The Shinty Preview - Saturday 9 April 2011. | |
08 April 2011 The first rounds of the Aberdein Considine Sutherland Cup and Balliemore Cup take place on Saturday 9 April 2011. Balliemore Cup - First Round Balliemore Cup holders Kinlochshiel make the long journey south to play Kilmory. The sides met in the same competition in 2009 with Shiel winning 3-1 thanks to goals from Scott MacLean, Keith MacRae and Gordie MacDonald. Shiel manager Johnston Gill will assess Fraser MacVicar’s fitness ahead of the game as the versatile player has been suffering from a hamstring problem. Oban Celtic head north to play old foes Caberfeidh at Castle Leod. Cabers were 8-0 winners when the sides met at the same stage in the competition in 2009. The Castle Leod side put in a good performance before eventually going down to Bute in the preliminary round of the Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup last weekend. Cabers have a record five Balliemore Cup successes to their name. Ballachulish and Glasgow Mid Argyll meet at Jubilee Park. Ballachulish will be without injured captain Darren Sutherland. The visitors start as favourites after a couple of 4-3 wins over Oban Celtic with forward Craig Anderson on form. Lochcarron are another side with a long trek ahead of them as they head for Taynuilt. The home side, under the current guidance of former Scottish international Fraser Inglis, have made a decent start to the season and they sit third place in Marine Harvest South Division 1. Lochcarron boss Murdo John Fraser has been frustrated that the poor weather has meant his side has not been able to put together a run of fixtures and this is only their third match of the season. Lochcarron forward Finlay Stark is carrying a knee injury but might make it whilst Dickie MacKenzie has a hand injury which will likely rule him out. This tie throws up at 3pm. Strathglass and Skye Camanachd, who are both recent winners of this competition, meet at Cannich for the second time this season. Brian MacKay’s Strathglass were 2-0 winners against Skye at the same venue on the opening day of the league season but they will be without the suspended Scott Douglas for this one. Aonghas MacDonald’s Skye side has only played once since that game and that was an 11-0 drubbing by Scottish Hydro Premier Division champions Newtonmore at the Eilan. Skye’s Shockie MacLennan has failed in a bid to return from an ankle problem. However AB Connor and Kerr Gibb both return from injury. This match is a 3pm throw up. Inverness and Lochaber have been familiar cup opponents in recent seasons and they play at the Bught Park. Lochaber are starting to look strong after their opening day defeat to Beauly. Neil MacDonald’s return is a real boost to the side which were 2010 runners-up. Aberdein Considine Sutherland Cup – First Round Fort William make the trip to play Skye Camanachd in Portree for the second time this season. The side’s met at the same venue 3 weeks ago with the young Fort William team running out 3-0 winners. Skye manager Davie MacVicar revamped his side last weekend and they had a convincing win over Lochaber. Therefore he will have decisions to make in terms of which line-up takes the field this week. However MacVicar will have to do without full centre Darryl Macintosh who has been called up by the first team. Fort manager Victor Smith will likely have a more experienced pool to select from this time which will make it tough for the Islanders. The winners are away to Kinlochshiel in the next round. Glenurquhart and Newtonmore meet at Drumnadrochit. Again, both these sides have met already this season with the Glen running out 5-1 winners at the same venue a fortnight ago. This tie throws up at 12 noon. The prize for the victors is a second round tie away to Glengarry or Bute. Marine Harvest North Division 3 rivals Lochcarron and Beauly meet at Battery Park. Both teams have made good starts to the season so this should be a close-fought affair. Next up for the winners is a trip to play The SCOTS or Lovat. The fourth of six all-North meetings sees Inverness take on Lochaber at the earlier time of 12.30pm at the Bught Park. This is the first part of a double-header between the clubs as their senior sides clash in the Balliemore Cup later in the day. A home tie against Strathglass lies in wait for whoever comes out on top. Boleskine and Caberfeidh meet at Farr. The sides met at the same venue in Marine Harvest North Division 3 last weekend with Boleskine running out 1-0 winners thanks to a Raymond Robertson goal. The winning side will be at home to Taynuilt or Tayforth. The tie between on-form Aberdeen University and Lochbroom is off as the visitors have travel difficulties. Next up for Aberdeen University is a trip South to play Col Glen or Inveraray - one of just two all-south ties. There is a 12 noon throw up at Taynuilt where the home side meet Tayforth. Whoever comes out on top will travel North to play