Skye Camanachd 1 Inverness 0. | |
08 May 2011 Skye Camanachd beat Inverness 1-0 in their Marine Harvest North Division 1 meeting at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree on Saturday 30 April 2011. Skye manager Aonghas MacDonald made six changes to his squad. Andrew Banks, Jordan Murchison and Ally MacDonald dropped out from last week’s starting line-up as did substitutes Stewart Grant, David Grant and Keith MacKenzie. The squad was boosted by the return of captain Somhairle MacDonald, Steven Morrison, Robbie MacDougall, AB Connor, Iain Morrison and new signing Iain Nicolson. Inverness managers Stevie Munro and James MacDougall were also missing first team picks including injured full back Fraser Stoddart. It was a tense opening between the sides on a warm day in Portree with little goal-mouth action. Inverness’ nearest attempt was a Jamie Matheson strike into the side-net whilst an Alan Palmer snap-shot for Skye came off keeper Adam MacMaster’s left post. The Skye defence was caught cold on 29 minutes when Arran MacMaster connected with a corner from the left but his shot came back off the post. Alan Palmer launched a good ball into the danger area on 35 minutes but the ball drifted wide of goal. Skye manager Aonghas MacDonald was making good use of the rolling substitutes in the heat and sub AB Connor won possession from David Glass on 38 minutes following a massive Steven Morrison clearance. Connor broke down the right wing before steadying himself and fizzing a shot across goal. Skye’s Robbie MacDougall turned his man a minute later and burst through on goal. However he couldn’t get a shot in and Inverness cleared the danger with Skye claiming for a kick. Skye keeper Michael Nicolson chested away a massive Craig Nicolson shy a minute into the second half and he cleared the ball for a corner. Craig Nicolson played in the resultant corner from the right and referee Deek Cameron penalised Skye defender Neil MacVicar for a kick and awarded a penalty with Skye protesting that the offence took place outside the D. Former Lovat player Jamie Matheson stepped up to take the spot-hit but, much to the frustration of the Inverness bench, he blasted the ball past Nicolson’s left post. With 57 minutes played, Skye Camanachd manager Aonghas MacDonald introduced the returning Iain Nicolson at full forward in place of Robbie MacDougall. Moments later there was a scramble in front of the Inverness goal with AB Connor in the thick of the action but he was unable to get a shot in on goal. Skye went close on 70 minutes when Somhairle MacDonald knocked a Darryl Macintosh shy into the path of Iain Nicolson but his effort went past MacMaster’s right post. Both defences were proving to be formidable barriers and it was clear that the opening goal could be crucial. Somhairle MacDonald made space to create a shooting opportunity for himself on 74 minutes and his back-hand effort crept narrowly past the post. A minute later Inverness’ Arran MacMaster had the ball in the Skye net when he connected with a Craig Nicolson corner from the right but his effort was ruled out for offside by referee Deek Cameron. Iain Nicolson turned Daniel Palombo on the Skye left on 77 minutes and his ball into the danger area crept just past the post. Skye continued to press and a minute later Somhairle MacDonald played in Iain Nicolson but Adam MacMaster saved his shot and flicked the ball for a corner. Skye finally made the break-through on 83 minutes in a move which started when full centre Iain Murray won the ball in midfield. Murray played the ball forward to AB Connor and he found Gilleasbuig MacDonald on the penalty spot. MacDonald deftly flicked the ball on and this wrong-footed the Inverness defence. Somhairle MacDonald anticipated the flight of the ball and he nipped in ahead of his marker and calmly rounded keeper MacMaster before slotting the ball into the empty net. Inverness reacted positively to going a goal behind and they bombarded the Skye goal for the closing minutes of the game with Craig Nicolson’s corners and shys from the right a particular threat. Skye’s final effort was an Iain Nicolson shot which went just over the bar a minute into injury time. The home support fell silent when Inverness were awarded a free hit 3 minutes into injury time when Iain Murray fouled James Cameron just outside the D. Cameron took the free-hit but Skye’s Shaun Hedley did well to read the move and get to the ball ahead of David Higham to clear the danger. Inverness were well served by their back-line and Craig Nicolson in midfield and young forward Connor Golabek. The Skye defence stayed strong for most of the game and Iain Murray was a positive influence in midfield. Iain Nicolson’s introduction livened up the attack but the most important factor was that the Islanders picked up their first two points of their league campaign. Skye Camanachd from; Michael Nicolson, Steven Morrison, Shockie MacLennan, John Moir, Neil MacVicar, Shaun Hedley, Iain Murray, Darryl Macintosh, Gilleasbuig MacDonald, Alan Palmer, Somhairle MacDonald (captain), Robbie MacDougall subs AB Connor, Iain Nicolson, Iain Morrison Inverness from; Adam MacMaster, Daniel Palombo, James Ross, Jason McLeod, David Glass, Craig Nicolson, James Cameron, David Higham, Connor Golabek, Arran MacMaster, Gordon Gray, James Matheson subs Reece Munro, Colin Fraser, Stevie Munro Referee – Deek Cameron The match balls were sponsored by Nor-Dan |