Caberfeidh 3 Skye Camanachd 4. | |
05 April 2009 The Skye Camanachd second team won their first match of the season, beating Caberfeidh at Castle Leod in their North Division 2 clash on Saturday 4 April 2009. With manager Davie MacVicar on holiday, youth coach Alasdair Bruce joined MacVicar’s assistants Willie MacRae and Malky Munro to run the side. Andrew Banks made a welcome return to the team and took up the buckshee back position with Willie MacRae joining Martin Bruce at wing back. Scott Martin pushed into the centre line and Kieran Roberts returned from first team duty to take up the full centre position. Peter Gordon came in at buckshee forward and Danny Morrison returned to the forward line after an ankle knock. With Cabers not having a first team game, they were able to field a few of their top team fringe players in the match. Skye Camanachd got off the worst possible start after only 3 minutes when Martin MacDonald broke down the Cabers left and his Kirk Taylor knocked his cross into the net. Angie MacDonald, who has a great tussle with Cabers full back Alan Ross, went close for Skye but he couldn’t find the target after being set up by Gordon. However he made no mistake after 14 minutes when he collected a good pass from Stewart Grant and expertly flicked the ball high into the net past Caber’s keeper DJ Mellis. Skye went ahead when Peter Gordon ran short to collect an Iain MacPherson corner. With his back to goal, Gordon dropped his left shoulder, which wrong-footed his marker, and spun to his right. He then pulled his caman back 20 years and sent a delightful backhand shot, low across Mellis, into the Caberfeidh net. Skye increased their lead after 35 minutes when Danny Morrison drifted right and there seemed to be little danger until he suddenly sent a 20 yard shot into the back of the net. Caberfeidh pulled a goal back when Declan Wilson collected a corner from the left and beat Ross Graham from a suspiciously offside position. There were also difficult moments for Skye to deal with in defence as Cabers fought to stay in the game with both Willie MacRae and David Grant clearing goal bound efforts off the line. Skye lost wing centre Iain MacPherson towards the end of the first half as he was feeling unwell. Stuart Grant dropped back from wing forward and put in a good performance throughout. Keith MacKenzie came of the bench to replace Grant in the forward line. The pace of the game dropped at the start of the second half and both keepers were in form. Ross Graham did particularly well to clear a ball which wickedly deflected of a Skye defender’s stick and Mellis saved well from MacDonald. Skye scored the killer fourth goal 10 minutes from the end when Danny Morrison’s determination saw him force the keeper, full back and the ball into the net. Iain Grant replaced Morrison late in the game. Morrison’s knee was starting to stiffen after a first half clatter. Cabers pulled a goal back with the last hit of the game when Ruairidh McCready set up Kirk Taylor for his second. Kieran Roberts was Skye’s top performer, putting in a dominant display in the centre line against the experienced Iain MacDonald. Along side him, Scott Martin put in a masterly display of blocking throughout the game which helped Skye win the midfield battle. Peter Gordon was always in the thick of the action and regularly linked up well with Danny Morrison. Morrison also put in a confident performance and always looked likely to score. This was a good performance by the Skye team in what were very heavy underfoot conditions. The effort and superior fitness displayed by the Islanders will also stand them in good stead for this weekend’s Sutherland Cup first round tie against Lovat in Portree. Skye Camanachd from; Ross Graham, (captain), David Grant, Willie MacRae, Martin Bruce, Andrew Banks, Iain MacPherson, (Keith MacKenzie), Kieran Roberts, Scott Martin, Peter Gordon, Danny Morrison, (Iain Grant), Stewart Grant, Angie MacDonald sub Malky Munro not used
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