Glenurquhart 5 Skye Camanachd 0 | |
17 February 2014 Skye Camanachd went down 5-0 to Glenurquhart in their pre-season friendly match at Blairbeg on Saturday 15 February 2014. Skye Camanachd first team manager John MacLeod was without Ally "Spod" MacLeod who was working whilst DJ Gilpin and Kenny Campbell were both unavailable. Kenny MacLeod remained on the injury list and Steven Morrison was a late call-off after picking up a muscle injury in training. However Neil MacVicar returned to the side after missing last weekend’s Thomas Ferguson Memorial Cup win over Beauly and he replaced Morrison at full back. There was also a place for Ally “Burgers” MacLeod. The 1.30p throw up was a managerial return for Glenurquhart co-managers Dave Menzies and Billy MacLean. They had to do without the services of Scottish international John Barr and defenders Ally MacKintosh and Andrew Corrigan as well as David MacLennan. Former Glengarry player Michael Brady was given a debut and youth player Euan Lloyd started in defence. The match was played in good conditions in what was a cold but dry day at Drumnadrochit. Glenurquhart made the best possible start when they took the lead in the opening minute of the game. The Skye defence was caught cold as Jamie Gannon made a smart save with his feet from a Neale Reid bullet from the left but Lewis MacLennan reacted first to take the rebound in the air to score. Skye settled down after that and started to come more into the game. A Jordan Murchison shot went past the post on 12 minutes. Skye then had keeper Jamie Gannon to thank for three good saves on 24, 25 and 26 minutes which kept the deficit to a single goal. Skye’s Alan MacKinnon shot wide on 29 minutes as the visitors tried to draw level. The Skye defence was coping well with Glen forwards at this stage in the game and at the other end of the park; Jordan Murchison had a couple of half chances on 34 and 35 minutes. Glen keeper Stuart MacKintosh had to look smart to save from Jordan Murchison just seconds later and he made another fine stop to deny Allan MacKinnon on 41 minutes. There was a particularly good first half tussle in the middle of the park between Glenurquhart’s Eddie Tembo and Skye’s captain for the day, Gilleasbuig MacDonald, and the home side took their one goal advantage into the break. Glenurquhart ended the game as a contest by scoring four goals in a devastating eight minute burst, early in the second half. The second half was only two minutes old when Neale Reid and Lewis MacLennan combined before a long-range effort from James MacPherson took a wicked deflection off as Skye defender and flew past Jamie Gannon to make it 2-0. Glen turned the screw and Neale Reid danced through the Skye defence before slotting the ball home to make it 3-0. Referee John Matheson awarded the home side a penalty moments later for an infringement on Lewis MacLennan and MacLennan picked himself up and converted the spot-hit for what was his second goal of the afternoon. Neale Reid got his second with a shot from the right to make it 5-0 after good lead-up play from David Smart and the impressive Lewis MacLennan. Indeed a good Jamie Gannon save on 57 minutes prevented Glenurquhart increasing their tally further. Skye manager John MacLeod made some changes to the side, particularly in defence. David Grant came on at full back with Chris Rose being withdrawn with a leg muscle injury. David MacInnes replaced Ally “Cleodi” MacLeod and Ally "Burgers" MacLeod replaced Iain Murray. Ally MacDonald dropped back to wing back; Neil MacVicar went to buckshee back and Shockie MacLennan to wing back. The changes seemed to work and they tightened up the defence which allowed Skye to settle down again. Ally "Burgers" MacLeod saw a 20 yard shot saved by Stuart MacKintosh on 82 minutes and the Scotland keeper saved again, this time from Allan MacKinnon, a minute later. There was no further scoring and Skye manager John MacLeod saw the match as a good workout with plenty of positive things to take from the game. Skye Camanachd and Glenurquhart are scheduled to meet at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree in the first round of the MacTavish Cup on Saturday 29 March 2014. Skye Camanachd from: Jamie Gannon, Neil MacVicar, Iain Murray, Ally “Cleodi” MacLeod, Shockie MacLennan, Gilleasbuig MacDonald (captain), Chris Rose, Allan MacKinnon, Jordan Murchison, Will Cowie, Danny Morrison, Ally MacDonald, subs David Grant, David MacInnes, Ally “Burgers” MacLeod Match Referee – John Matheson |