Wick Academy goalkeeper Sean McCarthy believes his younger brother, Danny, also a goalkeeper, will impress in tonight’s derby against Brora Rangers at Dudgeon Park.
Danny, 18, was in form at Turriff last Saturday after being drafted in at the last minute after Sean had to pull out with the recurrence of a foot injury suffered in the 1-1 draw against Rothes. Wick lost 1-0.
Sean said: “Danny has stood in for me before when I’ve been injured. I train with him all the time and I know how good a goalkeeper he is. He will play at Brora and I have no worries. That excellent performance at Turriff will do wonders for his confidence and if he plays like he did at the Haughs he’ll have no problems.
“I hurt my foot in the previous game against Rothes. I didn’t realise how bad it was until I tried to kick the ball in the warm-up. It was really sore and there was no point in carrying on. It would on only get worse, so Danny was called in.
“He did really well and was probably man of the match. Having said that, Turriff’s Kevin Main also made some great saves.”
Academy manager Gordon Connelly was impressed with his stand-in’s performance against Ross Jack’s men.
Connelly said: “He looked the part and is a great prospect for the future. If it wasn’t for an equally good display from Kevin Main at the other end we may well have gone on and won the game.
“I now have a dilemma for the game at Brora. The likes of Sam Mackay will be available along with one or two others but I would have no qualms about playing the youngsters who did so well at Turriff. They merited it so why not?
“Brora are still going for the title. It is a fantastic finish to the season and none of the three clubs, Brora, Cove or Buckie, are out of it. We know how good Brora can be and it will be a huge task for us but it will certainly be a game that we will be going all out to win.”
Brora manager Ross Tokely knows only a home win can keep title dream alive. He said: “It’s another big game, but we’ve been saying that for the last few weeks. We need to concentrate on winning our last two games and see what happens elsewhere.
“There have always been good games against Wick and they’re always quite competitive. It’s important we keep on winning but it’s out of our hands. I would much rather be in Buckie or Cove’s position as they are in the driving seat.
“But if we win our last two games, hopefully a little bit of luck will come our way.”