Skye Camanachd U17 2 Oban Camanachd U17 1. | |
12 October 2010 The Skye Camanachd U17 side are through to the 2010 London Shield final following their 2-1 win over Oban Camanachd U17 at An Aird on Saturday 2 October 2010. The Skye youngsters are current London Shield holders and they qualified for the semi final stage by winning the North U17 League ahead of second place Glenurquhart U17. Oban Camanachd U17 finished runners up to Lochaber U17 in the South League. Skye Camanachd U17 coach Davie MacVicar was on holiday so Willie Cowie and Alasdair Bruce looked after the side. Captain Daniel Morrison and defender Ruairidh Morrison were unavailable and Magnus Burd was injured. Chris MacLennan returned to the squad and U14 player Stevie MacKinnon was included for the first time at U17 level. Oban made the better start on a bright and sunny day at An Aird. With just 3 minutes gone Gavin Lafferty fired high over the bar from a cross from the left. Skye responded and a 20 yard looping Will Cowie shot was saved with his feet by Oban keeper Kieran McInnes and cleared before any of the Skye forwards could get to the rebound. Just 60 seconds later at the other end, Gavin Lafferty turned his marker and found himself clean through on goal. However Skye keeper Iain MacLeod raced from his goal to save Lafferty’s shot with his feet. Paul MacKinnon played in John Gillies after 11 minutes and he held the ball up before slipping a reverse pass to Jordan Murchison and he blasted a great 15 yard drive high into the net to give Skye the lead against the run of play. McInnes did well to deal with a 30 yard Will Cowie shot from the left touchline. The ball bounced wickedly in front of the keeper and who palmed the ball to safety. Oban Camanachd levelled on 21 minutes. Gavin Lafferty sent a massive shy goalwards from the right touch line. The ball looped over the head of the helpless Skye keeper Iain MacLeod into the top corner of the net. This was a sickening blow for Skye but no more that Oban deserved at this stage in the game. John Gillies shot wide on 27 minutes after being set up from a Jordan Murchison free hit. Martin Bruce collected a loose ball in midfield 5 minutes from the break and played in Jordan Murchison who fired just past the post. A minute later Will Cowie, John Gillies and Jordan Murchison linked up but McInnes saved with his feet. Skye finished the first half well and they also started the second half strongly with Jordan Murchison shooting over in the opening minute. Just 60 seconds later, Murchison forced McInnes into a good save with his foot and the ball was cleared for a corner. However Skye took the lead from the corner. The ball was played into the area and was scooped up by John Gillies and Will Cowie slammed the ball into the net. Skye almost increased their lead 9 minutes into the second half. John Gillies held the ball up and knocked a neat pass to the on-rushing Will Cowie but his shot went just the wrong side of the post. Good lead up play from Paul MacKinnon 5 minutes later created another opportunity for Cowie but McInnes made the stop although he knew precious little about it. McInnes was standing between Skye and a goal avalanche. He made a terrific double save with his feet from Gillies and Murchison 16 minutes into the second half. A couple of minutes later, a mazy Paul MacKinnon run through the Oban defence ended when he shot on goal. McInnes blocked his effort but Martin Bruce burst forward to block the keeper’s clearance with his chest. The ball fell perfectly for Bruce and he lashed a back-handed shot into the net. However refer Robert Morrison disallowed the goal as one of the Skye forwards was marginally offside. Skye introduced Chris MacLennan in place of Calum Gibb at wing centre. With 12 minutes remaining, Oban’s Malcolm Clark was booked for a wild swing at Martin Bruce. Oban pulled Gavin Lafferty back to full centre as they tried to get back into the game but Skye were controlling the midfield and they kept up the pressure on the Oban defence. With 5 minutes remaining, Paul MacKinnon slipped his marker but he couldn’t get a shot on target. A minute later there was a huge scramble in the Oban goal area with chances falling for Murchison and Gillies but the ball was cleared for a corner. With 3 minutes remaining, McInnes made the save of the match. The keeper stretched to stop a Paul MacKinnon rocket shot in the air with is caman. There was a nervous moment in the Skye defence in the final minute but substitute Chris MacLennan launched a huge clearance to foil Oban. Skye have played better this season but they did enough in the second half to justify their place in the final. Skye Camanachd U17 from; Iain MacLeod, Iain Grant, Mark Mortimer, Scott MacLeod (captain), Shaun Hedley, Calum Gibb, (Chris MacLennan), Martin Bruce, Ally MacLeod, Paul MacKinnon, Will Cowie, Jordan Murchison, John Gillies subs Stevie Morrison, Ian MacPherson Oban Camanachd U17 from; Kieran McInnes, Alex Dunnings, Kris MacMillan, Peter Currie, Scott Sinclair, Malcolm Clark, Caum McGillvary, Martin McEwan, Sean Dunstaffnage, George McMillan, Gavin Lafferty, Dan Lamont, Fergus Moore, Connor Howie, Mickey Duncan Match Referee – Robert Morrison The match balls were sponsored by Nor-Dan |