The Shinty Round-up. | |
17 August 2009 The Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup semi finals were played in controversial circumstances on Saturday 15 August 2009. Both Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup semi finals were originally scheduled to take place at That was not the end of the drama though as Kingussie and Kyles Athletic have to do battle all over again after referee Charles Young abandoned their Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup semi final after 65 minutes because of the deteriorating conditions. A Ronald Ross had double put the Kings 2-0 up but a Colin MacDonald strike reduced their advantage. Ross completed a first half hat-trick to give the 2008 runners up a 3-1 half time lead. Ross took his and Kingussie's tally to 4 into the second half. Kyles lost Roddy MacDonald just after the hour mark to a head knock having lost Colin McColl to a split head earlier in the game. It later transpired that MacDonald suffered a broken nose and cracked cheekbone. Conditions were difficult from the outset and after 65 minutes, referee Charles Young decided that conditions had deteriorated to such an extent that he abandoned the match. Neither side felt that the game should have gone ahead in the first place however the early end to the tie certainly favoured Kyles who were unlikely to recover the 4-1 deficit in the final 25 minutes. Kingussie were left feeling very frustrated by the decision and felt that as conditions had been poor throughout, the match should have been played to a conclusion.
In the earlier game, Newtonmore took a 2-0 first half lead in their semi final match against Lovat at Balgate. Chris Sellar gave them the lead with a goal after 20 minutes and Orsten Gardner made it 2-0 after 37 minutes. Lovat began the fight-back 10 minutes into the second half with a goal from Steven Cameron. Charlie Mainland levelled the tie on 75 minutes and Cameron scored his second and the winning goal just 4 minutes from the end. This sets up a repeat of this year’s Aberdein Considine Sutherland Cup Final which Runaway Marine Harvest South Division 1 leaders Lochside Rovers are through to the Bullough Cup Final with a 4-2 win in Oban over an Aberdour side who are in fourth place in Marine Harvest South Division 2. Marine Harvest South Division 2 sides Kyles Athletic and Glenorchy agreed to reschedule their semi final to Wednesday 19 August 2009. . The match of the day in the Scottish Hydro Premier Division was at Drumnadrochit where second place Glenurquhart played fifth place Newtonmore. ’More had a convincing 5-0 win when the sides met at the Eilan on the opening day of the season and they rattled up another 5 goals again. Full centre Lewis MacLennan smashed a long range effort into the net after 10 minutes to give the home side the lead. However Glen MacKintosh leveled 8 minutes later. Paul MacArthur gave the men from the Eilan the lead after 21 minutes and when Glen’s Andrew Corrigan hit the bar, the Blairbeg men perhaps sensed that it wouldn’t be their day. MacKintosh notched his second to make it 3-1 just minutes before the break and Evan Menzies made it 4-1 on 61 minutes. Glen MacKintosh capped a fine performance when he completed his hat-trick on 73 minutes to seal a 5-1 win. Newtonmore now leap to second place in the league, joining leaders Kingussie and third place Glenurquhart on 16 points. Indeed with Lochaber had a great win over Oban Camanachd at The match between Glenorchy and Inveraray at Dalmally was postponed as the pitch was unplayable. Kilmallie did not have a game in Marine Harvest North Division 1 and they watched with interest as to how their championship challengers’ fared. The return of a couple of familiar faces helped Skye Camanachd to a fantastic 4-2 win over Strathglass at Cannich. With first team manager Aonghas MacDonald on holiday, former manager Ally Morrison took charge of the Skye team for this vital clash. Skye were also boosted by the return of buckshee forward Somhairle MacDonald following a 5 week holiday in The match between Kinlochshiel and A last minute goal from Lee Nicol gave Caberfeidh a 1-0 win over fellow title challengers Beauly at Lochcarron suffered their 10th straight defeat when Lovat came to visit Battery Park. Greg Matheson gave the visitors the lead after 15 minutes and Raymond Rennie doubled their advantage 5 minutes before the break. Matheson scored a crucial third 2 minutes from the break. Fraser Gallagher made it 4-0 on 75 minutes and Ian MacKenzie scored a consolation goal for Lochcarron 5 minutes from the end There were no matches played in Marine Harvest South Division 1 with the Friday match between Oban Celtic and Inveraray and the much anticipated Saturday game between Kilmory and Glasgow Mid Argyll were called off. Marine Harvest North Division 2 leaders Glenurquhart extended their lead at the top of the table to 3 points with a 5-0 win over Caberfeidh at Drumnadrochit. First team manager Dave Menzies’s son Ewen Menzies gave them the lead after just 3 minutes. Iain MacLeod made it 2-0 after 15 minutes and Calum Fraser made it 3-0 on 42 minutes. Fraser added his second 5 minutes after the break and Menzies capped a fine performance with his second goal on 58 minutes. Skye Camanachd second team made it 3 wins in a row with a 2-1 win Kinlochshiel at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree. Skye had plenty possession in a rain soaked first half but they couldn’t turn their advantage into goals. Ian Cameron in the Shiel goal also made several good saves, particularly from Peter Gordon an Allan MacKinnon. However the breakthrough came 5 minutes from the half time interval and it was Allan MacKinnon who smashed a backhand shot past Cameron into the net. Indeed MacKinnon put so much effort into his swing that his wet caman flew out of his hands and almost reached hit the corner flag! Allan MacKinnon also found the net in the second half but his goal was ruled out for offside by referee Evan MacRae. Angie MacDonald scored Skye’s crucial second goal after 78 minutes. However 5 minutes from the end, Steven Isles played in Alan MacDiarmid and the Shiel full forward reduced the deficit when he fired low to Iain Munro’s right to make the score 2-1. This was a great win for the Islanders and the 2 points lift them to 5th equal place in the table. The match between Glengarry and Kilmallie at Invergarry was postponed as the pitch was unplayable. The poor weather at the weekend meant that there were no matches played in Marine Harvest South Division 2. The Friday night match between Col Glen and The Saturday matches between Glenorchy and Strachur at Dalmally and Glasgow Mid Argyll and Ballachulish at Yoker did not go ahead. Only one match took place in Marine Harvest North Division 3 when Lochaber played Ardnamurchan at Lochcarron were unable to raise a team for their match against Beauly at |