North Division 1
Fort William 2 Skye Camanachd 1
Skye were knocked off top spot in North Division 1 when they lost 2-1 to Fort William at Claggan Park. However with Kingussie still to play in Portree, Ross Cowie’s side can take comfort from the fact that the title destination remains in their own hands.
The match report in the West Highland Free Press at the time referred to Skye Camanachd having, “weaknesses in terms of tactics and approach” in a match when the Islanders were certainly below their best.
Fort William attacked Skye from the throw up and the visiting defence had to show great determination to clear the danger.
Skye’s first attempt came when they were awarded a free-hit. Willie Cowie slipped the ball to Peter Gordon who smashed his effort into the side netting.
Fort William took the lead after 12 minutes when Skye seemed to press the self-destruct button. Skye wing back Ewen “Crossal” MacKinnon attempted to play the ball back to full back Duncan MacDougall. However MacDougall was following him out of defence and the ball ended up with Fort William hitman Deek Cameron who had space to carry the ball forward before tucking it past Skye keeper John “Bodach” MacKenzie to put the Fort 1-0 ahead.
Deek Cameron was causing the Skye defence all sorts of problems and on 17 minutes he sent a great shot goalwards which John “Bodach” MacKenzie had to move smartly to stop.
At the other end, Fort William keeper Graeme MacMillan made a super stop when he turned a Willie MacKinnon strike round the post for a corner.
Skye forced a series of corners which culminated in MacMillan pulling off a terrific save from Ally “Stenscholl” MacDonald to keep his side in front.
Skye were pressing for an equaliser but as a result they were leaving spaces at the back and one break-away saw Fort William come so close to doubling their advantage as the Skye defence were forced to clear the ball off their goal line.
Skye buckshee back Willie MacRae required treatment after picking up a head knock. He returned to the field heavily bandaged and went on to put in a very good performance.
Skye were definitely the dominant force at this stage in the game and the made it 1-1 after 36 minutes. Ally “Stenscholl” MacDonald fired a shot from midfield which deflected off the caman of Willie Cowie and completely wrong-footed Graeme MacMillan to level the score.
Skye finished the first half strongly but the Fort defence held firm to take the sides into the break on level terms.
Skye started the second half where they left off at the end of the first period. They forced a series of corners but they never really threatened the Fort William goal.
Skye manager Ross Cowie replaced Willie MacKinnon with veteran forward Calum Murchison in a bid to introduce a more direct approach to the attack.
Skye came within inches of taking the lead moments later when wing centre Andy MacLean ran onto a John MacRae cross but his shot went narrowly wide of the post.
Fort William then came back into the game and they forced a series of attacks on the Skye goal without a positive outcome.
However Fort William restored their lead on 65 minutes. Deek Cameron had continued to harry the Skye defence and he gave MacKenzie no chance with a close range short into the back of the net to put Fort William 2-1 ahead.
The goal seemed to spur Skye on and Willie MacRae burst forward from inside his own half before receiving another nasty blow to the face just as he had reached the Fort William D.
MacRae showed bravery and determination to continue playing and he was in fact Skye’s best player at this stage in the game.
Another lung-busting running from Willie MacRae set up a chance for Andy MacLean and Graeme MacMillan made a great save from a terrific shot.
Skye’s Caley MacLean had taken a knock earlier in the game and this hampered his contribution to the Skye cause.
All too often Skye seemed to be playing the ball down the middle of the Fort William defence and this played into their opponents’ hands with Astie Cameron marshalling a strong central defence. The crowded Fort William goalmouth also made it difficult for Skye’s Willie Cowie to be at his creative best.
Fort William finished the game strongly and a thumping drive from Deek Cameron went narrowly wide of John “Bodach” MacKenzie’s left hand upright.
In the end Fort William probably did enough to earn both points and the result left Skye to reflect on what would be required to wrestle the title from reigning champions Kingussie.
Talking of Kingussie, the Badenoch mean took full advantage of Skye’s slip as they crushed Beauly 9-2 to go a point clear at the top of the table with just 2 games remaining. Skye had home matches against Beauly and of course Kingussie whilst the Kings’ other game as a trip to the Eilan to play local rivals Newtonmore.
| P | W | D | L | PTS |
Kingussie | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 21 |
Skye | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 20 |
Fort William | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 16 |
Newtonmore | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 10 |
Lovat | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 9 |
Caberfeidh | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
Beauly | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 7 |
Kinlochshiel | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 |