Skye Camanachd 1 Kinlochshiel 5 | |
24 August 2011 Skye Camanachd lost 5-1 to Kinlochshiel as the Kirkton side clinched the Marine Harvest North Division 1 title following their meeting at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree on Saturday 20 August 2011. There are five changes to the squad which lost to Beauly five weeks ago. Iain Murray, Kerr Gibb, Iain Nicolson and Gilleasbuig MacDonald were all unavailable whilst Shaun Hedley was unwell. However captain Somhairle MacDonald returned to the side and he started at full centre. He was joined in the centre line by AB Connor who had missed several games through work commitments. John Moir came into defence whilst Jordan Murchison joined the attack. Iain Grant’s good performances for the second team were rewarded with a place on the bench where he was joined by another call-up, Allan MacKinnon. A back injury continued to rule out Alan Palmer. Kinlochshiel travelled with just two substitutes and their consistency in selection was demonstrated by the fact the starting line-up had only one change from when the sides met at Kirkton earlier in the season with Fraser MacVicar in place of Gordie MacDonald who started on the bench after recovering from a knee injury. Kinlochshiel started brightly and showed little signs of any title nerves. Finlay MacRae muscled his way in to win possession after just 4 minutes and his shot fizzed wide of goal. However the visitors went ahead a minute later. The Skye defence allowed a Finlay MacRae corner from the right to run across the D and Fraser MacVicar got in ahead of John Moir to knock the ball into the net. Skye keeper Michael Nicolson got his foot to the ball but it bobbled agonisingly over the line. Michael Nicolson made a good save with his hand from fierce John MacRae drive a couple of minutes later. The pressure on the Skye defence continued and Finlay MacRae made space for a shot on 19 minutes but his effort went wide of goal. Skye manager Aonghas MacDonald was forced to make an early change when wing centre AB Connor had to come off with what later turned out to be a cracked rib on 14 minutes. Allan MacKinnon came on and slotted into the wing centre berth. Skye threatened on 15 minutes when a shot from Jordan Murchison went just wide of Graham Kennedy’s goal. Kinlochshiel doubled their advantage on 19 minutes. Michael Nicolson saved a Steven Callander shot from just outside the D but Neil Fraser was on hand to knock the rebound into the net and put the champions-elect 2-0 in front. A shot from distance from Darryl Macintosh was chested down by Graham Kennedy and cleared after 31 minutes. Finlay MacRae and Keith MacRae played a one-two on 33 minutes but the Scotland international’s flick went narrowly past the post. John Moir came to Skye’s rescue when he knocked the ball out for a corner following a goal mouth scramble on 36 minutes as ‘Shiel pressed for a third goal. Neil Fraser got on the end of the corner and he flicked the ball over his head but his unorthodox attempt went wide of goal. Andrew Banks stepped in to halt a Finlay MacRae run 3 minutes from the break. However the visitors did get their third goal on 44 minutes. Shiel full centre John MacRae and buckshee forward Keith MacRae combined to set up their brother Finlay MacRae and he burst in towards the Skye goal from the right. MacRae then showed great awareness to cut the ball back to Neil Fraser who rifled a shot into the net for his second goal of the game. Kinlochshiel attacked straight from the restart and Michael Nicolson was forced to scoop a ball from Finlay MacRae away for a corner. However Skye pulled a goal back on 47 minutes. Allan MacKinnon hit a good shy from the right which found Jordan Murchison who allowed the ball to run before hitting a good back-hand effort. Graham Kennedy made a good stop with his feet but as the ball spun into the air, Ally MacDonald knocked it down and Danny Morrison coolly knocked the ball into the net to make it 3-1. ‘Shiel came back at Skye and a back-hand drive from Finlay MacRae hit the side-netting a couple of minutes later. Kinlochshiel’s Calum MacLean received the first booking of the afternoon on 53 minutes when he was yellow carded by referee Graham Irving for his petulant reaction following a trip on Allan MacKinnon. Skye pressed from the free-hit