Skye Camanachd 2 Beauly 0. | |
25 July 2010 Skye Camanachd got back on the winning way with a 2-0 victory over Beauly at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree in Marine Harvest North Division 1 on Saturday 24 July 2010. First team manager Aonghas MacDonald was on holiday so Willie Cowie and Alasdair Bruce looked after the team. There were 4 changes to the Skye Camanachd squad which lost to Inverness. Defender John Moir returned from injury to take his place in defence and there was a first start for Andrew Banks at wing back. Iain Morrison was called up from the second team and he started at wing forward. Veteran Willie MacRae was on the bench. AB Connor was unavailable and Alan Palmer is working in Germany for the next month. Donnie Campbell was ruled out with a back injury and Ally MacDonald was due to return to second team action but missed out with an ankle injury. Skye captain Steven Morrison won the toss of the coin and the Islanders, with a stiff breeze at their backs, went on to enjoy most of the early pressure and an Iain Nicolson shot flashed just wide of target after 4 minutes. Iain Morrison saw a good shot deflected wide of target for a corner but Beauly showed how dangerous they could be on the break when David Neilson pulled a shot just past Jamie Gannon’s left post. Steven Morrison’s by-hits were reaching the Skye buckshee forward position as the Islanders continued to press for the opening goal without really working visiting keeper Martin Davidson. Kenny Campbell burst forward from full centre on 21 minutes and scooped a pass to full forward Danny Morrison. However Morrison was quickly closed down by keeper Davidson who rushed from his goal to thwart the danger. Beauly forward Jack MacDonald received an accidental cut to the face following a jostle with John Moir which later required stitches. Iain Nicolson came close to giving Skye the lead on 34 minutes. He battled for possession on the left and beat two Beauly defenders before seeing his shot drift over the bar. Skye full forward Danny Morrison and buckshee forward Iain Nicolson swapped positions as the home side searched for the opening goal against a Beauly defence which was well marshaled by veteran Roger Cormack. Beauly’s Barrie MacDonald was spoken to be referee Donnie MacRae for a late challenge on Andrew Banks on 38 minutes. Gilleasbuig MacDonald and Marc McLaughlin were also spoken to in the melee that followed. A couple of minutes later McLaughlin shot just wide of the Skye goal from a corner on the left. Allan MacKinnon battled hard to win possession on 41 minutes and he laid the ball off to Danny Morrison around 30 yards from goal. Morrison sent a swerving shot goalwards which dipped just over the bar. Just when it looked as if the first half was going to end goalless, the home side took the lead. Skye were awarded a free hit just outside the D. Kenny Campbell’s initial ball into the danger area was cleared by the Beauly defence but only as far as Gilleasbuig MacDonald who crashed a shoulder high shot past Martin Davidson to give Skye an interval lead. Skye wing centre Kerr Gibb had been struggling with a recurrence of a shoulder injury from early in the match and he was replaced by Stewart Grant at the break. Beauly made a change up front replacing Jack MacDonald with Sean Stewart. Skye had the chance to increase their lead on 54 minutes when they were awarded a penalty. Beauly keeper Martin Davidson was adjudged to have kicked the ball when saving a shot. Steven Morrison stepped forward to take the spot hit and although his first effort flew wide of target, referee Donnie MacRae ordered a retake because of a Beauly infringement. Morrison never caught the second attempt the way he would have liked and Davidson saved with his feet before clearing for a corner. This was Morrison’s only blemish in a match where he was clearly the outstanding player on show. Play was broken up over the next period due to a series of injury stoppages. Allan MacKinnon required treatment to a cut head following an off the ball clash. Then Skye defender John Moir needed treatment after receiving a knock on the knee. There was also a stoppage for Beauly buckshee back Innes Simpson to get attention after a goal-bound point blank shot from Iain Nicolson hit him on the side of the nose. Beauly pressed really hard to get back in the game but they found the Skye defence resolute and Andrew Banks in particular typified the back four’s determination not to concede their lead. Beauly were reduced to 11 men for the last 15 minutes when keeper Martin Davidson was sent off for a crude challenge on Skye forward Allan MacKinnon just outside the D. Referee MacRae consulted with goal judge John Angus Gillies before flashing the red card. MacKinnon required treatment from overworked Skye medic Dr Wilson Banks. Beauly put defender MacKay Murray in goal in Davidson’s place. Just a minute later, Danny Morrison knocked a spectacular overhead effort just wide at one end of the field whilst at the other end; Skye’s John Moir and Beauly’s Marc McLaughlin were spoken to by referee MacRae as the game threatened to boil over. Beauly brought on their remaining substitutes with player / manager Steven MacLean replacing David Neilson and Iain Broadhead coming on for Marc McLaughlin. Skye also made a change introducing Martin Bruce at wing forward in place of the tiring Iain Morrison. Beauly continued to press and but the Skye defence stayed strong with Shockie MacLennan, who was very effective throughout, mopping up as the spare player. Skye sealed victory with just 5 minutes remaining. Iain Nicolson played a neat one-two with Danny Morrison before outpacing the Beauly defence. Nicolson’s shot was saved with his foot by stand-in keeper Murray but Martin Bruce lost his marker and darted in from the left to one-handedly knock the bouncing rebound into the net. Still Beauly refused to concede and there was still time for Steven MacLean to have a shot well saved by Jamie Gannon before the final whistle brought this entertaining encounter to an end. The win gets the Islanders back on track and should they win their games in hand, they could yet feature in the title run-in. Skye Camanachd from; Jamie Gannon, Steven Morrison (captain), John Moir, Andrew Banks, Shockie MacLennan, Gilleasbuig MacDonald, Kenny Campbell, Kerr Gibb, (Stewart Grant), Iain Nicolson, Allan MacKinnon, Iain Morrison, (Martin Bruce), Danny Morrison, sub Willie MacRae not used Match Referee – Donald MacRae The match balls are sponsored By Nor-Dan. |