Skye Camanachd 3 Inverness 1 | |
21 May 2014 Skye Camanachd are through to the Balliemore Cup semi finals after they beat Inverness 3-1 at a wet Pairc nan Laoch, Portree on Saturday 17 May 2014. Kenny Campbell returned to the Skye squad for this 3pm throw up after missing the previous weekend’s 1-0 Balliemore Cup quarter final win over Strathglass at Cannich and he started on the bench. Islander’s boss John MacLeod had hoped to have a full squad to pick from but Neil MacVicar was delayed through work commitments. Inverness travelled west with an experienced squad which included former Skye Camanachd forward Dougie Rankin and ex-Lochcarron player Mark Sproule. However boss Allan Macleod was without defender Daniel Palombo, midfielder Craig Nicolson and forward John MacLennan. The rain had been falling steadily in Portree since the first half of the noon throw between the Skye seconds and Glengarry. Skye played with the elements at their backs in the first half. The rain had been falling steadily since midway through the noon meeting between the Skye reserves and Glengarry and there was a noticeable breeze in the Islanders favour. Skye went in front on four minutes. Allan MacKinnon played in a corner from the right which found Will Cowie at the back post. Cowie shot low on his left side into the corner of the net to make it 1-0. Inverness responded well and they were level on 12 minutes. Martin Davidson had seen an earlier shot saved well with his feet by Jamie Gannon whilst an Innes Simpson drive drifted over the junction between post and bar. However when an Innes Simpson free-hit found Dougie Rankin, his shot was blocked and the ball fell to Davidson at the edge of the D. The former Beauly player had just enough space to turn and tuck the ball low into the net to make it 1-1. A last-gasp challenge from Aaron MacMaster denied Will Cowie a shot on goal after some creative play from Shockie MacLennan on the Skye right. Shockie MacLennan broke clear down the Skye right and his ball on goal deflected wide off Arron MacMaster’s caman. A first time shot from Will Cowie from the resultant corner went just a whisker past the post. Good lead up play from Danny Morrison and Will Cowie set up Jordan Murchison who juggled the ball before turning and shooting into the ground with the ball spinning agonising wide. Skye were pressuring the home goal and they got back in front on 25 minutes. Danny Morrison provided a probing cross from the left and a Jordan Murchison shot on his left side was blocked by keeper Stuart MacRae. Shockie MacLennan and Jordan Murchison both had attempts from the rebound before the ball fell for Shockie MacLennan and he thumped it into the net to make it 2-1. Inverness responded and Martin Davidson and Dougie Rankin were involved in a scramble in the Skye goal area but Jamie Gannon cleared the danger. Danny Morrison leapt to bring down a Stuart MacRae goal-hit around 25 yards from goal on the half hour mark but he was caught on the back of the leg by Peter Grace with the offence earning the Inverness defender the game’s first yellow card. Iain Murray won the ball in the midfield following a goal hit and he set Shockie MacLennan free down the Skye right. MacLennan’s cross found Danny Morrison but Stuart MacRae played the ball out for a corner as Morrison’s shot looped high in the air after deflecting off Peter Grace. Skye’s Gilleasbuig MacDonald became the second player to be booked by referee Liam Girvan for a challenge on Liam Girvan. Aaron MacMaster was next to have his name taken for a challenge on Will Cowie on the Skye left but the home side were unable to create anything from the set-piece opportunity. Scott Watson capitalised as Ally MacLeod slipped on the greasy surface on 43 minutes and Jamie Gannon did well to palm away Watson’s cross from the right, under pressure from Martin Davidson, with the ball eventually going out of play off the Inverness man With seconds of the first half remaining, a ball into the goal area from Jordan Murchison seemed to stick in the mud as Danny Morrison tried to get a shot in on goal. The rain continued to fall throughout the interval and at the restart, Inverness were now playing with the elements in their favour as they shot towards the Struan Road end of the ground. Skye’s Shockie MacLennan required treatment early in the second half as he was accidentally hit when Inverness cleared the ball out of defence. However after being attended to by Skye medic Helen Gilpin, the Skye forward was able to carry on. A nice shot from Danny Morrison went low past Stuart MacRae’s post as Skye tried to add to their advantage. Stuart MacRae made a terrific save with his foot from a neat Will Cowie snap-shot, turning the ball away for a corner. Shockie MacLennan cut in from the right and his shot went wide of goal. Keeper MacRae saved from Jordan Murchison after Shockie MacLennan had played in his strike partner. Danny Morrison and MacLennan then had chances but found it hard to get a clean strike in the difficult conditions. Dougie Rankin shot wide at the second attempt following an Innes Simpson free-hit as the visitors battled back. Dougie Rankin was tripped almost on the penalty spot as he tried to break free from his marker on the hour but Inverness were unable to make the set-piece count. Skye made a change seconds later when Kenny Campbell came on for Danny Morrison. Inverness also made a change with Charlie MacDonald coming on for Dougie Rankin. Inverness keeper Stuart MacRae required treatment midway through the second half but was able to continue. Inverness made their second change of the afternoon when Michael Price replaced Scott Watson. Kenny MacLeod came on in attack for Skye with 16 minutes remaining. Scott Watson came back on for Inverness in place of a limping Conor Golabeck. Skye had the chance to increase their lead on 83 minutes when Inverness keeper Stuart MacRae was penalised for a kick. There was no complaint from the visiting defenders. Skye penalty-taker Will Cowie raced to the touchline to dry down his caman before stepping up to blast a superbly taken penalty over MacRae’s left shoulder into the net to make it 3-1. There was a stoppage-time booking for Innes Simpson when he flicked his stick out at Will Cowie who was preventing him from taking a quick free-hit on the Inverness left. This was a resolute and determined team effort from Skye with the wind and rain producing testing conditions from both sets of players. Inverness were well served by Aaron MacMaster whilst Liam Girvan was always creative. This was the first of three meetings between the sides over four consecutive Saturdays as they meet in the league at the Bught Park this coming weekend with a Balliemore Cup semi final to follow a fortnight later. Skye Camanachd from: Jamie Gannon; Steven Morrison, Ally MacDonald, Ally “Spod” MacLeod, Chris Rose; Allan MacKinnon, Iain Murray, Gilleasbuig MacDonald (captain); Will Cowie, Danny Morrison, Jordan Murchison, Shockie MacLennan; subs Kenny Campbell, Kenny MacLeod, David Grant, Neil MacVicar Inverness from: Stuart MacRae; Zander Grant, Peter Grace, Adam MacMaster, Aaron MacMaster (captain); Mark Sproule, Innes Simpson, Conor Golabeck; Liam Girvan, Scott Watson, Dougie Rankin, Martin Davidson; subs Michael Price, Charlie MacDonald, Allan MacLeod Scorers: Skye Camanachd: Will Cowie (4, 83 pen) Shockie MacLennan (25) Inverness Martin Davidson (12) Match Referee – David Stafford The match balls were sponsored by Nor-Dan |