Kingussie U14 4 Skye Camanachd U14 5 | |
01 September 2014 Skye Camanachd U14 are through to the MacMaster Cup Final after they beat Kingussie U14 5-4 in an exciting semi-final at Castle Leod on Friday 29 August 2014. There had been a change of venue for this 6.45pm throw up which was originally to take place at Blairbeg but Glenurquhart confirmed that following the previous weekend’s Glenurquhart Highland Games, their pitch is not in condition to host the game. Skye Youth Coach was not able to attend the game because of work commitments so David Taylor, Robbie Gordon and John Angus Gillies took charge of the team and they had a full squad to choose from. Kingussie Youth Coaches Dallas Young and Iain Borthwick were without their star player Roddy Young as he broke his thumb playing for the Kingussie U17 side the previous Tuesday night. Skye’s John Gillies won the ball from the centre and hit a long drive into the forward line where Anna MacDonald controlled the ball and passed to Ruaraidh MacLeod who whipped in a low drive to the bottom left hand corner to make it 1-0 with just 24 seconds played! Skye’s second goal was almost identical to the opener. Again John Gillies controlled the ball after the throw-up and he sent along ball onto the Kingussie D and Ruaraidh MacLeod flicked the ball onto Stewart Taylor who calmly slotted the ball into the net in to make it 2-0 after just 2 minutes. Kingussie had to wait till the 28 minute before they scored. A long looping ball into the Skye defence was not dealt with it was scrambled home to make it 2-1. Kingussie started to take control and Skye had to take Ross Gordon off due to a thigh injury with Martin Pringle coming on at left wing back. Kingussie levelled the scoring on 31 minutes and that’s the way it stayed until the break. Skye defender Marcus Ross came off as he was suffering from dizzy spells and Emma Gordon came on in his place. The second half started very evenly. John Gillies was providing a lot of balls to the Skye forward line but the Kingussie goalkeeper was equal to the Skye forwards efforts. Skye went back in front when good play between Ruaraidh MacLeod and Anna MacDonald ended when the latter dribbled past two Kingussie players before flicking the ball past the oncoming keeper and Skye led 3-2 with 46 minutes played. Kingussie drew level once more on 51 minutes when a long ball from the centre line deflected off Ross Nicolson’s stick and landed beside the Kingussie full forward who drove it past Jack Henderson’s left hand side and into the net to make it 3-3. The game was flowing from end to end and Kingussie went ahead for the first time in the match on 54 minutes. Marcus Ross came back on and this helped Skye reshuffle their pack. Conor Ross, who was playing well on the wing, went back to buckshee back and Ruaraidh MacLeod moved to full forward. On 58 minutes, a long ball forward from Angus MacDonald found Ruaraidh MacLeod in space and he passed the ball to Stewart Taylor who made no mistake, in drilling the ball into the back of the net for his second goal of the game which made it 4-4. Skye now had the upper hand and John Gillies went on a mazy run from the half-way line into the heart of Kingussie defence but his shot was blocked by Kingussie defender. Skye kept flooding forward with attack upon attack but they struggled to get the final shot on goal. The winning goal came when Skye’s Emma Gordon won a tackle on the left wing and she fed the ball through to Mark MacQueen who turned his marker and sent a good ball through to Ruaraidh MacLeod who beat his man and slammed an unstoppable drive into the roof of the net to make it 5-4 with 9 minutes remaining. Skye kept their composure for the closing stages of the game. Young Jamie Gillies was having a great match at right wing back and Ross Nicolson was managing to come to grips with the Kingussie attacks. There was a good travelling support from both sides and it was the Skye contingent who cheered with delight when referee Robert Morrison blew the final whistle to bring to an end an absolutely thrilling match between two evenly balanced teams. Jamie Gillies was solid in defence for Skye and when Connor Gilpin moved into buckshee back, he turned in an excellent performance and he dealt well with the threat posed from the talented Ruaraidh Anderson. The Skye centre line was very strong with great performances from Angus MacDonald and Emma Gordon who were on the wings whist captain John Gillies was a commanding figure in the centre. Anna MacDonald played one of her best games ever in attack and she deserved her goal. Stewart Taylor again was more comfortable on the right wing forward position and contributes with a couple of goals. Ruaraidh MacLeod adapted very well between full forward and buckshee forward and he worked very hard through the whole match and it was fitting that he got the winning goal. Skye are now through to the Ken MacMaster Cup Final where they will play Oban Camanachd – who defeated Kinlochshiel 13-0 in the other semi-final - at the Bught Park on Saturday 13 September 2014. Skye Camanachd U14 from; Ruaraidh MacLeod, Ryan MacAskill, Marcus Ross, John Gillies (captain), Jack Henderson, Ross Gordon, Angus MacDonald, Stewart Taylor, Jamie Gillies, Conor Gilpin, Martin Pringle, Anna MacDonald, Emma Gordon, Mark MacQueen, Ross Nicolson, Conor Ross Match Referee – Robert Morrison |