Mile Oak edge seven-goal thriller against Wick

Mile Oak started to find some joy through frontman Harry Furnell getting at Wick’s back four. The pressure paid off when Furnell was fouled from behind leading to a penalty, which was calmly converted by Oak captain Zach Haulkham. Less than two minutes later, Wick were back in the game. Some poor defending from a throw-in allowed Conor Bull to create a yard of space and score past Aaron Stenning with a smart finish.

A flash of brilliance from Jack Stenning led to a 2-1 lead for Mile Oak, thanks to a low drilled shot into the bottom corner. Once again however, Wick were quickly back on level terms, after defending brilliantly to retain the ball, a rare error by Oak defender Michael Gould resulted in him setting up a Wick player for a simple tap in to an empty net to put the score at 2-2 going into HT.

Five minutes into the second half, Chris Whittington put a fantastic cross in from the right which fell to Harry Furnell, who duly smashed the ball past the Wick keeper to put Oak into a 3-2 lead. Just a few minutes later, Mile Oak were two ahead for the first time when Ross Smith fired home from 20 yards out with a fantastic strike. Just after the hour mark, a brilliant cross-field pass from the Wick full-back created a mix up between Oak keeper Stenning, and his back four, leading to another tap in, into an empty net. 4-3.

A questionable second-booking for Oak captain Haulkham created a nervous last five minutes for Oak players and supporters, but despite pressure, Wick couldn’t find a way through to get an equaliser, leading to Mile Oak's first win of the season.

Manager Tommy Kirwan said: “I'm happy to get a win on the board, especially with some great performances from our young players. I fully expect our momentum to pick up from here. Wick are a solid side with some standout players and I expect them to pick up more wins as the season goes on, good luck to them.”