The Shinty Preview – Saturday 4 June 2011. | |
02 June 2011 The top teams enter shinty’s premier competition, the Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup, as the second round of the competition takes place on Saturday 4 June 2011. Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup – Second Round Newtonmore v Fort William The Camanachd Cup has taken pride of place in the Fort William trophy cabinet for the last four years but Peter McIntyre’s men will have a fight on their hands if they want to win it for a fifth consecutive year as they travel to the Eilan to play Newtonmore. Indeed the Fort have appeared in the last eght finals whilst Newtonmore by comparion have not appeared in a final since 1997 and have not won the famous trophy since 1986.. The sides have already met twice this season with each winning the away fixture. It was an under-strength Newtonmore side which beat Glenorchy 3-0 at Dalmally last week and manager Norman MacArthur will hope to have absentees such as Danny MacRae, Norman Campbell and Glen MacKintosh back in his line up although a hip injury still rules out David Cheyne. The Fort hope to have Gary Innes back after he missed the last two matches due to work commitments. The influential John MacDonald may also return but midfield power-house Niall MacPhee is likely to miss out as he is working abroad. This tie has a 3pm throw up. Taynuilt v Kingussie Last year’s runners up Kingussie travel south to play Taynuilt. Taynuilt fancied a home draw against one of the big sides following their impressive first round win against Inverness and they don’t come much bigger than a visit from Kingussie. Taynuilt are coached by Fraser Inglis who enjoyed considerable success at Kingussie when he joined them as a player from Oban Camanachd. The Kings’ influential defender Lee Bain picked up an injury against Kyles last week but he should be fit to play. Louis Munro has also missed recent games whilst Ally MacLeod has a hamstring problem. Oban Camanachd v Kyles Athletic Oban Camanachd and Kyles Athletic meet at Mossfield. This will be the first meeting between the sides this season as they were due to clash on the second day of the shinty season but the match was postponed because of the poor road conditions at the time. Kyles should have Donald Irvine and Peter Currie back and Andrew King may also return following a two match suspension. Lochcarron v Kilmallie Lochcarron have a tough hurdle to overcome when Kilmallie visit Battery Park. Lochcarron’s cause will not be helped by the fact that boss Murdo John Fraser has been forced to step down after he secured a new job which involves periods away from home. Kenny Ross will hold the reigns until a new appointment is made. Kilmallie will be aware that they lost 4-3 at the same venue on league duty last season but they are boosted by Michael Rodger’s return from a one match suspension. Inveraray v Lochaber Inveraray and Lochaber have a 3pm meeting at the Winterton. The home side will have Garry MacPherson back following suspension and boss John Smylie will look for “the Scottish” to help get his side back on track in what has been a slow start to the season by their standards. Lochaber boss Michael Delaney’s main problem this season is that he has been unable to field a settled side but he has placed faith in U17 keeper Callum MacDonald and he has not let the side down with a string of fine displays which belie his young age. Glenorchy v Lovat Glenorchy have found the going tough in the Scottish Hydro Premier Division this season and so the will look to find some relief in the cup competitions. They welcome a Lovat side to Dalmally who have mounting injury problems. Defender Drew Howie is awaiting an operation whilst fellow defender Lorne MacKay is also out. Full centre Euan Ferguson has a back problem and Martin Mainland has missed the last two games. To add to their woes, full back James Grieve dislocated his shoulder against Kilmallie last week and he faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Martin Bell is expected to deputise at full back. Despite these problems, any side which can put Fort William out of the Artemis Macaulay Cup is not to be taken lightly and Lovat managers John MacRitchie and James Gallagher will hope teenage striker Greg Matheson can keep racking up the goals and shoot his side to victory. An understrength Glenorchy side lost 6-0 at Balgate on league duty recently with Matheson scoring four but Glenorchy’s Alex MacPherson may have made sufficient recovery from a facial injury to take some part in this clash. Bute v Glasgow Mid Argyll There is another 3pm meeting on Rothesay in the all Marine Harvest South Division 1 clash between Bute and Glasgow Mid Argyll. These are the sides who were relegated from shinty’s top flight at the end of last season and they occupy the top two places in the league as they battle it out for a quick return to the Scottish Hydro Premier Division. Bute will decide whether to play Hector Whitelaw in defence or attack whist GMA’s speedy style of play could cause problems for the home team. Kinlochshiel v Glenurquhart There should be a good match at Kirkton where Kinlochshiel take on Glenurquhart. This will be Finlay MacRae’s first match back for ‘Shiel since a two week spell on a charity project in Guatemala. 