Caberfeidh 3 Skye Camanachd 2 | |
27 March 2017 Caberfeidh survived a Skye Camanachd come-back to run out 3-2 winners in their MacTavish Cup first round tie at Castle Leod on Saturday 25 March 2017. Skye Camanachd co-managers Willie Cowie and Peter Gordon were suffering from some-what of an injury crisis. Keeper Iain MacLeod was out with a broken knuckle and Neil MacVicar had a broken thumb and they joined a casualty list which already included Steven Morrison, Will Cowie, and Ruaraidh MacLeod. Captain Kenny Campbell was unavailable. DJ Gilpin dropped out from the previous week’s squad whilst keeper Ryan Morrison, Stewart Grant and Daniel Morrison were added. Work commitments meant Iain Nicolson was late in arriving for the match so he started on the bench for this 2.30pm throw up. The sides had met at the same venue in the league a fortnight earlier. That game finished 0-0 and another close match was expected. Skye’s Danny Morrison hit the bar before Caberfeidh took the lead on 15 minutes. Kevin Bartlett beat his marker and broke down the left before cutting back and firing the ball home. Cabers doubled their lead from the restart. Ben MacDonald took a pass from the left and netted on his back-hand for his first goal at senior level. When Kevin Bartlett added a third on 23 minutes, Skye were in trouble. Bartlett collected a corner from the left at the back post and, from a tight angle; he forced a low shot over the line to make it 3-0. However James Pringle gave Skye hope when he pulled a goal back on 34 minutes. Pringle took down a Danny Morrison ball forward and his low shot beat keeper Ewan Pilcher at his left post. The fight-back was on just 3 minutes into the second half when Jordan Murchison made it 3-2. The Caberfeidh defence failed to clear a Stewart Grant shy from the left and Murchison sent a low back-hand drive into the net, beating the keeper on his left side. There was plenty of excitement late in the game. Full centres Craig Morrison and Gibbs MacDonald tangled in midfield and when Morrison swung out at his opponent, Skye substitute Calum Gibb ran from the bench to get involved. Both Morrison and Gibb were red carded by referee Calum Girvan. However, bizarrely, as Gibb had been a substitute at the time of the incident, Skye had a one man advantage for the closing 5 minutes of the game. And if that wasn’t enough, Skye were awarded a penalty shortly after when Danny Morrison was taken down inside the D. However Jordan Murchison sent the spot-hit over the bar. Caberfeidh saw out the closing stages and their reward is an away meeting with either Fort William or Newtonmore in the next round. Skye Camanachd from: Ryan Morrison; Ally MacDonald, Ally “Cleodi” MacLeod, Ally “Spod” MacLeod, John Gillies; Calum Gibb, Gilleasbuig MacDonald, Stewart Grant; Jordan Murchison, Iain MacLellan, James Pringle, Danny Morrison (captain), subs Iain Nicolson, Daniel Morrison, Peter Gordon Match Referee – Calum Girvan Scorers Caberfeidh Kevin Bartlett (15, 23) Ben MacDonald (16) Skye Camanachd James Pringle (34) Jordan Murchison (48) |