2010 Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup Final………….2 Days to Go. | |
16 September 2010 The Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup Final between Kingussie and Fort William takes place at the Bught Park Inverness on Saturday 18 September 2010. Fort William’s road to the final has seen them stack up 14 goals whilst they have conceded 8 goals over the 3 games. Their goals have been spread between 7 players whilst Victor Smith and Gordie MacKinnon are their top scorers with 3 goals each. Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup holders Fort William began their quest to secure a fourth successive Camanachd Cup with a second round encounter with old foes Kinlochshiel at An Aird. Fort William sat top of the Scottish Hydro Premier Division whilst Kinlochshiel led Marine Harvest North Division 1. The sides met earlier in the season in the Artemis MacTavish Cup at the same venue when the Fort beat an understrength Shiel side 3-0. They also met at Kirkton in the 2009 Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup quarter finals when it took extra time to separate the sides. Victor Smith was back in the Fort William side but manager Peter MacIntyre had to do without the services of defensive brothers Adam and Neil Robertson and forward James Clark so Gary Innes, who scored 9 times against Glasgow Mid Argyll last weekend, retained his place in attack. Shiel were missing defenders John Don MacKenzie and Crisdean MacRae. This match had a 12.30pm throw up and it was only 3 minutes old when the visitors took the lead through Keith MacRae. Neil Fraser shocked the home fans when he made it 2-0 after 16 minutes. A Bryan Simpson goal 5 minutes later eased home nerves and it took some good saves from Shiel keeper Graham Kennedy to keep his side ahead at the break. Having scored 3 minutes into the first half, the visitors repeated the feat at the start of the second period when Neil Fraser added his second after 48 minutes to restore his side’s two goal advantage. Fort William had taken Chris Bamber back to full back instead of John MacLeod and this seemed to settle their defence. John MacDonald made it 3-2 on 52 minutes and Victor Smith leveled the tie on 56 minutes. Gary Innes put Fort William ahead for the first time in the tie on 63 minutes and they held this advantage. Shiel suffered a blow with 17 minutes left when John MacRae was sent off by referee Dunkie Kerr after a spat with Niall MacPhee. Victor Smith added his second 4 minutes from time to take his side into the next round. Fort William will be relieved that they cannot face Kinlochshiel again this season. Fort William won a hard fought passage through to the semi finals with a 5-3 win against Oban Camanachd at Mossfield. Scotland captain Gary Innes, who had played at the Hebridean Celtic Music Festival in Stornoway, made a Saturday morning dash and arrived in Oban just in time for the game. Gordie MacKinnon put Fort William ahead after only 3 minutes but Daniel MacIntyre leveled 5 minutes later. David MacInnes put Oban 2-1 up on the half hour mark and a Scott MacMillan strike on 41 minutes raised Oban hopes. If Oban could have held this lead to the break, things might have been different. As it was, 2 goals just before the break from James Clark and Gary Innes squared the tie. Bryan Simpson put the Fort 4-3 up on 53 minutes and Gordie MacKinnon scored his second on 83 minutes to seal a 5-3 victory. Oban’s cause wasn’t helped when David MacInnes received a red card from referee Duncan Kelly. Holders Fort William won through to the final of the Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup for the eighth consecutive season following a 4-2 extra time win over Inveraray at Mossfield, Oban. David Robertson’s injury problems meant he started on the bench for Inveraray and Alan MacDonald was suspended. Gary Innes returned to the Fort side after missing the game against Bute but James Clark started on the bench. Neil Robertson was also suspended. Drew Ferguson put the Fort ahead on the half hour mark but Grant Griffin squared the tie a minute before the break. Duncan Rodger made a welcome return for Fort William at the break in place of John MacLeod. Rodger moved into the attack later in the game with John MacDonald dropping back to wing back where he played well. A 20 yard strike from Ewan MacMurdo put Inveraray in front 10 minutes into the second half. However Drew Ferguson’s second strike of the day on 61 minutes made it 2-2. Inveraray had the ball in the net once more before the end of the regulation 90 minutes but the effort was ruled out for offside by referee Duncan Kelly and the tie went into extra time. Gordie MacKinnon put the Fort ahead for the second time in the tie on 100 minutes after Inveraray keeper Graeme MacPherson had made a terrific save from a Gary Innes blockbuster and a sweet strike from substitute Victor Smith 10 minutes later give Fort William the chance to win the famous trophy for the fourth consecutive season. The Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup Final at the Bught Park, Inverness throws up at 2.20pm. Admission for a fantastic day’s shinty is £10 and £5 for concessions. The final will also be shown live on BBC2 Scotland where coverage starts at 2pm. Iain Anderson and Hugh Dan MacLennan are the match commentators. |