Marc MacGregor has relished being back in the Breedon Highland League with Wick Academy.
The striker returned to the Scorries last year after a four-year break and netted 11 goals this season to finish as their top scorer.
A combination of factors led to MacGregor leaving the Harmsworth Park outfit, but the 29-year-old is grateful to be back in the Wick fold.
He said: “I’ve really enjoyed coming back to the Highland League, it’s great to play at this level.
“I stopped playing because I’d hurt my knee and was injured for a couple of years.
“On top of that I became a dad and bought a house so all those things meant football kind of had to take a back seat.
“But once my knee felt better I was pleased to get the chance to come back.”
MacGregor’s goals this season take him to 54 in total for Wick.
He is in a club of only 10 players who have reached a half century of strikes during Academy’s 30 years in the Highland League.
MacGregor added: “There’s not many guys that have done that for Wick and if I can keep clear of injuries hopefully I’ll add a few to it next season.”
Positive Scorrie signs
Wick got better as the season went on and amassed 23 of their 36 points in the second half of the campaign.
As he looks to next term MacGregor is optimistic and said: “We fairly turned things around in the second half of the season.
“For a lot of of boys it was their first season in the Highland League and it took time for everyone to gel.
“But if you look at the second half of the season, things are looking a lot better for us.
“We’ll have a similar squad so how we finished is encouraging for next season.
“We’ll be aiming for the top half next season after finishing 12th this season.”
Meanwhile, Keith’s appeal against Craig Gill’s red card versus Wick last weekend has been rejected by the Scottish FA.
The Maroons midfielder was dismissed by referee Owen Lawrence after being deemed to have caught Ross Gunn with an elbow in the face as both players tried to get up following a sliding challenge.
Despite Keith submitting video evidence of the incident the red card hasn’t been overturned.
