Frank McGettrick was thrilled with Lossiemouth’s display as they recorded their first win and first clean sheet of the season.
The Coasters defeated Wick Academy 1-0 at Grant Park thanks to Henry Jordan’s first-half finish.
Having drawn two and lost nine in all competitions this term prior to Saturday’s game, manager McGettrick was pleased to pick up three points and a first shut-out of the season.
He said: “I’m really happy with the three points and I thought we deserved it.
“In the first half we kept the ball well and we had more creativity in the team.
“Henry scored a very good goal and he could have had a hat-trick with the chances he had.
“I’m happy with the three points and the clean sheet, which is so important, if we hadn’t kept the clean sheet we’d have dropped two points or lost all three.
“The only thing would not be scoring more goals because a second goal would have taken the pressure off us.
“They started to come into it in the second half and we had to make a couple of changes due to knocks.
“When you miss the chances you keep thinking ‘something will happen.’
“But we held on and I hope this can kick us on.”
Jordan on the mark
Both sides created chances early on with Fraser Forbes heading wide and Jordan volleying Ryan Stuart’s pinpoint cross over from eight yards for Lossie.
For Wick, Gordon MacNab capitalised on James Leslie’s slip, but couldn’t hit the target from the left side of the area.
On eight minutes MacNab spun away from Lewis McAndrew to break through on goal, but goalkeeper Cameron Farquhar made a good save and also repelled Gary Pullen’s strike on the rebound.
In the 33rd minute the Coasters made the breakthrough when Jordan controlled a Michael Weir cross from the right, wriggled into space and fired a left-footed shot beyond Graeme Williamson from 14 yards.
Lossie were buoyed by their goal and in first half stoppage time should have made it 2-0. Jordan picked out McAndrew with a free-kick from the left, but he somehow headed wide from inside the six-yard box.
Early in the second period Ross Morrison broke through on goal, but was thwarted by Williamson.
At the other end Robert McLean headed wide from a Jack Halliday corner as Academy tried to create some pressure.
In the 81st minute Wick almost levelled when Ryan Campbell’s chip released MacNab, Farquhar raced from his line to smother, but MacNab kept the loose ball alive and crossed for Marc MacGregor, whose header was blocked.
Seconds later Lossie could have sealed the points when Morrison burst away from Owen Rendall on the left, but with Dean Stewart waiting in the middle, Morrison shot and it went past the far post.
In the dying embers Jordan twice broke through on the Scorries goal, but on both occasions his shots didn’t have the power required to beat Williamson.
Inconsistency frustrates Academy
When asked for his reflections on Wick’s display, player-manager Gary Manson said: “Rotten from start to finish, I’ve not got one good word to say about it.
“We had two chances the whole game, one good one and one sort of half chance.
“In the second half we got near the box, huffed and puffed and it was absolutely terrible.
“It’s been like this for a while, we’re so inconsistent. You don’t know what you’re going to get from one game to the next.
“It was terrible, I’ll need to look at it again, but it was painful to watch to be honest.”
Teams
Lossiemouth (4-2-3-1) – Farquhar 7, Weir 7, Leslie 7, McAndrew 7, O’Halloran 7; L Archibald 7, Kennedy 7 (Paterson 54); Morrison 7, Jordan 7, Stuart 7 (Mitchell 44), Forbes (Stewart 75) 7.
Subs not used – Hutcheson, R Archibald, Fraser, Niedwiedz, Kelly.
Wick Academy (4-4-2) – Williamson 7, Rendall 6, Harrold 6, McLean 7, Farquhar 6 (Aitkenhead 82); Macadie 6 (Halliday 54), Pullen 7, Coghill 6 (MacGregor 54), Campbell 6; Gunn 6, MacNab 6.
Subs not used – Manson, Farquhar, Aitkenhead, More.
Referee Billy Baxter – 5.
Man of the match – Henry Jordan.
Call offs
Elsewhere, Buckie Thistle v Brechin City and Rothes v Turriff United were postponed due to waterlogged pitches.
Brora Rangers v Keith in the semi-final of the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup also fell foul of the torrential rain.
Meanwhile, the Cattachs have signed Ross County midfielder Adam Mackinnon on loan, the 20-year-old previously had a spell at Dudgeon Park in the 2021-22 season.
