| Date | Friday, 08 July 2005 |
|---|---|
| Competition | FRIENDLY |
| Fixture/Score | Wick Academy 0:1 Ross County |
| Venue | Harmsworth Park |
| Attendance | |
| Referee | Jason Hasson |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Alan Farquhar of Wick Academy Match Centre. Wick Academy o Ross County 1 John Robertson took a strong Ross County team North looking to get his managerial reign off to a good start and to give himself an opportunity to assess the players at his disposal. In what was a very entertaining match it was County who ended the match victorious with a hard fought 1-0 victory over their Highland League opponents. A large crowd had assembled at the Harmsworth Park to see their team take on the Scottish League Division One side. County fielded three trialists in Goalkeeper Ian McAldon, Sean Webb and Fergus Teirnan. County started brightly pushing Wick on the back foot in the early exchanges with clever quick passing and movement with Teirnan and Rankine at the heart of things. The Division One side went close to breaking the deadlock in six minutes when a Teirnan pass split the Wick defence to find Winters through on goal, his first time shot from 12yards was partially saved by McMillan however the ball rolled towards goal only for Stevie Reid to clear off the line. Alex Burke was next to try his luck when he made space for himself on the edge of the 18yard box when he turned McCallum only to fire the ball high over McMillan's bar. Wick began to settle into the game and in thirteen minutes Nigel MacKenzie was given an opportunity to impress when Gary Farquhar playing in his first match for Wick since signing from Nairn County picked MacKenzie out with a 40 yard cross field pass beyond the County defence, the speedy left sided player controlled the ball on the edge of the 18yard box before taking the ball round the advancing McAldon in the County goal only to scuff his shot wide of the open goal as McCulloch applied the pressure. Back came County and the talented John Rankine worked space for himself 18yards out, his fiercely struck shot across McMillan's goal flew inches past the keepers left hand post. Again Wick replied when good exchanges between Shearer and Farquhar teed up Henderson and his first time shot flew wide of McAldon's left-hand post from 25yards. This gave Wick the incentive to go forward once again, several exchanges between several players ended with the ball finding its way to Gary Manson, his fiercely struck shot from 25yards which was heading inside McAldon's left-hand post, however McAldon got down low diving full length to his left-hand post to hold the ball to prevent a certain goal. It was the turn of the County players to work the ball about and when Burke wriggled clear of the Wick defence he found McMillan in inspired form when the Wick keeper brilliantly turned Burke's piercing drive from 16yards around the post for a corner. The resultant corner caused no problems for the Wick defence. County was to have the last opportunity of the half when a Burke cross from the right was met by the head of the impressive Rankine, his header from 12yards was confidently handled by McMillan in the Wick goal. After the restart County again started brightly, keeping possession for long periods only for the goal scoring opportunities created being spurned, with main sinners being Higgins and Winters. However kept up the pace and a Mark McCulloch cross from the right found the head of Rankin just inside the Wick 18 yard box, Rankine headed the ball back across the goal to the unmarked Higgins and with only the keeper to beat he headed the ball wide from 10yards when it looked easier to score. With 51mins played Wick replaced Henderson, McCallum, Farquhar and the impressive Nigel MacKenzie with McLeod, Weir, newcomer Martin Murray and another newcomer Jamie MacKenzie (Brother of Nigel) with County replacing Neil MacDonald with Blair Lawrie. Nine minutes later the Division one side went ahead in strange circumstances when County were awarded a soft free-kick , when Higgins went down very easily under pressure from Lamb.As the Wick players were sorting the wall out Higgins stepped up to fire his 18yard shot around the Wick wall, however McMillan looked to have the ball covered as he went down low to his left only for the ball to take a wicked bounce of the newly laid turf around the penalty area and up and over the astonished McMillan, much to the delight of the County players and management team. Wick came back strongly after that when Jamie MacKenzie played the ball out left to Weir, the young striker turned inside McCulloch on the edge of the 18yard box to fire in a first time shot across McAldon's goal only to see the ball drift inches past the keepers left-hand post, with the Wick fans ready acclaim a goal. By now both teams were testing each other out and it was the turn of County this time when Rankin struck a fierce shot from 18yards towards goal only for McMillan to once again produce a tremendous flying save to palm the ball away to safety. In 72mins Wick made further two substitutions when Manager Budge pulled off the impressive Cowie and Reid to replace them with new comers in Colin Sinclair (Defender), Scott MacKay (Midfielder, Recently released by Ross County's successful under 17 side). The game went into the final quarter and it was County who looked the more likely to add to their score as the Wick side began to show signs of tiredness, McKinlay was picked out on the right by Rankin, the Striker controlled the ball before driving past the challenges of the Wick defence only to see his powerfully struck shot from 14 yards fly wide of McMillan's Left -Hand post. The Wick Manager made two final substitutions in 82mins replacing the hard working midfielder Shearer and the commanding centre-half Lamb (who had done a magnificent job on Higgins throughout) with further new comers in Stuart Sinclair (Defender) and Sandy Sutherland (Striker). County finished the final five minutes of the match in control without causing the Wick goal to much problems, with Wick glad to hear referee Hasson signal the end of an entertaining match. In the end County deserved their slender victory however they were made to fight all the way for their victory by a buoyant Wick side who played some terrific football against the Division One side which must augur well for Alistair Budge who had impressive performances from McMillan, Cowie, Lamb and N.MacKenzie, with McCulloch,Teirnan, Rankine,Burke, showing up well for County. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | John Robertson |
| Starting 11 | 1: Ian McCaldon, 2: Neil McDonald, 3: James Lauchlan, 4: Sean Webb, 5: John Rankin, 6: Fergus Tiernan, 7: Kevin McKinlay, 8: Mark McCulloch, 9: Alexander Burke, 10: David Winters, 11: Sean Higgins 1 |
| Bench | 0: , 0: Shaun Kerr, 0: Steven McGarry, 0: Blair Lawrie |
| Wick Academy | |
| Manager | Alistair Budge |
| Starting 11 | Don MacMillan, Alex Lamb, Paul McCallum, Gary Farquhar, Gavin Henderson, Martin MacGregor, Nigel MacKenzie, Gary Manson, Craig Shearer, David Cowie, Stevie Reid |
| Bench | Andrew MacLeod, Colin Sinclair, Shaun Sinclair, Scott Mackay-Steven, Martin Murray, Jamie MacKenzie, Sandy Sutherland, Gary Weir |