Skye Camanachd 8 SCOTS Camanachd 4 | |
19 May 2015 A powerful first half performance helped the Skye Camanachd second team beat SCOTS Camanachd 8-4 in their Festubert Commemoration meeting which was switched to the Portree High School astro pitch on Saturday 16 May 2015. The match, with 10-players-aside playing 40 minutes each way, was originally scheduled to take place at Pairc nan Laoch but the heavy overnight rain led to a switch of venue to the Portree High School astro pitch. Skye Camanachd second team manager Davie Pringle was without Neil John Campbell and Connor Gilpin whilst DJ Gilpin was a late call-off. However captain David MacInnes and Stewart Grant were added to the original squad. John MacKenzie returned to the pool and there was also a place from former soldier Thomas Wilson. Captain Robert Stoddart led the SCOTS Camanachd squad which is made up of shinty players who currently serve, or have in the past served, in the Forces. Former Skye player Iain Munro was in goal whilst there was also a place for former Lochcarron player Fraser MacKenzie who also previously co-managed Glenurquhart and was in charge of the Scotland squad. Throw up was at 11am and the players led out onto the pitch in blustery but dry conditions ahead of a minute’s silence by local piper Ally “K” MacPherson. The whole match was featured live on Cuillin FM’s “Camanachd Live” show. Skye played with the wind advantage in the first half but it was the Forces side who attacked from the throw up. And they got their reward with less than a minute played. Referee John Angus Gillies penalised a Skye defender for a “kick” and John Morrison slipped the resulting free-hit into the goal area and Ewen Graham ran forward to score to make it 1-0. Skye levelled straight from the restart. John Gillies played the ball forward to Angie MacDonald who flicked it over his head to James Pringle and he drew keeper Iain Munro before slipping the ball home to make it 1-1 with less than 90 seconds played. Angie MacDonald put Skye 2-1 up after 5 minutes when he flicked a James Pringle pass into the net. Iain Munro made a fantastic saved to turn a John Gillies effort over the bar as Skye looked to increase their lead. John Gillies did make it 3-1 on 8 minutes when he sent the ball low into the net after a neat exchange of passes with James Pringle. Ewen Graham sent a shot past the post as the SCOTS looked to respond. Fraser MacKenzie came on for SCOTS Camanachd as both teams took advantage of the rolling substations. John Gillies got his second and Skye’s fourth goal on 14 minutes and again James Pringle was the provider as the two youngsters played a couple of one-twos to cut open the SCOTS Camanachd defence. The deficit was almost cuts moments later when ball fell to Michael Cooper on the SCOTS right and his well-hit shot was well saved with his hand by Ross Graham and turned away for a corner. Stewart Grant had to flick the ball off the line to prevent SCOTS Camanachd bagging a second goal. John Gillies completed his hat-trick when he turned a James Pringle ball goalwards to make it 5-1 on 22 minutes although the ball may have come off a SCOTS defender before crossing the line. The Skye forward line of Angie MacDonald, John Gillies and James Pringle was causing the SCOTS defence all sorts of problems and John Gillies got his fourth goal of the day to make it 6-1 on 26 minutes. This time a low shot from Gillies from just outside the D gave keeper Munro no chance. Colin Irving pulled a goal back for the SCOTS a couple of minutes later to make it 6-2. Ewen Graham played the ball to Fraser MacKenzie and he showed a nice touch to set up Irving to score. John Morrison stopped an Angie MacDonald shot on the goal-line on the half hour mark before keeper Iain Munro cleared the danger. John Angus MacInnes came on for Angie MacDonald on 33 minutes in a straight-swap in the Skye attack. Ross Graham did well to turn a Michael Cooper shot away after Cooper had intercepted a Skye pass in midfield. Then Neil Watson shot wide as the SCOTS finished the first half on the attack. However it was John Gillies, who certainly had his eye in during the first half, who would have the final say of the first 40 minutes as he grabbed his fifth goal of the afternoon on 40 minutes. John Angus MacInnes won possession in the Skye attack and he laid the ball off to James Pringle who picked out Gillies who made it 7-2 at the interval. Skye made several changes at the break with 5-goal John Gillies amongst the players withdraw. Calum Gibb and Andrew Banks joined David Grant in defence in front of keeper Ross Graham. Iain MacLellan, David MacInnes and Thomas Wilson made up the midfield with John Angus MacInnes and James Pringle were joined in attack by John MacKenzie. SCOTS Camanachd had the wind advantage in the second half and they certainly went on to enjoy more pressure than in the first period and Crawford MacLellan sent the first chance of the second half wide of goal. Colin Irving was forced off after twisting his knee and Fraser MacKenzie came back on in his place. Daniel Morrison replaced James Pringle for Skye. A Craig MacPhail shot flashed across the Skye goal after he picked up a Fraser MacKenzie pass. Crawford MacLellan came on to be replaced by Fifer Gary Crawford in the SCOTS attack. Ryan Morrison came on for Skye in the full forward position. A nice flick from Fraser MacKenzie played the ball into the path of Gary Crawford but Skye defender David Grant did well to clear the danger. Fraser MacKenzie made it 7-3 on the hour mark with a low shot into the corner of the net with Cooper and Devine involved in the build-up. A Craig MacPhail shot was deflected just past Ross Graham’s post for a corner on 63 minutes and the SCOTS kept pressing. John MacKenzie netted for Skye on 66 minutes with keeper Munro getting his leg to the ball but he wasn’t able to keep it out of the net. The SCOTS response was immediate as John Morrison played the ball to Arran Devine and his snap-shot hit the side-netting. Some neat link-up play conjured up another SCOTS goal just 2 minutes later. A nice touch got Arran Devine away from his marker. He passed to Dean Devine who passed to John Morrison who sent a perfectly weighted ball to Arran Devine, who had continued his run, and he scored to make it 8-4. The second half was shortened to 30 minutes and Skye saw out the closing stages of the game to seal victory. SCOTS Camanachd were about to head for California to take part in the Mount Pleasant Highland Games and they gave a good account of themselves, especially in the second half when they had come to terms with the astro pitch surface. Skye did the damage in the first half and, after making a number of changes at the break, they didn’t get into their rhythm in the same way in the second half. Skye Camanachd from; Ross Graham; David Grant, Kyle Pirie, Ross Nicolson, Stewart Grant, Ian MacPherson; John Gillies, James Pringle, Angie MacDonald; Subs David MacInnes (captain), Andrew Banks, Daniel Morrison, Ryan Morrison, Calum Gibb, Thomas Wilson, John MacKenzie, John Angus MacInnes, Iain MacLellan SCOTS Camanachd; Iain Munro; Chris Munro, Craig MacPhail, Dean Devine; Paul Ross, Michael Cooper, Ewen Graham; John Morrison, Arran Devine, Colin Irving; subs Crawford MacLellan Fraser MacKenzie, Neil Watson, Hector MacKenzie, Gary Crawford, Dean Devine Match Referee – John Angus Gillies The match balls were sponsored by Nor-Dan |