2012 Artemis Macaulay Cup Final – Oban Camanachd 0 Glenurquhart 6 | |
19 August 2012 Glenurquhart beat Oban Camanachd 6-0 at Mossfield to win the Artemis Macaulay Cup Final on Saturday 18 August 2012. The final is traditionally played at Mossfield which gave Oban Camanachd home advantage and, with Glenurquhart taking a big travelling support, a large crowd gathered in anticipation. Oban Camanachd co-managers Gussie Campbell and Peter McCuish had the experienced Gareth Evans back from suspension last weekend and he started in defence. Work commitments meant both Andrew Corrigan and James MacPherson missed the Glen’s 3-1 win over Lovat last weekend but co-managers Fraser MacKenzie and Drew McNeil had both back for this one although MacPherson started on the bench. Billy Urquhart suffered cup final disappointment as he was ruled out through injury. Glen played into the wind in the first half on what was a warm Oban day and the sides spent the opening minutes testing eachother out. However Glenurquhart took a 6 minute lead when Ruaridh Cameron collected a poor clearance from the Oban defence and sent an unstoppable drive into the roof of the net to make it 1-0. They came close to increasing their advantage when a long ball from right midfield from Arran MacDonald dropped just over the Oban Camanachd crossbar. Oban, prompted by Scott MacMillan in midfield, pressed hard without really troubling Glen keeper Stuart MacKintosh The closest they came was an Aiden MacIntyre shot which flashed across goal on 20 minutes. Disaster struck for the hosts on 24 minutes when the Glen extended their lead. Good play from Eddie Tembo, sporting a special haircut for the day, won possession in his own half. He played a long ball forward which Oban failed to deal with and David Smart slipped the ball to Neale Reid in space and the Scotland U21 cap let the ball run before adjusting his stance and sending a glorious drive into the top left postage stamp corner of Dunnings net. Oban Camanachd trailed 2-0 and their keeper could hardly be blamed for conceding from two magnificent strikes. The Glen went 3-0 up with a goal out of nothing on 37 minutes. Ruaridh Cameron collected a loose Oban Camanachd shy from the right, around 40 yards from goal, and he looked up and sent a swerving shot into top right hand corner of the Oban net. It was a great strike which, if anything, was even better than the opening two goals. The last action of the first half was a great effort from Scott MacMillan which rose just over the bar. Robert Dunnings saved well from Liam Girvan after 52 minutes Oban were in danger of being over-run and Dunnings made a fantastic save when former Inverness player Fraser Heath turned his man and fired a net-bound shot only to see the Oban keeper turn the ball away. Dunnings then saved again from Neale Reid. The fourth goal was only minutes away though as Neale Reid collected a Liam Girvan cross and his snap-shot flew past Dunnings into the net to make it 4-0 with 59 minutes played. Glenurquhart made a double substation with James MacPherson coming on for Liam Girvan and David MacLennan replacing Arran MacDonald. A great run from Fraser Heath saw him cross from the left but the cross was just too far ahead of James MacPherson A Robert Dunnings hit-out went straight to James MacPherson on 67 minutes but his shot went wide of target. Craig MacMillan replaced Aidan MacIntyre for Oban Camanachd on 68 minutes. A great saving tackle from Oban’s James MacMillan denied Lewis MacLennan who had pushed into attack. A superb Robert Dunnings double save denied David Smart and Lewis MacLennan with 15 minutes remaining. Scotland U17 cap Malcolm Clark replaced Iain MacMillan for Oban Camanachd. A James MacPherson shot flashed across goal after a good run from Neale Reid as Glen continued to dominate. Oban’s Andrew MacCuish became the first player to be booked on 80 minutes when he tripped Fraser Heath after the Scotland U17 player made a lung-busting run from midfield. James MacMillan was next to be booked a couple of minutes later for complaining about a free-hit decision and throwing the ball at referee David Mitchell. It was a display of petulance which could easily have seen him red carded. Oban seemed to lose concentration and former Fraser Heath took advantage on 83 minutes. He lost his marker and pushed forward to fire into the net off keeper Dunnings from a free-hit on the left to make it 5-0. Glenurquhart’s David Smart was booked for a wild swing on 85 minutes. Lewis MacLennan capped a fine victory when he burst forward on 87 minutes to get on the end of a long ball and he beat Dunnings from a tight angle to make it 6-0. Scott MacMillan was yellow carded for lashing out at David MacLennan a minute from time. However there was still time for Andrew MacCuish to rap a shot off the Glen crossbar during injury time Glenurquhart were more than worthy winners and it was fitting that the final whistle blew when Stuart MacKintosh hit a goal-hit as the keeper’s next duty was to step forward to become the first Glen captain to lift their first major senior trophy in the club’s proud 127 year history. Oban Camanachd from; Robert Dunnings, Gareth Evans, Daniel Cameron (captain), James MacMillan, Alasdair Gunn, Iain Campbell, Scott MacMillan, Garry Lord, Andrew MacCuish, Lorn Dickie, Aiden MacIntyre, Iain MacMillan, subs David MacMillan, Malcolm Clark, Craig MacMillan, Alan MacGregor, Robert Alexander Glenurquhart from; Stuart MacKintosh (captain), John Barr, Lewis MacLennan, Ally MacKintosh, Andrew Corrigan, Arran MacDonald, Fraser Heath, Eddie Tembo, David Smart, Liam Girvan, Ruairidh Cameron, Neale Reid, subs Stuart Reid, James MacPherson, David MacLennan, Ewan Menzies, Andrew MacDonald Match Referee - David Mitchell Goal Judges – Billy Wotherspoon, Dunkie Kerr Fourth Official - Colin MacDonald |