Scottish Football Journey

Harmsworth Park, Wick Academy

When I came to Wick, I was on holiday. I was staying at a caravan site in Embo. We had decided to make a day out of it and went to orkney first and then a curry in Wick. Of course the trip to Orkney didn't interest me at all but the curry was good and the journey up here produced some amazing scenery of the hills and seas of the north coast. It was really amazing. Some of the roads were strange too, going up so high your ears popped. But the thing you notice about Wicks pitch is that it is on a big slope, one goal is higher than the other. It was strange, but unique. It didn't seem to trouble the players anyway.

The game was a North of Scotland Cup Quarter Final between Wick Academy and Thurso (from the North Caledonian League) The first half saw Wick take a 2 goal lead through Gary Weir and Stevie Cunningham. Wick were by far the better team and this game looked as if it was a matter of how many goals Wick were to get. But Thurso had their chances and good ones too. They managed to pull a goal back just before half time through Andrew Bremner. Good goal and at least now the 2nd half would be fiercely competitive

 As expected, Thurso were pushing for that equaliser and it finally came in the dying seconds of the 2nd half. A scramble in the box fell to Mark Nicol on the edge of the box and his shot took a huge deflection and hit the back of the net to send the game to penalties, which Wick won 5-4. Wick probably deserved their win but Thurso were a good match for them in the end. I thought as I was leaving Harmsworth Park that it was one of the best grounds in the Highland league. I particularly like their tree trunk like barriers. A really good day out.