Boleskine or Caberfeidh. There are only three North v South clashes in the first round draw. Marine Harvest North Division 2 bottom side Kilmallie play Marine Harvest South Division 1 pace-setters Lochside Rovers at the Canal Parks. The winners of the tie between Kilmallie and Lochside Rovers will travel to play whoever triumphs between Kingussie and Strachur at the Dell. The Kings second team will be without veteran Kevin Thain and Martin Dallas but they should still progress to the next round. Marine Harvest North Division 2 leaders Glengarry take on Bute at 1.30pm in Invergarry. The sides do battle for the right to host Glenurquhart or Newtonmore in the next round. The tie between the SCOTS and holders Lovat will take place at a later date. Glasgow Mid Argyll, Kinlochshiel, Kyles Athletic and Strathglass have all received byes into the second round which takes place on Saturday 7 May 2011. Scottish Hydro Premier Division There are some great games in store in the Scottish Hydro Premier Division. This includes the meeting at An Aird between second place Fort William and table toppers Kyles Athletic. The Tighnabruaich men have passed every test set before them this season, including a good two win against Inveraray at the Winterton last weekend, but they know another good performance is required to maintain their 100% record. Fort William manager Peter McIntyre sees the third of his three suspended players return to action as 2008 Marine Harvest Player of the Year John MacDonald follows Adam Robertson and Liam MacIntyre and back to the fold. MacDonald could be a straight replacement for Gordie MacKinnon who picked up a hand injury against Lovat last week. Fort William are the only side in the top division yet to concede a goal this season but this record will be put to the test against the free-flowing Kyles forward line. The Fort dropped a surprise point to Lovat last weekend and they sit in second place in the league, trailing the leaders by 3 points but with a game in hand. They will not want to let Kyles increase their lead. Lovat will have gained confidence from their draw with Fort William last weekend and they have the ideal opportunity to build on that result when the play bottom side Glenorchy at Balgate. The sides both sit in the relation zone at the moment. Home bosses James Gallagher and John MacRitchie will do a fitness check on wing back Drew Howie who has an injured shoulder. Buckshee back Lorne MacKay is suspended. Glenurquhart and Kilmallie both posted good wins last weekend and they meet at Drumnadrochit. The sides have already met in the Co-operative MacTavish Cup when it took extra time to separate them, with Kilmallie coming out on top. This one will likely be just as close. The Glen will be without the injured David Girvan and Liam Girvan. Kilmallie forwards John Stewart and Liam MacDonald have been amongst the goals already this season but they could find it tough against one of the meanest defences in the league. This match throws up at 3pm. There is another interesting clash at Mossfield where Oban Camanachd host Inveraray. Oban Camanachd manager Diarmid MacMillan will be looking for his side to bounce back following last week’s defeat to Kingussie after what was a promising start to the season. Inveraray have just one league win to their name this season but they did come out on top both times the sides met in the league last season. Inveraray boss John Smylie will be encouraged by his side’s battling second half performance against Kyles even although they lost 3-2. And if all that isn’t enough, there is the small matter of the first senior Badenoch derby of the season when fourth place Newtonmore and third place Kingussie clash at the Eilan. Newtonmore slipped up against Glenurquhart last weekend so they will be desperate for the points. Kingussie’s win at Oban last week keeps them in the hunt and they would like nothing better than to dent their rivals bid for a second successive title but they will have to do it without Ronald Ross who has still to play this season. Marine Harvest South Division 1 Bute and Aberdour meet at Rothesay. The Islanders have the added incentive of knowing that their goal difference is such that they will leap-frog Lochside Rovers to top spot in the table if they win the game. Marine Harvest North Division 2 There is a rearranged match at Kirkton where Kinlochshiel welcome Lovat. Shiel have just one league win this season whilst Lovat are looking for their first point with two games played. Marine Harvest North Division 3 The only game in this division sees a 12 noon throw up at Cannich as Strathglass play Ardnamurchan. Ardnamurchan’s Stuart Cameron is ruled out with a foot injury whilst there is also an injury doubt over Craig Lindsay. Both sides’ points have come against new boys Lewis Camanachd this season. Strathglass earned a point following a 2-2 draw whilst Ardnamurchan beat the Islanders 6-2 last weekend. |