Bute 6 Skye Camanachd 1. | |
11 May 2011 Skye Camanachd went down to a 6-1 defeat to Bute on Rothesay in their Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup first round tie on Saturday 7 May 2011. Skye manager Aonghas MacDonald was forced to make four changes to his squad for the long journey south. Work commitments ruled out Steven Morrison and Iain Murray whilst Robbie MacDougall has a groin injury and Alan Palmer had university work to attend to. They were replaced by Ally MacDonald who came into the starting line-up and a surprise return for Kerr Gibb who started on the bench along with Calum Gibb and Davie MacVicar. Bute took the lead after 9 minutes when Gordon MacMillan turned his marker and fired past Michael Nicolson in the Skye goal. The home side went 2-0 ahead after 24 minutes and this time it was full forward Robert Walker who did the damage. The Skye forwards were creating chances and North Skye boys AB Connor and Ally MacDonald in particular were linking up well. Home keeper Kevin Queen did well to save an AB Connor shot with his hand mid-way through the first half. Skye wing centre Darryl Macintosh suffered a blow to the hand on 25 minutes which clearly left him in some discomfort. He tried to play on but was replaced by Kerr Gibb 10 minutes later. It later transpired that Macintosh had suffered a broken finger. This was Gibb’s first appearance since the opening day of the shinty season as he has been suffering from shin splints and his return is a boost to the Skye first team squad. However Bute’s strong centre line was starting to take control of the game and they extended their lead on 43 minutes when Walker added his second to give his side a 3-0 lead at the break. Skye rallied though and they pulled a goal back 4 minutes into the second half when Iain Morrison and AB Connor linked up to set up a chance for Ally MacDonald and he tapped the ball into the net for his first goal for the first team. Bute’s Iain MacDonald was particularly effective in defence and Skye were unable to get much ball to their forwards for the remainder of the game. Hector Whitelaw made it 4-1 on the hour mark and he added his second from the penalty spot on 67 minutes. Robert Walker completed his hat-trick on 74 minutes to round off a 6-1 win for Bute which takes them into the quarter finals of the Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup. Skye Camanachd boss Aonghas MacDonald introduced youngster Calum Gibb for his first team debut in place of Iain Morrison for the final 10 minutes. Skye were well served by youngsters Neil MacVicar, Shaun Hedley and Ally MacDonald. Bute had stand-outs in Iain MacDonald, Hector Whitelaw and hat-trick hero Robert Walker. Bute from; Kevin Queen, David McDonald, Brian Liddle, Robert Ferguson, Iain MacDonald, John McCallum, James Craig, Roberto Zavaroni, Hector Whitelaw, Robert Walker, Gordon McMillan, Graham Fisher subs Leighton Reid, Anthony Sweet, Ryan Laird Skye Camanachd from; Michael Nicolson, John Moir, Shockie MacLennan, Andrew Banks, Neil MacVicar, Shaun Hedley, Gilleasbuig MacDonald, Darryl Macintosh, Somhairle MacDonald (captain), AB Connor, Iain Morrison, Ally MacDonald subs Kerr Gibb, Calum Gibb, Davie MacVicar, Aonghas MacDonald Referee – Robert Baxter |