Wick vs Rothes (5-0)

Luckasz Geruzel (left) is congratulated by Alan Farquhar on scoring the 1st goal

Sam MacKay beats a Rothes defender on the left wing

Luckasz Geruzel fires a shot just over

Greg Sim makes a point blank save from Luckasz Geruzel

Rothes goalie Greg Sim takes down Richard MacAdie and gets sent off

Sam MacKay (right) congratulates Luckasz Geruzel on scoring the 3rd goal from the penalty spot

Luckasz Geruzel score with a penalty

Sam Mackay is brought down by Rothes captain Michael Dunn

James Pickles congratulates Richard MacAdie on his cracking second goal

Wick Academy beat Rothes 5-0 today at Harmsworth Park to go five points clear at the top of the Highland League as Cove Rangers game was postponed. Gary Manson played his 400th match and was captain for the game. The weather was perfect for the large crowd - until the last 10 mins when a hail storm struck.

Luckasz Geruzel scored in the first half and then Richard MacAdie scored to make it 2-0 at half-time. The first half was pretty poor. Rothes goalie Greg Sim pulled down Richard MacAdie at the start of the 2nd half and got sent off. Luckasz Geruzel scored from the spot and it was game over. Wick moved up a gear and Richard MacAdie scored with a cracking 30 yard shot into the top corner. Richard then completed his hat-trick with a late penalty. Davie Allan hit the post late on. The score could have been a lot more, but the Rothes goalie and his replacement were in top form.

Pics from the game should in the Sunday Post tomorrow and the P&J on Monday.

Thurso's game vs Muir of Ord was postponed. Halkirk Utd had no game. Caithness RFC's away game was also postponed. Only two other Highland League games were played today. Brora lost 4-3 at home to Nairn County and Fort William beat Strathspey Thistle 1-0.

Sports Photography Award - London

The Societies' representative Mick Jones and myself with the glass globe trophy 

This posse of  lady photographers from Scotland, including Thurso's Julie Fraser (centre), pose in front of  the camera for a change

Jules MacDonald (right) and her sister Jill kindly allowed me to join their table at the awards.
See Jules' website for fantastic fashion pics www.jmstyle.co.uk

Face Box had a photo booth at the awards, along with lots of props. It got busier as the night went on!

I attended the SWPP Photography Convention at the Hilton London Metropole for 3 days last week and was delighted to win the 2012 Sports Photographer of the Year award at the Saturday night awards dinner in front of over 400 photographers from the UK and abroad.

The SWPP website has a list and photos of all the winners, the link to the sports category is:

http://www.swpp.co.uk/convention/photographic_competition_12/sport.htm

I was shortlisted along with 3 others from Ireland and Malta. The winning pic was taken at the Caithness RFC vs Hillfoots game last February and shows Hamish Coghill getting a painful hand in the face.

The week long convention attracted around 15,000 people, so it was pretty busy! There was a trade show with over 200 stands and dozens of talks and demonstrations from the best UK and foreign photographers.

There were two talks on sport photography. One by Dominic Aquilina from Malta, who is an official photographer for UEFA and has photographed the last 7 Champions League Finals. Dom travels all over Europe taking sports pics. His website is;

http://www.fotoaquilina.com/

The other was by Ian Cook from Wales, who is the director of the sports photography agency CameraSport:

http://www.camerasport.com/

Ian travels all over the UK and has photographed the Ryder Cup and the London Olympics.

Both talks were excellent and I picked up lots of useful tips. I attended 9 other talks ranging from fashion to portraits to cars to weddings. The top class speakers were:

John Denton
Damian McGillicuddy
Sam Sciarrino (Canada)
Adam Duckworth (two talks)
Lenny Smith
Dennis Orchard
Beverley and Barrie Downie
Damien Lovegrove

Wick Academy vs Turriff Utd

Sam MacKay celebrates his first goal

Nicholas Gray scores Turriff's first

Michael Steven with a flying tackle on Nicholas Gray

Mike McKenzie congratulates No.11 Nicholas Gray

James Chalmers with a perfectly timed tackle on Sam MacKay

Sam Mackay scores his second

Turriff goalie Steven Coutts was glad that this attempt went wide

No. 10 Richard MacAdie congratulates Graham Bayne on scoring on his debut

Michael Steven jumps for a corner ball

Ross Allan grimaces at another save from him by Steven Coutts

Ross Allan rips apart the Turriff defence yet again

Michael Steven and Davie Allan just cannot reach a cross ball in front of goal

Wick Academy outplayed Turriff Utd to win 6-2 at Harmsworth Park yesterday in front of a crowd of around 500. Sam MacKay opened the scoring after 15 mins with a flying header at the back post. Richard MacAdie fired in number 2 soon after and then Nicholas Gray pulled one back when a defence splitting pass put him clean through. Luckas Geruzel then hit two to make it 4-1 at half-time.

Sam Mackay chipped the keeper early in the second half before he scored an own goal with a 40 yard back pass that went flying past a bewildered Michael Gray. New signing ex Scottish SPL player Graham Bayne, scored after being on the pitch for only 5 mins. He blasted a loose ball from a corner past a packed defence into the corner of the net.

Ross Allan came on for the last 15 mins and ripped apart the Turriff defence time after time only to find goalie Steven Coutts in fine form. Ross hit the post with one low effort.

As Cove Rangers beat Nairn County 3-1, Wick remain in 2nd place, only 1 point behind Cove, but with 2 games in hand.

Highland League's dream team

Alan Farquhar (left)

Richard MacAdie (left)

The Press & Journal football reporter Dave Edwards published his 2012 Highland League dream team today. Wick Academy's Alan Farquhar and Richard MacAdie both made it into the team. The other Wick players who were considered but didn't make it were;

Gary Manson, Stevie Cunningham, Sam MacKay & Davie Allan.

The team is:
Goalie: Callum Donaldson, Nairn County
Defence: Graham Fraser, Forres - Alan Farquhar - Graeme Grant, Forres - Stuart Smith, Formartine
Midfield: Paul Emslie, Cove Rangers - Richard MacAdie - Steven MacKay, Brora - Clark Bain, Locos
Forwards: Connor Gethins & Robbie Duncanson, Nairn
Subs: John Campbell, Clach - Ryan Broadhurst, Locos - Allan Pollock, Clach - Zander Sutherland, Buckie - Martin Johnston, Cove Rangers