Glengarry 2 Skye Camanachd 3 | |
01 October 2019 The Skye Camanachd second team came from two goals down to beat league leaders Glengarry 3-2 in their North Division 1 match Craigard on Saturday 28 September 2019. Glengarry beat Skye 2-1 in the league in Portree seven weeks earlier and they hadn’t lost a game since going down 3-2 to Fort William on Saturday 1 June 2019. Skye gave some valuable game time to Iain Nicolson who hadn’t featured since a substitute appearance for the first team at Bute six weeks earlier. There were also places for U17 players Ross Gordon and Ross MacKinnon but Gilleasbuig MacVicar was a late call-off through work commitments. Both teams started well; each creating early half-chances but Glengarry were managing to make the ball stick up front for longer spells than their opponents. They made this count on 8 minutes with John MacKinnon putting ‘Garry ahead, punishing some lacklustre Skye defending. Skye manufactured a chance shortly after with Daniel Morrison shooting over the bar. Skye were then awarded a penalty when referee Des McNulty penalised a ‘Garry defender for a “kick” inside the D. Ross Gordon stepped up to take the spot-hit but his effort went straight at keeper Gordon MacDonald and the ball was cleared to safety. Steven Cameron made it 2-0 on 32 minutes following a bursting run through from his full centre position. The goal came following a free-hit and a mix-up in the Skye defence saw Cameron force the ball over the line. Skye made some positional changes; switching Ross MacKinnon from wing centre to full centre to try to tame of Steven Cameron who was causing the Islanders problems with his driving runs forward. This helped Skye massively as young MacKinnon started to take control of the centre of the park; nullifying Cameron for almost the rest of the game. Skye mad another change at half-time, brining on Iain Nicolson for Archie MacDonald and moving Daniel Morrison out to wing forward. This move seemed to settle Skye up front and, straight from the start of the second half; they looked a different team, creating a couple of quick-fire chances soon after the break. A quick-fire double from Skye’s Iain Nicolson on 63 and 66 minutes brought the score back to 2-2. First, Daniel Morrison had a well-struck shot saved by Gordon MacDonald but Iain Nicolson was first to react, tucking the rebound past the helpless keeper. Then, just 3 minutes later, it was Nicolson again, this time with a low shot from outside the box to restore parity. The outcome was now in the balance and it was ‘Garry’s turn to make changes in an attempt to gain the upper hand. This worked as the hosts went on to enjoy a good spell of pressure but found a Skye defence doing a good job of protecting Murphy Henderson in goals. Skye moved John Angus MacInnes from wing centre to full back and pushed captain Sam MacPhee forward to wing centre to add pace in the middle of the park. And it was Skye’s Ross Gordon who grabbed the winner with 15 minutes remaining. Some nice play between Iain Nicolson and Ross Gordon saw Gordon gather the ball just outside the D, to the right, and he sent a rocket-strike far and high to the keeper’s right hand to make it 3-2. Both teams went on to have chances to score but Skye, in the end held, out for the win. The result is a blow to Glengarry’s title chances but the championship destination is still in their own hands and they will take the title if they win their final two games – both against Newtonmore. Skye will look to build on the result at Kingussie this coming Saturday. Skye Camanachd from: Murphy Henderson: Sam MacPhee (captain), Jamie MacKay, Marcus Scott, Connor Gilpin: John Angus MacInnes, David MacInnes, Ross MacKinnon: Ross Gordon, Archie MacDonald, Taylor Matheson, Daniel Morrison: subs Iain Nicolson, Keith MacKenzie, Cameron MacKay Match Referee – Des McNulty Scorers Glengarry John MacKinnon (8) Steven Cameron (32) Skye Camanachd Iain Nicolson (63, 66) Ross Gordon (75) |