Fort William U14 1 Skye Camanachd U14 1. | |
22 November 2010 A last minute Andrew Grant goal gave Skye Camanachd U14 the point they needed against Fort William U14 to win the North Division 1 title at An Aird on Saturday 20 November 2010. Skye were without Kyle Pirie who was unavailable and with Alex MacDonald a late absentee, they travelled to An Aird with 14 players. Fort William manager Victor Smith made some crucial positional changes from the line-up that took to the field in Portree where they suffered a 4-0 defeat. Lewis Smith played at full back with Arran MacPhee just in front at buckshee back. The Fort tactic was to be solid defensively and try and hit Skye on the break. Skye started the game very strongly and they had the Fort on the back foot for the first 20 minutes. Fort William only made the occasional attack in the early stages of the game and any danger was well dealt with by the Skye defence. The Skye forwards were well supplied by the midfield of Mark Mortimer, Andrew Grant and Euan Forrest and they had several opportunities to open the scoring. The best of these chances fell to Will Cowie and Iain MacLeod but a combination of near misses and some excellent goalkeeping by Fort goalie Gary MacKay kept the scores level. It looked as if it would be only a matter of time before the visitors would score but the longer the half wore on, the more Fort William came into the game. The Fort had their best spell of the match in the 10 minutes before the break but they also failed to capitalise on the few chances that came their way. Defences were certainly on top during the first period and that trend continued for most of the game. The opening goal came when referee Deek Cameron awarded the home side a soft free hit 15 yards from the Skye goal. Skye defender Jack Latton accidentally stood on the ball and this was to prove costly for his team. The resultant set piece led to a scramble in the Skye goal mouth with the ball rebounding off a post before it was bundled over the line by Alexander MacMillan. This gave the hosts a 1-0 lead with 14 minutes of the second half played. This was an obvious setback to the Islanders who only required a point to take the top league championship home for the third consecutive year. The Skye heads never went down though and they continued to drive forward, creating chance after chance. With 10 minutes remaining, Skye looked to have the goal they needed when Iain MacLeod got on the end of a Connor Henderson flick to push the ball over the line. To the surprise of the Skye support, Deek Cameron disallowed the goal for an infringement that only he could have seen. Skye still pressed and although they did create some great chances, they were unable to convert their opportunities into goals. With only seconds remaining, and a play-off to decide the title looming, Skye got the goal they deserved. Andrew Grant got forward from midfield to help his attack and he hit a low 20 yard drive which deceived the Fort goalie and - to the delight of the visiting support - nestled in the back of the net. Fort William had one last chance with almost the last hit of the match but, to the relief of the Skye players, the ball flew past the post of Skye goalie Chris Campbell. This was a cracking game of U14 shinty which was played in good spirit throughout. Fort William look to have found another excellent goalkeeper in Gary MacKay and they had outstanding performances from Lewis Smith and Arran MacPhee who gave Will Cowie and Iain MacLeod a great battle. The Fort were also well served by Alexander Cameron, Gregor Cameron, Jake MacPhee and Alexander MacMillan. The Skye youngsters showed tremendous character and their team spirit earned them the result they deserved. They have played 10 league matches to win this league title and the fact that they were undefeated shows a level of consistency that is impressive by any standards. Skye were solid at the back where Jack Latton was outstanding and Ruaraidh Morrison, Ally MacLeod and Stevie MacKinnon all played well. The midfield trio of Grant, Mortimer and Forrest did their job and up front there was no lack of effort from Connor Henderson, MacLeod, Cowie and Angie Grant. DJ Gilpin and Stevie Murchison also made a super contribution to the team when they came off the bench. Camanachd Association Competitions Director Richard Gall made the presentations and captain Ruaraidh Morrison was delighted to lift the league trophy on behalf of his Skye team. Skye Camanachd U14 from; Chris Campbell, Ruaraidh Morrison (captain), Ally MacLeod, Stevie MacKinnon, Jack Latton, Euan Forrest, Mark Mortimer, Andrew Grant, Will Cowie, Connor Henderson, Angie Grant, Iain MacLeod, DJ Gilpin, Stevie Murchison Match Referee – Deek Cameron |