The Shinty Preview – Saturday 31 July 2010. | |
29 July 2010 The Aberdein Considine Sutherland Cup Final which is shinty’s national junior cup competition takes place on Saturday 31 July 2010. Lovat and Glenurquhart meet in the Aberdein Considine Sutherland Cup Final at the Eilan, Newtonmore on Saturday 31 July 2010. Greg Matheson will be Lovat’s main threat in attack whilst Alan MacPherson has been a valuable addition to the side at buckshee back. Glenurquhart have a good mix of youth and experience Glenurquhart were 5-3 winners when the sides met on the second Saturday of the season. The same teams are also through to this season’s Strathdearn Cup Final. The final throws up at 4pm and will be shown live on BBC ALBA. There are four matches in the Scottish Hydro Premier Division. Leaders Newtonmore are not in action so second place Fort William have the chance to close ‘More’s 4 point lead at the top of the table when they travel to Rothesay to play Bute. The Fort have 3 games in hand on the leaders and although they should have Adam Robertson back, Steven Stewart is suspended following his sending-off against Kingussie last week. Gary Innes misses out as he is playing with his band in Barra. Bute had a torrid time against Inveraray last weekend but they are a proud side who are difficult to beat on their own patch. It took a James Clark goal 15 minutes from time to give the Fort a share of the points when the sides met at An Aird in April. Third place Inveraray should be too strong for bottom side Glasgow Mid Argyll at Yoker. Inveraray put 9 goals past Bute last weekend and they, along with Kingussie, are the only two sides that can do shinty’s Grand Slam this season. Mid Argyll received a blow with the news that Iain Murray has a broken collar-bone which will rule him out for several weeks. Relegation threatened Oban Camanachd really need to take something from their trip to Tighnabruaich to play Kyles Athletic. Oban will be without suspended youngster Gary Lord. A goal apiece in a 3 minute second half burst ensured Oban Camanachd and Kyles Athletic finished all square when they meet at Mossfield in March. Grant Irvine put the visitors ahead after 55 minutes but Scott MacMillan leveled for Oban Camanachd just 3 minutes later. Kingussie meet Lovat at the Dell and the King’s will be hoping that their chronic injury list eases. Iain Borthwick, Louis Munro, Rory Fraser, Ally MacLeod, Fraser Munro and Ricky Grant all missed out last weekend for a mixture of injuries and holidays. However defender Ally MacLeod is nearing a comeback from a hand injury. This match has a 1pm throw up which will allow the Lovat players to attend the Aberdein Considine Sutherland Cup Final against Glenurquhart which takes place 3 miles down the road at the Eilan, later in the afternoon. Marine Harvest North Division 1 Kinlochshiel host bottom club Strathglass at Kirkton. The home side will be without the suspended John Don MacKenzie as they go for their eighth successive league win. Shiel were 8-0 winners when the sides met at Cannich in May with Finlay MacRae scoring four. There should be a good match at Braeview Park where fourth place Beauly meet third place Lochaber. Beauly will miss the services of keeper Martin Davidson who starts a 2 match ban following his sending off against Skye Camanachd last weekend. Lochaber will be without Lachlan Campbell who is on holiday but buckshee back Neil MacDonald returns after injury. Inverness and Caberfeidh meet at the Bught Park. The sides drew 2-2 at Castle Leod earlier in the season. A battling Inverness side took the lead on 10 minutes through Gordon MacKenzie but Kevin Bartlett leveled on 56 minutes. However former Skye Camanachd player Ewen MacKinnon restored the visitors lead a minute later only for Kevin Bartlett to equalise for a second time for Cabers on 73 minutes and so the points were shared. The match of the day in this division will surely be in Portree where Skye Camanachd meet Kilmallie. Skye are another side who have suffered terrible injury problems this will and midfielder Kerr Gibb has added to manager Aonghas MacDonald’s concerns with a shoulder injury. Kilmallie will be smarting from a surprise defeat to Lochcarron at Battery Park last weekend. Kilmallie were without John Stewart last weekend as he was on his honeymoon. Skye put Kilmallie out of the Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup at the same venue earlier in the season although the visitors had several absentees. This promises to be a cracker. Marine Harvest South Division 1 champions Glenorchy travel to Taynuilt. Two more wins will give the champions a perfect record of 12 wins out of 12 in the league this season. An Alex MacPherson hat-trick helped Glenorchy to a 3-1 victory in the corresponding fixture this season. Inveraray will have been boosted by last week’s victory over Kilmory and they play Lochside Rovers at the Winterton. Inveraray were boosted by Russell MacKinlay’s inclusion last weekend and he would be a big asset for this one too. Second top Oban Celtic host second bottom Ballachulish. Glengarry have the chance to increase their lead at the top of Marine Harvest North Division 2 when they play Skye Camanachd at Invergarry. Second place Glenurquhart are of course in cup action. The Garry had a free weekend last Saturday whilst Skye suffered their only defeat in 6 matches. Beauly and Kingussie meet at Braeview Park. Davie Borthwick ended an illustrious shinty playing career with the King’s following last week’s win over Fort William. The Kings were 5-2 winners in their league match in May. There is a derby at Canal Parks where Kilmallie meet Fort William. Kilmallie were surprise 3-2 winners at An Aird in May. Kyles Athletic will take a giant step towards clinching the Marine Harvest South Division 2 title if they beat Tayforth in the 12 noon throw up at Tighnabruaich. Kyles won 4-2 when the sides met in April. Bottom side Bute host third place Glasgow Mid Argyll in Rothesay. This match also throws up at noon. Things are hotting up in Marine Harvest North Division 3 following Lochaber’s win over Aberdeen University last weekend. The Students now have a 4 point lead but second place Lochaber have 3 games in hand. Aberdeen University make the long trip west to play bottom side Ardnamurchan. Second place Lochaber will also be favourites to pick up both points when they host second bottom Strathglass at Spean Bridge. There is a derby match in Ullapool where Lochbroom host Lochcarron. |