14 July 2010
The 2010 Balliemore Cup finalists Kinlochshiel and Lochaber have met twice already this season.
The sides first met on league duty on 13 March 2010 at Spean Bridge and Lochaber got their Marine Harvest North Division 1 campaign off to the best possible start with a 3-2 win. The home side had former youth player Jack Keenan in goal as a replacement for club stalwart Angus Morrison who retired at the end of last season. Ally Ferguson’s Lochaber side went ahead after 35 minutes when Lachlan Campbell scored the only goal of the first half. Keith Neville made it 2-0 just 3 minutes into the second period but Shiel’s Gordy MacDonald pulled a goal back 0n 75 minutes. Sean Nicolson scored what proved to be a vital third goal for the home side just a couple of minutes from the final whistle. The goal was crucial as Keith MacRae scored for the visitors in injury time. The west coast side had lost both their opening games but with players returning to their side, their winless run did not go on for much longer.
The sides met in their return league encounter in a rearranged match at Kirkton on Saturday 15 May 2010. The home side had been in good form of late after losing their opening 3 league games with the MacRae brothers Keith, Finlay and John all featuring amongst their goal scorers. Shiel were missing defender John Don MacKenzie thanks to a training injury and fellow defender Zander Grant with an ankle knock. David Falconer came in to make his first team debut at wing back and his performance impressed managers Keith Loades and Johnston Gill. Lochaber had former manager Michael Delaney in charge following the resignation of former boss Ally Ferguson and his assistant Jason Latto the previous week. These two well matched sides fought out a very competitive match which provided great entertainment for the west coast crowd. Lochaber shocked the home support by racing into an early 2 goal lead. Keith Neville scored them both – the first a penalty awarded by referee Deek Cameron on 8 minutes and the second was a 22 minute strike which beat Shiel keeper Graham Kennedy. Shiel got themselves back into the game on 28 minutes when John MacRae weaved his way through the visiting defence and slotted the ball past keeper Jake Keenan. Finlay MacRae leveled the match on 35 minutes with a contender for goal of the season. MacRae collected the ball on the half way line and beat everyone in front of him before him before dispatching the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-2. The second half served up more of the same and the visitors regained the lead on the hour mark when an Andrew MacDonald shot was deflected past keeper Kennedy. However Shiel were level just 2 minutes later when Finlay MacRae netted his second to make it 3-3. Lochaber were given a great chance to snatch the points when they were awarded their second penalty of the game after 86 minutes. However keeper Kennedy saved the spot hit to keep the match level. This boosted Shiel and Keith MacRae scored what proved to be the winner just 2 minutes from time. This really was a fantastic game of shinty and had it not been from a couple of point-blank saves from Lochaber keeper Keenan, and one miraculous stop when he tipped a Finlay MacRae rocket shot over the bar, the winning margin could have been greater. The victory meant that Kinlochshiel leap-frog Caberfeidh to go top of the table.
These were both exciting meetings between the sides with each game decided by just a single goal.
The 2010 Balliemore Cup Final between Kinlochshiel and Lochaber takes place at An Aird on Saturday 17 July 2010 and throw up is at 4pm. |