'Shiel are not a one man team but they did lose both matches played during his absence. Glenurquhart have been training hard under the watchful eye of Scotland Head Coach Drew McNeil and they should be at full strength. Strathdearn Cup – Second Round Fort William v Kinlochshiel Fort William and Kinlochshiel hope it will be third time luck as they try once again to play their Strathdearn Cup second round tie at An Aird. Victor Smith’s side went out of the Aberdein Considine Sutherland Cup to a west coast side when they lost to Skye Camanachd in Portree so they will be keen to avoid a similar outcome against Colin Fraser’s Kinlochshiel side. Fort William will be without the suspended Mark Grant. The prize for the winners is a second round tie against at home to 2010 runners up Lovat. Bullough Cup - First Round Lochside Rovers v Kilmory Lochside Rovers and Kilmory will make a second attempt to play their Bullough Cup first round tie at Mossfield. The Kilmory reserve side has been put together to play in cup competitions. This game has a 12 noon throw up. Marine Harvest North Division 1 Strathglass v Inverness Strathglass picked up a good point at Beauly last weekend and they play Inverness at Cannich. Both sides are in the bottom three in the table and Strathglass will be without Colin Chapman as he misses out through suspension. Skye Camanachd v Beauly Skye Camanachd are the other bottom three side and they welcome Beauly to Pairc nan Laoch, Portree. Skye manager Aonghas MacDonald will likely be without Steven Morrison who picked up a hand injury against Caberfeidh last weekend. Robbie MacDougall and AB Connor are also missing because of work commitments whilst John Moir has a back problem. Shockie MacLennan is also unavailable. Beauly dropped a surprise point against Strathglass last weekend but they enjoyed a convincing 8-0 win over Skye Camanachd just three weeks ago. This match was originally scheduled for Saturday 9 July which also happens to be the wedding day of Beauly manager Stephen MacLean’s daughter. The rescheduled fixture should allow the popular Beauly boss a more relaxing “big day” in the summer without having a game of shinty to worry about. Marine Harvest South Division 1 Aberdour v Ballachulish Aberdour host Ballachulish. A Gary Young double separated the sides when Ballachulish won 3-2 earlier in the season. Fifth place Ballachulish hold a five point lead over their rivals but Aberdour have lost matches by narrow margins this season so this will likely be a close affair. Oban Celtic v Kilmory Third bottom Oban Celtic have a home match against second bottom Kilmory who have two games in hand. Early goals from David Duffy and David Hill gave Oban Celtic a 2-0 win when the sides met earlier in the season. Marine Harvest North Division 2 Newtonmore v Glengarry The match of the day in this division is the meeting of the top two Newtonmore and Glengarry at the Eilan. Each side has only lost once in the league this season and both times it was against reigning champions Glenurquhart. This game has a 12 noon throw up. Glenurquhart v Skye Camanachd Both Glenurquhart and Skye Camanachd seem to have saved their best form for the cup competitions this season and they meet at Blairbeg. The Glen are two points ahead of Skye in the league with a game in hand. Skye will be without youngster Will Cowie who is in action for the U14s in their MacMaster Cup tie against Kingussie at the Dell. Kingussie v Lochaber Kingussie play Lochaber at the Dell. The Kings have an experienced second string which includes Kevin Thain, Greg MacRae, John Gibson and Michael Clark. Lochaber have a younger outfit in comparison with U17 player Patrick Toal catching the eye recently. Lovat and Kilmallie The Lovat and Kilmallie senior sides met at Balgate last week and now there reserve sides do the same this week. Lovat could have recent signing from Inverness Graeme MacMillan back in their side after he was cup-tied for the Aberdein Considine Sutherland Cup defeat against Skye Camanachd last weekend. Marine Harvest South Division 2 Glasgow Mid Argyll v Strachur League leaders Strachur head for Yoker to play Glasgow Mid Argyll. The sides also met last weekend when a Duncan MacNicol double helped Strachur to a 6-0 win. Bute v Col Glen Bute and Col Glen have a 12 noon throw up on Rothesay. Both sides enjoyed good victories last weekend. Bute beat Ballachulish 5-3 on Rothesay whilst Col Glen were 4-2 winners at Aberdour. Inveraray v Aberdour Inveraray meet Aberdour a 12 noon throw up at the Winterton. The sides occupy the bottom two places in the table although Inveraray have three games in hand. Marine Harvest North Division 3 Aberdeen University v Strathglass Leaders Aberdeen University continue what seems to be an inevitable march to the title when they travel to Cannich to play Strathglass. The Students have completed the first half of their league programme with a 100% record from their nine games played. They have scored 48 goals with only 2 goals conceded so this game will be a huge challenge for Strathglass. Lewis Camanachd v Boleskine Lewis Camanachd play second place Boleskine at Shawbost. Lewis have boosted their squad with a couple of new additions. Former Skye Camanachd second team full forward Ally MacLeod is expected to make his debut whilst Dougie Shaw has also joined and he previously played for Kyles Athletic. Lewis are also boosted by the return of former Skye Camanachd duo Stuart Campbell and Eoghan Stewart who has recovered from a rib injury. Boleskine will be without the suspended Mike Pirie. Lochcarron v Beauly Fifth place Lochcarron and third place Beauly should serve up a good match at Battery Park. The sides are only separated by two points although Beauly have a game in hand. This game will be played on Friday 3 June 2011 with a 7pm and as with previous Friday night games at Lochcarron, a large crowd is expected. Lochbroom v Caberfeidh Fifth Lochbroom have a home match against fourth Caberfeidh who hold a single point advantage although they have a couple of games in hand. The home side suffered a big defeat to Beauly last weekend although they were missing some regular starts. Cabers are likely to be amongst the challengers to leaders Aberdeen University for the title. Inverness and Ardnamurchan Inverness and Ardnamurchan meet at the Bught Park, Inverness. Both clubs were unable to raise teams for their fixtures last weekend but it is hoped that this game will go ahead. |