The Shinty Round Up – Wednesday 23 June 2010. | |
24 June 2010 Glenurquhart and Lovat have won through to the Strathdearn Cup Final following the semi final ties on Wednesday 23 June 2010. Marine Harvest North Division 2 champions Glenurquhart didn’t have much success in the cups last season but they are certainly making up for it this term as they have reached the last four in Aberdein Considine Sutherland Cup and they are now in the final of the Strathdearn Cup. Both sides had injury problems with Iain MacLeod and Ewen Fraser missing out for the home team. Lochaber’s Stuart Callison was ruled out with a broken thumb when young defender Barrie MacDonald suffered a fractured cheek-bone in last weekend’s MacTavish Juvenile Cup win. Lochaber were boosted by Kenny Forsyth’s return to the side at full back and he played well, as he tried to snuff out the threat posed by Glen veteran Stuart Morrison. The early exchanges were even but Glenurquhart then started to pressure the visitors without really forcing Lochaber keeper Christopher MacRae into serious action. Youth was to the fore as Brenan MacDonald and John Sweeney were prominent in the Lochaber defence as they looked to curb the activities of Glen wing forwards Kelvin MacKenzie and Ewan Brady. When Lochaber did attack they looked dangerous with veteran Angus Morrison spreading play from the buckshee forward position and Pat Toal always looking lively. Glenurquhart took the lead on 42 minutes when Ruairidh Cameron crashed a great 35 yard drive high into the top of the goal. The Glen could have doubled their advantage just before the break when a neat passing move involving Ruairidh Cameron and Stuart Morrison set up a good chance for Kelvin MacKenzie but he was unable to get a shot on target. Glenurquhart attacked right from the start of the second have and it took just 2 minutes for them to double their lead. Ruairidh Cameron was allowed drift onto the right wing unchallenged and he fired a good low ball past MacRae into the net. A flowing move involving Glenurquhart substitute Ewan Menzies and Stuart Morrison created a chance for Ewan Brady but Lochaber keeper Christopher MacRae made a brilliant save with his stick to deflect the shot for a corner. There seemed little danger when Ewan Menzies collected a ball 20 yards from goal on 68 minutes but he sent a vicious bouncing shot goalwards which beat the unsighted MacRae to make it 3-0. Lochaber sprung to life with 15 minutes remaining. Glen keeper Garry MacKintosh made a good save from a first time volley from Angus Morrison at the expense of a corner. However when the corner came in from the left, Connor Sweeney showed great determination to knock the ball over the line to make it 3-1. Lochaber set up a grandstand finish on 82 minutes when Connor Sweeney pushed forward to score his second goal of the game to make it 3-2. MacRae saved well in the air from a Menzies shot on the right on 84 minutes as Glenurquhart tried to restore their earlier dominance. However it was Lochaber who continued to press and they came close to taking the tie into extra time in the final minute as Connor Sweeney found Angus Morrison 20 yards out and he made space to shoot low on target but MacKintosh saved with his feet. Glenurquhart deserved their win over the 90 minutes in a game that was well refereed by Deek Cameron. However Lochaber must wonder what might have been if they had tackled the whole of the tie in the same manner as they played the final 20 minutes. It took extra time to separate Fort William and Lovat at An Aird in what was a repeat of the 2009 final. The Fort were the winners on that occasion but it is the men from Balgate who have a final to look forward to after a 2-1 win in this one. Fort William took the lead after 20 minutes when Sean Cameron fired home and they held that lead until half time. Fort William had the bulk of the pressure in the second half but the Lovat back-line defended as if their lives depended on it. It did look as if the one goal might be enough to take them through to the final until Lovat’s Jamie Matheson shot home 10 minutes from time. There was no further scoring so the tie was taken into an extra time period. It was Lovat’s Connal MacIllechiar who became the hero when he scored the all-important goal on 98 minutes. Fort William were still unable to break the visiting defence down so it’s Lovat who go through to the final. Lovat are also in the semi finals of the Aberdein Considine Sutherland Cup and they have shown themselves to be a good cup side in recent seasons. |