from Scott Gray and James Brownie along with a superb individual goal from Dem Yunus helped the Maroons to victory.
Keith boss Craig Ewen said: “These performances have been coming and I felt we dominated from start to finish.
“Man for man we were outstanding, a really good performance where everybody that came on did a job.
“We were aggressive, played in the right areas and the workrate was excellent.
“I felt that the 2-1 scoreline at half-time flattered Strathspey and it was certainly a different feeling coming off the pitch with a really good three points at home”.
The home side, with on loan goalkeeper Balint Demus from Cove Rangers making his debut, opened the scoring in the 20th minute, midfielder James Brownie netting for the third successive game following a corner.
However, the only blip of the afternoon for Keith came ten minutes later when a loose ball off a Demus save fell kindly for Craig MacKenzie who converted from eight yards.
Keith regained the lead six minutes from half-time in marvellous fashion, a right wing Kieran Mooney cross being hammered home by Scott Gray.
The striker gave his side a bit of breathing space just after the hour mark when he pounced to rifle home his fourth goal of the season.
The Maroons continued to dominate, pushing forward at every chance, and two goals in three minutes left Strathspey totally deflated.
With 83 minutes played Yunus, in sparkling form in midfield, hit the crossbar with his initial shot, but followed up to dance his way into the danger area before calmly slotting home.
Then Brownie grabbed his fifth goal in three games, scrambling the ball over the line amidst a ruck of players.
Strathspey manager Charlie Brown said: “We hadn’t played for over a month, but no excuses, the players should have been up for the game.
“In the last 15-20 minutes they let themselves down. There was a lack of passion and it was very frustrating.”
