Ireland Win Marine Harvest Quaich In Dramatic International At The Bught. | |
14 November 2010 Ireland won the Marine Harvest Quaich with a dramatic 21-16 win over Scotland at the Bught Park, Inverness on Saturday 13 November 2010. Scotland held a 3-1 advantage following their 22-21 victory in the first meeting between the sides at Croke Park a fortnight earlier. The victory earned the Scots 2 points whilst each sided gained a bonus point for scoring 2 goals. The Scot’s retained the same squad from the first game with Ireland making just one change as Offaly’s Rory Hannify replaced the injured Stephen Clynch from Meath. Scotland started brightly on a heavy Bught Park pitch and Kingussie’s Ronald Ross gave the healthy crowd something to cheer about when he slammed the ball past Kildare keeper Paul Dermody after terrific lead up play from Kyles Athletic’s Roddy MacDonald. However the Irish fought back and Willie Hyland from Laois pulled a point back before a rasping drive from Offaly’s Shane Dooley put the visitors a point ahead (1-0) 3-4 (1-1). Scotland captain Ronald Ross looked to be on a mission and he put his side ahead again when he scored 2 points with a free from the left. The end to end nature of the game continued and after 20 minutes, Down’s Gareth “Magic” Johnston put the ball over the bar to square the game (1-2) 5-5 (1-2). A couple of minutes later, Fort William’s Gary Innes, wearing a helmet after having a broken nose sustained in the first game re-set during the week, saw a goal-bound effort brilliantly saved by Irish keeper Dermody when the ball looked sure to be heading for the keeper’s top left corner of the net. Innes put the resultant dead ball wide of the target to pass up a 2 point opportunity. However Innes did put the Scots in front with a ball over the bar to make it (1-3) 6-5 (1-2). The pace of the game was frantic and the desire to win from both camps ensured a particularly physical contest. The field of play was certainly no place for the feint hearted. On 31 minutes Scotland keeper Stuart MacKintosh from Glenurquhart made a brilliant save low to his right to deny Brendan Murtagh after the Westmeath man collected a cross from the right. Scotland suffered a blow moments later when Ronald Ross went over his ankle as he battled for possession and had to leave the field. It later turned out that Ross, who had delayed and ankle operation to play in the international series, suffered ligament damage to his other ankle. Glenurquhart’s Andrew Corrigan came on in place of Ross. Fort Williams John MacDonald scored a 2 pointer which looked to have given Scotland a 3 point interval advantage but in injury time, Antrim’s Neil McManus from burst through the middle of the home defence and he gave MacKintosh no chance to make it (1-5) 8-8 (2-2) at the break. The second half was only a couple of minutes old when John MacDonald avoided a couple of tackles to tuck the ball into the net and put Scotland (2-5) 11-8 (2-2) in front. This meant both sides had earned a bonus point for scoring 2 goals so Scotland led the series 4-2. Ireland’s only hope was to win the game by 2 points to square the series at 4-4 and score enough points to over-turn Scotland’s aggregate points lead. Garry Innes was denied a point 10 minutes into the second half when a great effort came back into play off the upright. Shane Dooley was, as in the first game, a constant threat and he netted his second a couple of minutes later after some poor home defending. The Irish then scored 3 points in 6 minutes through Shane Dooley, Neil McManus and Brendan Murtagh as the game swung (2-5) 11-14 (3-5) in their favour. A scramble in the Irish goal area after 10 minutes from time saw keeper Paul Dermody lie on the ball and referee Deek Cameron awarded Scotland a penalty. The Irish players and bench were unhappy but the decision looked correct. Gary Innes held his nerve and with a keeper and 2 defenders between him and the goal, he took the sensible option and put the ball over the bar for a 2 pointer to reduce Ireland’s lead to a single point - (2-7) 13-14 (3-5). With only 6 minutes remaining, Stuart MacKintosh had to look lively to deal with a high ball on goal but with the ball back in play; Ireland secured another point through Willie Hyland to go 2 points ahead. Ireland struck what looked to be a killer blow a couple of minutes from regulation time when the irrepressible Gareth “Magic” Johnston burst forward and gleefully slotted the ball past MacKintosh to make it (2-7) 13-18 (4-6). Ireland had one hand on the Marine Harvest Quaich but Scotland weren’t about to concede and Kinlochshiel’s Finlay MacRae, who was one of Scotland’s top performers over the 2 games, played a great cross from the right and Gary Innes took his points tally to 6 as he fired home to reduce the deficit to (3-7) 16-18 (4-6). Scotland needed 2 more points to win the series but as the game entered the injury time period, Ireland had the final say when Shane Dooley scored at the death, just as he did in 2009, to make it (3-7) 16-21 (5-6). This was Dooley’s third goal of the afternoon and fifth strike over the 2 game series. With just seconds remaining, Lochaber’s Shaun Nicolson was accidently hit in the mouth with a hurling stick and he required several minutes’ treatment before leaving the field with 2 of his teeth in his hand. They were later re-set at Raigmore Hospital. The final score of Scotland (3-7) 16-21 (5-6) Ireland squared the series at 4-4 but Ireland triumphed with a 42-38 aggregate score in the closest of outcomes. This concluded an entertaining 2 match series which attracted a sizable crowd of interested shiny supporters although it was disappointing that such a major sporting event was not cover by live television. Scotland from: Stuart MacKintosh (Glenurquhart) Norman Campbell (Newtonmore) John Barr (Glenurquhart) Neil MacDonald (Lochaber) Duncan Rodger (Fort William) Ian MacDonald (Bute) Chris Bamber (Fort William) Niall MacPhee (Fort William) Gary Innes (Fort William) Finlay MacRae (Kinlochshiel) John MacDonald (Fort William) Roddy MacDonald (Kyles Athletic) Ronald Ross (Kingussie) (captain) Scott Campbell (Newtonmore) Andrew Corrigan (Glenurquhart) Paul Gow (Kingussie) Grant Irvine (Kyles Athletic) Shaun Nicolson (Lochaber) Management Team: Head Coach - Drew McNeil (Fort William) Assistant Coach – Kenny Ross (Lochcarron) Assistant Coach – George Hay (Glasgow Mid Argyll) Assistant Coach – Scott McNeil (Fort William) Trainer – Neil Bowman (Kingussie) Doctor – Dr Karen Massey (Newtonmore) Ireland from: Paul Dermody (Kildare) Aaron Graffin (Antrim) Darren McCormack (Westmeath) Tom Murnane (Kerry) Jackie Tyrrell (Kilkenny) Eoin Nolan (Carlow) Tommy Walsh (Kilkenny) (captain) Rory Hannify (Offaly) Willie Hyland (Laois) Patrick Horgan (Cork) Gareth Johnston (Down) Neil McManus (Antrim) Andrew O'Brien (Wicklow) Shane Dooley (Offaly) Paul McCormack (Armagh) Barry McFall (Antrim) Brendan Murtagh (Westmeath) John Rowny (Laois) Management Team: Manager – Joe Dooley (Offaly) Selector – Kevin Ryan (Carlow) Selector – Jim McKernan (Down) Referee - Deek Cameron (Fort William) |