Skye Camanachd 5 Beauly 0 | |
08 April 2019 Skye Camanachd recorded their first league win of the season, beating Beauly 5-0 in the Mowi National Division at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree on Saturday 6 April 2019. With a match taking place earlier in the afternoon, the pitch was soft and it was moved 20 feet away from the Skeabost end for this 3pm throw up to avoid the muddy goal areas. In a change of match referee, John Matheson took charge of the match. Skye made one change to the starting line-up which beat Fort William a week earlier with Iain MacLellan in attack in place of James Pringle who started on the bench. Beauly manager Alan MacRae was without Jack MacDonald and Liam Girvan. Skye played towards the Viewfield end of the ground in the first half and they created the game’s first chance when full centre John Gillies won the ball in midfield and he ran 15 yards before passing to Ross Gordon and, from 18 yards out, Gordon sent a shot screaming past Beauly keeper MacKay Murray’s right hand post. Skye kept pressing and they took the lead after 14 minutes. The Islanders were awarded a soft free-hit when Andrew Morrison was penalised for a shove on Jordan Murchison. Murchison took the set-piece and he placed a perfect pass to Iain MacLellan, in the starting line-up following his two goals from the bench against Fort William the previous week, and he peeled off his marker before striking a sweet back-hand strike which went in at the keeper’s left post. From the throw up, the ball landed to William MacKinnon on the Skye left and he hit a long ball into the penalty area where Jordan Murchison took it down before seeing his neat back-hand shot well-saved by MacKay Murray. Beauly tried to counter and William Zblewski ran in on goal but he was halted by a good Iain Nicolson challenge with the ball played out for a corner. The Skye centre line was getting stronger and they kept feeding the forwards. John Gillies won the ball and played a long pass from the right which found Iain MacLellan who ran 10 yards before crossing to Ross Gordon. Gordon got the ball under control before placing it perfectly past the keeper at his right post to make it 2-0 with 30 minutes gone. Beauly defender David Fraser, who had been troubled by a hamstring problem before the game, exacerbated the injury when trying to prevent the goal and he limped off. Beauly tested the Skye keeper just 5 minutes later. Calum Morrison gathered the ball in midfield and his speculative lob into the Skye defence came to Sean Stewart who hit a shot from 18 yards which Ryan Morrison saved with his stick before clearing. Both teams were putting in good, hard tackles with good hitting despite the conditions. The first half ended abruptly with both camps claiming there were still 5 minutes remaining and the referee asked both managers to ensure their players took a calmer approach to the second half which passed without incident. Skye ended the game as a contest within 25 seconds of the restart. John Gillies won the throw up and hit a fine pass to Jordan Murchison on the left and he whipped the ball first-time past the helpless keeper. Skye went close on 55 minutes when Iain Nicolson’s clearance from deep inside his own half found Ally “Cleodi” MacLeod on the right wing. MacLeod played in Will Cowie who turned his marker and, from 22 yards out; he sent a shot just the wrong side of the keeper’s left post. Skye replaced Iain MacLellan with James Pringle and Chris Rose for Ally “Cleodi” MacLeod soon after. Skye keeper Ryan Morrison made a great save with his stick on 63 minutes to deny Beauly youngster William Zblewski following a free-hit and play quickly went to the other end where Jordan Murchison’s shot came back off the post and the ball was cleared for a corner. James Pringle almost added a fourth when he won the ball and dribbled into the D but he slipped just as he looked to turn the ball home and a free-hit was awarded against him. Ross Gordon found Will Cowie who beat his man but his shot went by the post. However Pringle did find the net on 73 minutes when he went on another mazy run, cutting in near the bye-line and dribbling into the D before poking the ball with one hand inside at the keeper’s left corner to make it 4-0. The Skye defence were playing well, not allowing the Beauly forward line to settle and create chances and Martin Pringle didn’t put a foot wrong throughout the entire game as he won tackle after tackle and cleared his lines. Skye added a fifth goal with 10 minutes remaining. Chris Rose hit a diagonal ball from the right which found Jordan Murchison in space and he released a perfectly weighted pass to Ross Gordon who claimed his second goal with a shot inside the keeper’s right post. Beauly came close to getting a consolation goal on 85 minutes when William Zblewski took the ball on the left but the ever-alert Ryan Morrison saved the goal-bound shot and the visitors had to settle for a corner. Ross MacKinnon came on for Ross Gordon and almost scored immediately but keeper MacKay Murray saved. The home side came close to adding a sixth 3 minutes into stoppage time. John Gillies won possession in midfield and he ran forward with the ball before unleashing a 30 yard shot which went just over the bar. Skye deserved the win over the 90 minutes with Iain Nicolson commanding in his new role this season at buckshee back. Young James Morrison was also good in defence and the forwards played well as a unit, tackling fearlessly to gain possession and creating many chances for themselves. John Gillies played a key role in midfield where he battled well against Calum Morrison whilst William MacKinnon was also very good to his left. Beauly’s Angus Renwick showed great determination in an over-worked defence. Skye Camanachd from: Ryan Morrison; Jamie Gillies, Martin Pringle, James Morrison, Iain Nicolson, Ally “Cleodi” MacLeod, John Gillies, William MacKinnon; Jordan Murchison, Will Cowie (captain), Ross Gordon, Iain MacLellan; subs James Pringle, Chris Rose, Ross MacKinnon Beauly from: MacKay Murray; David Fraser, Andrew Morrison, Elliot Moir, Angus Renwick; Calum Morrison, Colin MacDonald Greg Tillman; Sean Stewart, William Zblewski, Liam Girvan, Daniel Lamont; subs Duncan Fraser, Robbie MacDonald Match Referee – John Matheson Scorers Skye Camanachd Iain MacLennan (14) Ross Gordon (30, 80) Jordan Murchison (46) James Pringle (73) Beauly (none) The match balls were sponsored by Nor-Dan |