Glasgow Mid Argyll 0 Skye Camanachd 2 | |
09 August 2015 Skye Camanachd picked up with two valuable Marine Harvest National Division points thanks to a 2-0 win over Glasgow Mid Argyll at Peterson Park, Yoker on Saturday 8 August 2015. Balliemore Cup runners-up GMA were equal on points with third place Beauly going into the game. Manager George Hay has had to do without the likes of Finlay MacMillan and Brendan McLoone in recent months Other GMA absentees included Andy Mathie and former west coast players Ben Dalgety and John Don MacKenzie whilst top scorer Craig Anderson has struggled with injury since the early part of the season but he started at full forward. Skye boss John MacLeod made two changes to the squad he named for last weekend’s postponed Marine Harvest National Division meeting with Beauly at Pairc nan Loach, Portree. John Gillies returned to the second team and Ally “Spod” MacLeod picked up an injury at the Scotland U21 trials during the week. Iain Nicolson was back in the squad and youngster Ruaraidh MacLeod was a late addition. Former GMA player Iain Murray was on holiday and there was a welcome return from injury for both Steven Morrison and Shockie MacLennan who were both late additions to last week’s squad. A testing afternoon for Skye was made worse as they had a marathon 18 hour round-trip to complete the fixture. A road accident closed the A82 at Loch Lomond and a second road blockage led to a further detour. Indeed the Islanders started the match with little chance of a warm up and before manager John MacLeod and some of his players were at the pitch including wing back Ally MacDonald and forward Kenny MacLeod. GMA boss George Hay had been very understanding as the afternoon unfolded and the Glasgow side would not have objected if Skye had wished to rearrange the game. However the Skye players wished to get the games played and the first twelve players to arrive at the pitch started the game with John MacLeod phoning ahead a team formation with the scheduled 2pm match eventually starting at a minute after 4pm. Shockie MacLennan was thrown in at full forward with Will Cowie starting as an emergency defender. Skye played with the wind advantage in the first half and they started well with Shockie MacLennan shooting narrowly past the post on 8 minutes. Jonathan Oates in GMA goal saved well on 12 minutes. Skye made changes on 13 minutes as Ally MacDonald arrived at the pitch and he took up his usual berth at wing back. Will Cowie moved to wing centre and Shockie MacLennan was withdrawn. Skye’s Danny Morrison had a great chance on 20 minutes but his shot went past the post. A Jordan Murchison effort went wide before a speculative Danny Morrison shot from 25 yards out was well saved and cleared by Oates with 22 minutes played. Skye took the lead on 36 minutes when Kenny Campbell played the ball in from the left. Iain Nicolson swept the ball to Danny Morrison wide on the Skye right and he fired the ball low into the net to make it 1-0. Skye doubled their lead a minute before the break when Danny Morrison touched the ball to Kenny Campbell who beat a defender before sending a close-range back-hand shot into the net to give Skye a 2-0 lead at the interval. Jordan Murchison came close to adding a third on 48 minutes when his rocket shot from 25 yards out whistled narrowly by the goal. Iain MacLeod in the Skye goal saved well on 56 minutes. The Skye defence coped well with GMA pressure in the second half as the home side tried to get back into the game. Skye’s Kenny Macleod was introduced on 68 minutes, replacing Iain Nicolson. Shockie MacLennan made a welcome return from injury for the final 20 minutes, replacing Jordan Murchison, and it took a good save from Jonathon Oates to prevent him adding a third. Best for Skye were Neil MacVicar and Chris MacLennan in the Skye defence. Skye are now level on points with league leaders Kilmallie but the Coal side are three goals better off. Both sides have five fixtures remaining including a meeting at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree this coming weekend Glasgow Mid Argyll from: Jonathan Oates; Ryan Harrison, Garry Luke, James Docherty, Mark Bain, Innes MacMillan, Ewan Murray, Brian Slattery, Euan Forsyth, Calum McLay, Craig Anderson, Jack Berg; sub Nick Lavin Skye Camanachd from: Iain MacLeod, Steven Morrison, Will Cowie, Chris MacLennan, Neil MacVicar; Allan MacKinnon, Gilleasbuig MacDonald (captain), Iain Nicolson; Jordan Murchison, Danny Morrison, Kenny Campbell, Shockie MacLennan; subs Ally MacDonald, Kenny MacLeod, Ruairidh MacLeod Match Referee – Robert Baxter |