Andrew Hunter hit all four goals as Huntly came from behind to record a first league win against Wick Academy at Harmsworth Park since September 2010.
Manager Allan Hale was full of praise for his side after the 4-2 victory.
He said: “We’ve got that resiliency and mentality about the group of players now.
“You can see there’s a great team spirit on the pitch and the players have responded unbelievably well.
“I thought we were comfortable in the first half but made two errors which led to goals.
“Credit to the players they did what we asked in the second half and we’ve seen four equally great finishes from Andrew Hunter.
“It shows a lot about him as he came in during the second half of the season and finished our top goalscorer.”
Wick went in front after ten minutes when Mark Macadie was left unmarked in the opposition box to head home his sixth of the season.
The lead didn’t last and Huntly struck back two minutes later after Logan Johnstone burst forward on the left and played the ball back from the by-line for Hunter to strike low into the bottom corner.
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The Scorries regained the lead a minute from the break when a short clearance from Kyle Dalling went to Gordon MacNab and he gathered the ball before firing low to take his tally to eight for the campaign.
Penalty a little contentious
A push by Jack Henry on Michael Dangana gave away a penalty in the 71st minute and Hunter dispatched the kick high into the net to level.
Hunter completed his hat-trick with six minutes left, finding the net from a tight angle. Two minutes later, Hunter would wrap up the scoring adding a fourth after the home defence failed to deal with a Dangana cross.
Wick finished the season on an eight match win-less streak and manager Gary Manson admitted Huntly’s penalty award at 2-1 changed the game.
He said: “From my view, the penalty was it was a little bit contentious and it gave them the impetus to go on and win the game.
“We had chances to score a third and fourth goal and put the game to bed but it’s been the story of our season – not being clinical at one end of the park and not defending with enough conviction at the other end.”
Lossiemouth 0-3 Brechin City
Brechin City brought the curtain down on their inaugural season in the Highland League with a 3-0 victory over Lossiemouth at Grant Park.
It wasn’t one of their better displays of the season but manager Andy Kirk was delighted to end the season on a high note and paid tribute to the City supporters who have travelled long distances this season to cheer on their team.
He said: “We were determined to end the season on a positive note with a victory and I’m delighted that we’ve managed to achieve that in our final match which stretched our winning run to 11 matches.
“It certainly wasn’t our best performance but we had tremendous backing as we’ve had all season and it was great to send the supporters home in a happy frame of mind.
“The fans have been absolutely brilliant for us this season and they’ve had to endure long travelling times to most of our away fixtures but the players have greatly appreciated the backing they’ve received and we’ll be determined to repay their faith when next season gets under way.
Ambition to enhance squad ahead of next season
“Kevin Mackie (chairman), Grant Johnston (vice-chairman) and Craig Levein (club advisor) have all given me great support during the course of this season and we’ll be looking to bring in additional players during the close-season who will enhance our squad to bolster our challenge next season.”
City grabbed the lead in the 12th minute when Marc Scott fired home a 15-yard shot which took a slight deflection on its way into the net.
They made it 2-0 ten minutes before the break when Cammy Ross headed home a Kieran Inglis corner.
The Coasters put the visitors under pressure after the break but the game was over as a contest in the 76th minute when Michael Weir turned a Julian Wade cross into his own net.
Lossiemouth boss Joe Russell was disappointed with the final score-line given the effort his players put into the match but he thought that the performance augured well for next season.
“I thought that the boys battled really well,” he said.
“We never gave up and perhaps just a wee bit more quality up top would have paid dividends.
“Overall, I thought that we were really superb against a team who have just come down from the league above us.
“We’re improving every year and to feel disappointed not to score against a team like Brechin just shows how far we’ve come.”
