The Shinty Preview – Saturday 24 April 2010. | |
22 April 2010 The Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup tales centre stage as the first round ties take place on Saturday 24 April 2010.
The Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup first round includes some interesting ties as teams do battle to earn a place in the second round where they will be joined by the 10 teams from shinty’s top division.
The tie of the round is probably at Castle Leod where Caberfeidh welcome Kinlochshiel. The sides met at the same venue 5 weeks ago when a Lee Nicol strike and a Kevin Bartlett double gave Cabers a 3-0 win. To add to Shiel’s woes, they had Finlay MacRae sent off that day too. However the west coast side has recovered some form since then so this should be a tight affair. Shiel will be without defender Calum MacLean who is off to Hong Kong for 6 months. They will also give a late fitness test to forward John MacRae who needed 8 stitches in a hand knock picked up in last weekend’s win over Kilmallie.
Dalmally will be no place for the feint-hearted as Glenorchy and Oban Celtic do battle for the second successive Saturday. A James Livingston double gave Glenorchy a 2-0 win when the sides met in Oban last weekend. However this victory was over-shadowed by four second half sendings off. Oban Celtic’s John Hill was first for an early bath after 51 minutes. However an incident in the 61 minute resulted in referee Robert Baxter Jnr sending of Celtic’s Angus John MacNeil and Glenorchy pair John Sartain and Grant MacPherson. All four players will miss this tie.
Skye and Ballachulish meet at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree for the first time since the old National Division 1 set up. Skye will be without captain Steven Morrison who is unavailable as he is at a family wedding. However the Islanders hope to have Jamie MacDonald ready for a starting spot following a hamstring problem.
Lochcarron gave a good account of themselves last weekend before eventually going down 4-2 to Lochaber at Spean Bridge and they seem to be getting some consistency to their team selection. However defender Daniel MacRae is a doubt for this one with a hamstring problem but Ross Matheson should be ok after receiving a head knock last week. The sides meet again in shinty’s premier event this weekend and this time Lochcarron will have home advantage.
Kilmallie will have been wounded by last week’s league defeat at Kinlochshiel and they should be too strong for Taynuilt at Canal Parks. The South side are taking part in the Camanachd Cup for the first time ever.
Inverness and Strathglass meet at the Bught Park with a place in the last 16 at stake. Much will depend on player availability for this one. Inverness showed what they are capable of when they drew with Caberfeidh at Castle Leod last weekend and Stevie Munro will hope to have a full squad to pick from to give his side the best chance of progressing to the next round. Strathglass have injury concerns over Robert Geddes and Les Fraser who missed last weekends defeat to Skye Camanachd. Strath’s Ally MacAdam is suspended for this one.
It’s top versus bottom in the Scottish Hydro Premier Division as leaders Newtonmore travel to Yoker to play Glasgow Mid Argyll. More were frustrated by Kyles Athletic in their draw at the Eilan last weekend but they should still be too strong for a Mid Argyll side who are yet to pick up their first point of the season.
Fort William sit in second place on goal difference only. They host Bute at An Aird and they have Gary Innes in fine form.
Kingussie should have Ronald Ross back for their meeting with Glenurquhart at the Dell. The sides are level on 5 points in the league.
Third place Inveraray are at home again as Oban Camanachd visit the Winterton. This will be Inveraray’s fifth home match in seven fixtures. The visitors will be without the suspended Daniel MacIntyre.
Second bottom Lovat will take heart from last week’s battling performance at An Aird where they lost to Fort William following a late Gordy MacKinnon strike as they head for Tighnabruaich to play Kyles Athletic.
Skye Camanachd have an early start in Marine Harvest North Division 2 as they head for the Dell to take on Kingussie in a 12 noon throw up. The Islanders sit bottom of the table on one point although seventh place Kingussie only have a point more. Skye will have to contain Kingussie danger-man Kevin Thain if they want to take anything from this one as the veteran striker has scored 8 goals in his last 2 games.
The match between Kilmallie and Newtonmore at Canal Parks also throws up at 12 noon.
Beauly are scheduled to host Fort William at Braeview Park. Beauly still hope this match will still go ahead despite realignment work to their Braeview Park pitch.
The match of the day in this division should be the battle of the Glens as league leaders Glenurquhart host Glengarry at Blairbeg. The sides are only separated by 2 points with Glenurquhart having a game in hand.
Second top Lovat and Kinlochshiel, who are an improved side on last season, meet at Balgate.
Marine Harvest South Division 2 leaders Kyles Athletic head for Perth to play Tayforth.
Aberdour and Col Glen meet in Fife. The sides are both on 5 points although Aberdour have a couple of games in hand.
Bottom side Bute and Strachur meet at Rothesay.
Ardnamurchan make the long journey east to play Marine Harvest North Division 3 league leaders Aberdeen University. The Students look to be a formidable outfit this season with former Skye Camanachd player Kenny MacLeod prominent amongst their goal scorers.
Sixth place Inverness and fourth place Lochcarron meet at the Bught and this match has a 12 noon throw up.
Match of the day in this division will likely be at Spean Bridge where second place Lochaber play third place Caberfeidh.
Strathglass will be keen to build on last weekend’s win over Inverness when Lochbroom are the visitors to Cannich. The sides currently occupy the bottom two positions in the league with both teams on 2 points. |