Beauly 1 Skye Camanachd 5 | |
16 April 2023 A powerful second half performance saw Skye Camanachd beat Beauly 5-1 in their Mowi National Division match at Braeview Park on Saturday 22 April 2023. These sides were promoted from the Mowi National Division at the end of last season and Beauly’s Ryan MacKay was restricted to a place on the bench through injury for this 3pm throw up. Skye were still without Neil MacVicar so Ross MacKinnon continued at full centre but Martin Pringle returned to take a place on the bench. There was a start in attack for Jamie Gillies. Skye started really well and they took the lead after just 4 minutes with a well worked goal. Kenny Cushnie found Ruaraidh MacLeod on the left and he sent a clever ball across the box. Jordan Murchison just failed to get his stick to it and whilst a home defender made a half-clearance, the ball fell to Ross Gordon around 18 yards out and he slammed a shot inside keeper Lee Dunbar’s right post. Skye pushed for a second and they went close on two occasions with Ross Gordon turning his marker and shooting past the post each time. Jordan Murchison tried his luck with a nice back-hand strike from 15 yards, but goalie Dunbar saved before clearing the ball to safety. Beauly began to push for a goal and they were rewarded on 18 minutes when the Skye defence failed to clear their lines and when the ball was deflected to Robbie Brindle, he fired a shot into the roof of the net from 20 yards out. The goal lifted Beauly and they went on the enjoy a period of pressure but the Skye defence stayed strong, closing down any attempts on goal. Beauly began to get frustrated and Euan McCormick was shown a yellow card by referee Iain Kennedy for a late challenge on John Gillies. Both teams would have been content to go into the break on level terms, and Skye made changes with James Pringle replacing Jamie Gillies and Ross Gordon dropping back to take over from Ross MacKinnon at full centre where he settled in well, spreading the ball to all the forwards. Jordan Murchison and Ruaraidh MacLeod combined to great effect on 53 minutes as a lovely back-hand flick from Murchison found MacLeod outside the D and he slammed the ball home to put Skye back in front. No sooner had play restarted than Ally “Cleodi” MacLeod floated a great ball to Ruaraidh MacLeod on the right and he went past a defender before drilling a shot inside the keeper’s right hand post to make it 3-1 with 55 minutes gone. Jordan Murchison was unlucky not to add his name to the scoresheet, thwarted by a couple of sublime Lee Dunbar saves. The Skye defence soaked up everything that came their way with full back John Gillies keeping a steady ship, supported well by James Morrison, Sam Macphee and William MacKinnon. Ruaraidh MacLeod completed his hat-trick on 65 minutes; his third hat-trick of the season following a couple of trebles for the second team. James Pringle and Jordan Murchison exchanged passes and Murchison picked out Ruaraidh MacLeod outside the D and he tucked the ball home to make it 4-1. Jordan Murchison got the goal he deserved on 78 minutes. Ross Gordon found James Pringle on the left and he squared the ball to Jordan Murchison who took it first time, beating the keeper at his right post to make it 5-1. James Pringle was caught by a late challenge as he crossed the ball for the goal and despite wearing a helmet, he suffered a nasty gash to his head. Beauly almost scored at the death when Robbie Brindle turned James Morrison before firing a low shot to the keeper’s right, but Murphy Henderson pulled off an amazing save with his right foot. This was a very good Skye performance and Ruaraidh MacLeod’s hat-trick earned him the man of the match accolade. Colin MacDonald was best for Beauly. The sides meet again this coming Saturday, this time in Portree in the Mowi Premiership. Skye Camanachd from: Murphy Henderson: John Gillies (captain), Sam Macphee, James Morrison, William MacKinnon: Kenny Cushnie, Ross MacKinnon, Ally ‘Cleodi’ Macleod: Ross Gordon, Jamie Gillies, Jordan Murchison, Ruaraidh MacLeod: subs James Pringle, Archie Millar, Martin Pringle Beauly from: Lee Dunbar: Andrew Morrison, Colin MacDonald, Angus Renwick, Calum Morrison: Conor Ross, David Maclean, Finlay MacLennan: Euan MacCormick, Robbie Brindle, Sandy Elrick, Ross Forbes: subs Ryan MacKay, Jack MacDonald, Thomas MacKinnon, Torrin Cairns Match Referee – Iain Kennedy |