(20/08/2022 – BREEDON HIGHLAND LEAGUE – GRANT PARK, LOSSIEMOUTH)
LOSSIEMOUTH landed their first league points of the season with victory over WICK ACADEMY. The Coasters had to do it the hard way, though, after falling behind to a Gordon MacNab penalty early in the second half, but late goals from Liam Archibald and substitute Adam Macleod gave Lossie their second win of the week.
Wick arrived on the back of a heavy loss at Clachnacuddin in the North of Scotland Cup, and listed only two subs as the overlap between the Highland League season and northern local league continued to cause headaches. Lossie stuck by the side that dealt with Forres Mechanics in midweek, with all eleven starters returning to face Wick.
The victory at Forres was clearly still on the minds of the Lossie players as they took the game to Wick in the early stages. Ross Morrison hit the crossbar from a corner early on, a Fraser Forbes effort struck the upright, and Ross Archibald hit the side netting as Lossie started well without finding the net.
At the other end Logan Ross was again haunting Wick, keeping the tourists quiet as he did in the same game last season, and an entertaining game reached half time without a goal.
HALF TIME – LOSSIEMOUTH 0-0 WICK ACADEMY
The second half was barely minutes old when the tourists were given the chance to take the lead from the penalty spot. Ryan O’Halloran was adjudged to have fouled Jack Halliday in the box, and Gordon MacNab converted from the spot, his second goal of the season.
The wasted first half chances looked like coming back to haunt Lossie as the game wore on with Wick still in front, but the dismissal of Ryan Campbell for tangling with Lewis McAndrew gave the Coasters renewed energy as the patched-up guests set about playing for a full half hour with a man missing.
With sixteen minutes to go Lossie were level. A Ross Archibald cross found his brother Liam, and the club captain – scorer of the winner in this fixture last season – powered home a header to square things up. The equaliser left plenty of time for a winner and to the delight of the home fans, it came from a Lossie player. Adam Macleod scored his first goal in Lossie colours with four minutes remaining, rifling home from inside the area to earn his new side their first home league win since March.
The Coasters now have a six-pointer against Strathspey Thistle to look forward to on Wednesday, ahead of a trip to Brechin City on the weekend.
FULL TIME – LOSSIEMOUTH 2-1 WICK ACADEMY
TEAMS:
LOSSIEMOUTH – Logan Ross; Ryan Farquhar, James Leslie, Lewis MacAndrew, Ryan O’Halloran, Liam Archibald, Niall Kennedy, Ross Morrison, Ross Elliott (Ryan Stuart (70)), Ross Archibald, Fraser Forbes (Adam Macleod (62)); UNUSED SUBS – Jack MacArthur, Jared Kennedy, Harry Allen, Kyle Morrison
WICK ACADEMY – Corey Paterson; Alan Hughes, Ross Allan, Joe Anderson, Jack Henry, Ryan Campbell, Jack Henry, Ryan Campbell, Jack Halliday (Alan Farquhar (58)), Harry Hennem, Gordon MacNab, Mark Munro (Gary Manson (77)), Mark Macadie; UNUSED SUBS – None
GOALS:
LOSSIEMOUTH – Liam Archibald (75), Adam Macleod (86)
WICK ACADEMY – Gordon MacNab (47, pen)
RED CARD:
WICK ACADEMY – Ryan Campbell (63)
REFEREE:
Darren Munro