Kyles Athletic 2 Skye Camanachd 0 - UPDATED! | |
30 April 2016 It took two late goals before Kyles Athletic finally saw off Skye Camanachd in their Marine Harvest Premiership meeting with at Tighnabruaich on Saturday 23 April 2016. Kyles Athletic put twelve goals past Bute in their Gregor Cameron Consultancy Glasgow Celtic Society Cup quarter-final last weekend despite being without Roddy MacDonald, David Zavaroni, Roberto Zavaroni and Sandy MacKenzie. However co-managers Fraser MacDonald and Kenny MacDonald restored Roddy MacDonald to the starting line-up for this game whilst Roberto Zavaroni and Sandy MacKenzie took up places on the substitutes’ bench. Full centre Grant Irvine was a notable absentee so Thomas Whyte started in the middle of the park. Skye Camanachd boss John MacLeod initially made four changes to the squad which lost 4-0 to Newtonmore in the RBS MacTavish Cup quarter finals last weekend. Chris MacLennan was out with a broken thumb whilst Allan MacKinnon aggravated a muscle injury during Newtonmore match. Keeper Jamie Gannon had a jarred knee and DJ Gilpin returned to second team duty. There were call-ups for Aonghas MacDonald, Neil John Campbell and Iain MacLellan whilst Scotland U21 keeper Iain MacLeod stepped in between the posts. There were other absentees as work commitments continued to rule out Shockie MacLennan and Iain Nicolson whilst Iain Murray and Ally “Spod” MacLeod were also on the injury list. Will Cowie has returned from a spell abroad and he featured for the Skye seconds. With John MacLeod working, Aonghas MacDonald and Donnie MacDonald looked after Skye side and they had to change their plans just before the 2.30pm throw up as Steven Morrison took unwell on the journey south so Neil John Campbell was given a starting slot. An injured Ally “Spod” MacLeod went on the bench to make up the numbers but he was never likely to play. It was a bright, sunny day at Tighnabruaich with a gentle breeze in Kyles' favour in the first half. The contest started off fairly evenly with the long journey seemingly not adversely affecting the Skye players too much. The Islanders started off shooting towards the clubhouse end of the pitch. Kyles enjoyed most of the first half pressure with the Skye defence doing very well to control their quick-moving forward line. Most of the home attacks were snuffed out before the forwards were within shooting range and shots that did materialise were from distance and off-target so Iain MacLeod in the Skye goal didn't have a great deal to do other than some tidying up. However when the ball was cleared out of defence, Skye struggled to retain possession further up the park so the defence was over-worked at times. The Skye forwards did look dangerous when they got within shooting range but the Kyles defence played very well throughout, particularly buckshee back Andrew King who moped up a lot of loose balls. Ally “Cleodi” MacLeod and David MacInnes put in a power of work against more experienced wing centres and they looked quite impressive on the whole. Kyles had more of the first half ball they didn't really look like scoring mainly due good defensive play by a Skye side who were quite happy to come in 0-0 at half time. Skye believed that they could take something from the match whilst Kyles knew they were in a game and weren't going to saunter their way to an easy win. Skye made a change at the break with wing centre David MacInnes coming off and Iain MacLellan coming on in attack with Kenny Campbell dropping back into midfield. It was Skye’s only change of the game. Skye played with the wind advantage in the second half. The pattern of play remained unchanged with the Skye players doing very well in their individual battles but they struggled to keep the ball in their opponents half. Kyles’ positional play was very good and probably the main difference between the teams. The harder Kyles tried to open the scoring, the more the Skye defence stood firm. Neil MacVicar had a superb game, man-marking Roddy MacDonald and giving the Scotland international very little opportunity to shine. John Gillies played like someone twice his age and with twice his experience against the skilful Duncan Kerr. Neil John Campbell put in his best performance in a Skye shirt and Ally MacDonald was also immense throughout. Skye keeper Iain MacLeod made an outstanding save with his stick, turning the ball round the post for a corner with about 15 mins to go. From the resulting corner, another low, bouncing shot came in from just outside the D. The ball was actually behind keeper MacLeod when he somehow dived and got a stick to the ball to turn it round the post, making a save he had no right to make However Roddy MacDonald eventually broke the deadlock with just 9 minutes remaining. MacDonald collected the ball around 15 yards from goal and he ran across goal from left to right and although he didn’t catch the ball as he would have liked, it bounced through a ruck of players and into the bottom right-hand corner of the net to the relief of the home support. Gordon Whyte made it 2-0 on 84 minutes. The move started when Kyles won possession in the centre line and Whyte juggled the ball after a quick one-two and he passed the ball into the far corner of the net from just 5 yards out. Skye had a few good chances in the second half and some very good passing moves between the forwards stretched the Kyles’s defence but the determined home backline defended well and the visitors didn't make keeper John Whyte work hard enough. Skye pushed right to the final whistle to try and get a goal but it wasn't to be. Second placed Kyles will be relieved to take both points and they now only trail leaders Newtonmore on goal difference. Defender Andrew King was best for the home side. Coaches Aonghas MacDonald and Donnie MacDonald couldn't fault any of the Skye players with every single one of them showing great fitness and giving a very good account of themselves. On the whole, the Skye defence was superb whilst the centre line put in a tremendous shift with the forwards pushing and chasing every ball down. Skye will take great encouragement from their performance and they now have a “free-Saturday” this coming weekend as their players attend the “Skye Live” music festival. Kyles Athletic from: John Whyte (captain); Callum Miller, Cammy Keith, Ross Macrae, Andrew King; Innes MacDonald, Thomas Whyte, Robbie MacLeod; Gordon Whyte, Roddy MacDonald, Scott MacDonald, Dunkie Kerr; subs Sandy MacKenzie, Roberto Zavaroni, George Thompson, Rupert Williamson Skye Camanachd from: Iain MacLeod; Neil MacVicar (captain), Ally MacDonald, John Gillies, Neil John Campbell; Ally “Cleodi” MacLeod, Gilleasbuig MacDonald, David MacInnes; Jordan Murchison, Danny Morrison, James Pringle, Kenneth Campbell; subs Iain MacLellan, Aonghas MacDonald, Ally “Spod” MacLeod Match Referee – David Mitchell Scorers Kyles Athletic Roddy MacDonald (81) Gordon Whyte (84) Skye Camanachd None |