Skye Camanachd U17 4 Lovat U17 1. | |
29 September 2010 The Skye Camanachd U17s ran out 4-1 winners over Lovat U17s in their London Shield clash at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree on Friday 3 September 2010. This was always going to be a tough game for holders Skye as the Lovat youngsters had already beaten Glenurquhart U17 and Beauly U17 in the competition and the winners of this meeting would stand a great chance of progressing to the next stage. Skye Camanachd U17 coach Davie MacVicar was unavailable so Willie Cowie and Alasdair Bruce looked after the team. Full centre Martin Bruce was a surprise omission from the Skye starting line-up. He started on the bench as he was wanted for first team action against Lochcarron in Marine Harvest North Division 1 the following day. Lovat started with U17 Marine Harvest Player of the Year and captain Greg Matheson at full forward and Aberdein Considine Sutherland Cup Final goalscorer Leis Tawse at full back. Skye opened brightly with Jordan Murchison looking particularly dangerous. Murchison fired into the side net after 3 minutes and he saw a shot rise over the bar a couple of minutes later. However Murchison found his range on 7 minutes when he latched onto an Ally MacLeod corner from the right to thunder the ball past a helpless Andrew Wallace in the Lovat goal to put Skye 1-0 up. Skye dominated the opening 30 minutes of the game but they were unable to add to their tally. Indeed Lovat were starting to creep more into the game at the end of the first half with Skye full back Iain Grant doing a particularly good job marshalling the ever-dangerous Greg Matheson. Lovat moved Greg Matheson to full centre at the start of the second half and they started to enjoy more of the pressure. However it was Will Cowie who was next to threaten when he saw his deflected shot saved by Wallace. Lovat were starting to get a grip on the game so Skye brought on Martin Bruce at full centre with Magnus Burd coming of and Daniel Morrison moving to wing centre. Before Skye had time to settle into their new formation, Lovat equalised. It was Greg Matheson who burst forward and he blasted the ball home at the second attempt with 25 minutes remaining. Skye could have buckled at this stage but to the loss of a goal seemed to make them even more determined and they regained the lead within 7 minutes. Martin Bruce lofted a free hit from the centre line into the goal area. The ball was knocked clear by the Lovat defence but only as far as Paul MacKinnon on the Skye left. MacKinnon looked up and crashed a 20 yard drive into the roof of the Lovat net to put his side 2-1 up. Lovat pushed full back Lewis Tawse to full centre with Greg Matheson rejoining the attack as they tried to draw level for a second time. With 12 minutes left, Skye took control and Will Cowie set up Jordan Murchison who sent the ball fizzing into the net to make it 3-1. Jordan Murchison saw another great shot rebound off the crossbar a minute later. With 6 minutes remaining, Lovat keeper Andrew Wallace made a good save from a Jordan Murchison rocket shot. A good Skye move which started at the back when Shaun Hedley won possession saw Martin Bruce and Paul MacKinnon combine to set up Murchison but again Wallace stood in his way. Skye introduced their remaining substitutes as they closed out the game. With just 3 minutes remaining, Murchison completed his hat-trick when he collected a John Gillies pass and knocked the ball past Wallace to make it 4-1. This was a good win for Skye which puts them in a good position to qualify for the London Shield semi finals. Iain Grant and Shaun Hedley were solid in defence and Ally MacLeod was impressive in midfield whilst Jordan Murchison made a telling contribution with his 3 goals. Post match note; Beauly U14 conceded their final league match against Skye in Portree meaning the Islanders are through to the semi final as Group winners. Skye Camanachd from; Iain MacLeod, Iain Grant, Mark Mortimer, Scott MacLeod, Shaun Hedley, Ally MacLeod, (Scott MacDonald), Daniel Morrison (captain), Will Cowie, (Iain MacPherson), Paul MacKinnon, Magnus Burd, (Martin Bruce), Jordan Murchison, John Gillies, (Angie Grant) Match Referee – Donnie Martin The match balls were sponsored by Nor-Dan |