and Graham Kennedy saved from Somhairle MacDonald and the keeper cleared the ball for a corner. Finlay MacRae set up Neil Fraser on the ‘Shiel right on 56 minutes and his shot brought a brilliant Michael Nicolson save above his head which diverted the ball for a corner. It was clear that the next goal was going to be crucial and Michael Nicolson made another stop on 58 minutes. This time the keeper spread himself on the ground to block a Finlay MacRae effort with ‘Shiel claiming for a penalty. Nicolson again stood between Kinlochshiel and a fourth goal after 61 minutes. Finlay MacRae lost his marker and ran in on goal but his flick came off the big keeper and went out for a corner. If these saves were impressive, the best was still to come as Michael Nicholson dived full-length to his right on 64 minutes to save a blistering Steven Callander drive with the tip of his caman. Skye Camanachd made their second change of the afternoon on 65 minutes when U17 defender Iain Grant came on in place of Andrew Banks. Somhairle MacDonald and Steven Callander fought for possession on 67 minutes. The ball broke to Neil Fraser who found Finlay MacRae on the ‘Shiel left. The full forward beat his marker and darted in on goal before his shot deceived Michael Nicolson to make it 4-1. Skye fought back a minute later when Iain Morrison got in ahead of Mark MacDonald to win possession. Morrison passed to Ally MacDonald and his shot was deflected at the expense of a corner. Michael Nicolson saved with his feet from Finlay MacRae on 70 minutes but neither Fraser MacVicar nor Keith MacRae could get on the rebound. Finlay MacRae was through on goal again on 72 minutes but he was tripped by Skye defender Neil MacVicar as he was set to shoot. MacVicar was yellow carded by referee Graham Irving for his part although, from a Skye perspective, it was probably a good free-hit to give away. Shockie MacLennan cleared the free-hit but Fraser MacVicar won possession and his shot was blocked by Michael Nicolson and although Keith MacRae went after the rebound, he was unable to keep the ball in play. Kinlochshiel sealed victory on 74 minutes when a Graham Morrison shy went over Neil Fraser’s head but was collected by Finlay MacRae. He took a half turn before shooting into the top corner of the net for what was a fantastic finish which put his side 5-1 up. Kinlochshiel replaced Neil Fraser with David Falconer with 15 minutes remaining. David Falconer found Graham Morrison in yards of space with a quick free-hit on 78 minutes. Morrison was allowed to run through on goal before shooting over the bar. David Falconer got on the end of a Finlay MacRae corner a minute later but Shockie MacLennan made a goal-saving challenge as Falconer was about to pull the trigger. Kinlochshiel boss Johnston Gill made his second change when Gordie MacDonald, who was returning after a knee injury, came on in place of John MacRae on 81 minutes with Steven Callander going to full centre. Michael Nicolson made a good save with his hand from a Keith MacRae rocket shot and he cleared for a corner with just 4 minutes remaining. Skye manager Aonghas MacDonald introduced John MacKenzie in the closing minutes and the young forward almost got on the end of a Jordan Murchison ball but Calum MacLean got in there first to put the ball out for a corner. The final whistle sparked scenes of celebration amongst the Kinlochshiel players and supporters. The MacGillivray Trophy was presented to Kinlochshiel captain Keith MacRae by Lochcarron stalwart Kenny MacKenzie who complemented the Kirkton side on their high standard of performance all season. Best for Skye on the day was keeper Michael Nicolson whilst Finlay MacRae was the main man for Kinlochshiel. Skye Camanachd from; Michael Nicolson, Neil MacVicar, Andrew Banks, John Moir, Shockie MacLennan, AB Connor, Somhairle MacDonald (captain), Darryl Macintosh, Ally MacDonald, Jordan Murchison, Iain Morrison, Danny Morrison subs Allan MacKinnon, Iain Grant, John MacKenzie Kinlochshiel from; Graham Kennedy, Paul MacRae, John Don MacKenzie, Mark MacDonald, Calum MacLean, Steven Callander, John MacRae, Graham Morrison, Keith MacRae (captain), Fraser MacVicar, Neil Fraser, Finlay MacRae subs Gordie MacDonald, David Falconer Match Referee – Graham Irving The match balls are sponsored by Nor-Dan |