Wick Academy manager Gordon Connelly will not blame his players after they failed to hold on to a 3-2 lead in the closing minutes against Turriff United at Harmsworth Park.
Connelly watched his side surrender the lead after hitting the front in a topsy-turvy game but felt his side gave everything they had in a highly competitive encounter.
He said: “Turriff dominated the first 20 minutes but we gradually got ourselves back into the game. We hadn’t played well in the first half but we were confident we could improve – and I think we did.
“The players put everything into it – we had players playing with injuries and we just fell short in the end. A couple of cross balls, exactly what happened down in Turriff earlier in the season, cost us.”
Connelly knew the game was not over at 3-2 up. “It was never won then they just pumped everything into the box – we knew they would put us under pressure. Whether we switched off or it was down to individual errors I can’t be hard on them, they gave everything. We just need to pick ourselves up and go again against Inverurie Locos next week.
Davie Allan, with two goals, and Sam MacKay, who came off the bench to set up Wick’s last two goals, made a telling impact.
Connelly said: “Davie Allan’s pace terrorised them when he went up front and we know what Sam MacKay’s got, but due to a lack of fitness and his work commit-ments he’s not match fit.
“Just like it was at Turriff earlier in the season we thought we’d done enough for a draw but we’ve come away with nothing. We gave away two sloppy goals.
“I don’t think the pitch helped us today, it wasn’t the conditions to play good football but we’ve worked hard against them – we’ve just been undone in the end.”