Kinlochshiel Lift 2014 George Michie Memorial Cup - UPDATED! | |
29 November 2014 Kinlochshiel lifted the 2014 George Michie Memorial Cup with a 5-0 win over Skye Camanachd at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree on Saturday 29 November 2014. Skye boss John MacLeod was without injured keeper Jamie Gannon so Iain MacLeod continued in goal. Neil MacVicar was also absent whilst Kenny MacLeod missed out through work commitments. Injury also ruled out Chris Rose (hamstring) and Kenny Campbell (shoulder). Alan Palmer, Chris MacLennan and Calum Gibb were added to the squad. Kinlochshiel manager Colin Fraser travelled with a strong squad following the team’s best ever finish in the Orion Group Premiership. Duncan “Ach” MacRae was missing but Zander Grant has returned to the fold after a season with Inverness where he was named player of the year. Skye, shooting towards the Struan Road end of the ground, settled into the game quickly and in the opening minutes, Danny Morrison shot over the junction between post and bar after collecting a Shockie MacLennan pass. Skye continued to have the better of the early exchanges and Shiel keeper Scott Kennedy saved well with his left foot from a Shockie MacLennan shot from wide on the left on 7 minutes following a home free-hit. ‘Shiel struggled to get the ball away and a second Shockie MacLennan shot flashed wide of the post. A dangerous Allan MacKinnon ball from the right on 10 minutes caused problems in the visiting goal area but a combination of some good defending and alert play from keeper Scott Kennedy saw the ball swept to safety. Gordie MacDonald found Keith MacRae with a 14 minute free-hit but MacRae’s first–time shot went just the wrong side of Skye goalie Iain MacLeod’s right post. It took a fine last-gasp challenge from Ally MacDonald at the edge of the D to deny Gordie MacDonald a shot on goal on 22 minutes. Skye spurned another chance on 26 minutes. Iain Murray, Allan MacKinnon, Jordan Murchison and Shockie MacLennan all combined with the latter pushing the ball across goal but Danny Morrison failed to get a shot on target after getting into a good position at the edge of the D. ‘Shiel, who had not played competitively since Saturday 2 August 2014, took the lead against the run of play on 28 minutes. Boss Colin Fraser had pushed John MacRae from midfield into the full forward role just 3 minutes earlier and the switch paid dividends. The goal was a fine individual effort from John MacRae who collected a David Falconer ball on the ‘Shiel left after Jordan Fraser had won possession in midfield. MacRae was able to wriggle free from marker Steven Morrison and he cut in on goal before confidently slamming the ball past a helpless Iain MacLeod from close-range to make it 1-0. Danny Morrison hit a good shot on his left 3 minutes later but his effort went just wide of target. Skye keeper Iain MacLeod made a terrific point-blank save from Gordie MacDonald on 35 minutes after John MacRae had cut the ball back. Kinlochshiel forced a series of corners and the Skye defence had a period of pressure to contend with. Referee Archie Ritchie consulted with goal judge Charlie Gibb before awarding Kinlochshiel a penalty on 38 minutes with Ally MacDonald was penalised for a “kick” following a Donald Nixon shy on the right. However Iain MacLeod kept John MacRae’s spot-hit out; blocking the ball with his chest. Iain MacLeod did well to deal with a Jordan Fraser shot on 42 minutes. The Skye stand-in keeper produced the save of the match seconds later when he turned away a Mark MacDonald thunderbolt just under his crossbar. Skye finished the half on the offensive without troubling Scott Kennedy so Kinlochshiel took the one goal lead into the break and whilst Skye would rue passing up some early chances, they had keeper Iain MacLeod to thank that they weren’t trailing by a greater margin at the break. Kinlochshiel manager Colin Fraser made changes at the break. Duncan “Ach” MacRae came off and David Falconer dropped back into defence. Jordan Fraser moved from wing centre to attack with Zander Grant coming on in midfield. Skye attacked from the restart with Shockie MacLennan finding Danny and his shot went past Scott Kennedy’s left post. Gordie MacDonald rocketed the ball goalwards from 12 yards following a Keith MacRae free-hit on 49 minutes but Iain MacLeod was again the Skye saviour as he stretched to turn the ball away for a corner from just under the bar. However three second half goals in seven minutes punished slackness in the Skye defence and gave Kinlochshiel a 4-0 margin which killed the game as a contest. John MacRae got his second on 50 minutes when Jordan Fraser ran across the park before sending a perfectly weighted pass to MacRae on the left and he turned the ball across the goal into the net to make it 2-0. Chris MacLennan came on for Skye in midfield with Iain Murray dropping back into defence and David Grant withdrawn. Jordan Fraser went on another fine run as his burst of pace took him free of his marker but Iain MacLeod saved well again. Keith MacRae made it 3-0 on 43 minutes when the ball fell nicely for him and he chipped a 10 yard finish over Iain Macleod’s shoulder into the net. ‘Shiel made a straight-swap in attack on 51 minutes with Ewan Falconer coming on for Gordie MacDonald. John MacRae completed his hat-trick to make it 4-0 on 57 minutes. Skye failed to clear their lines and MacRae collected the ball in space in front of goal and he made no mistake. Kinlochshiel took Colin MacDiarmid on for David Falconer whilst Alan Palmer replaced Danny Morrison for Skye. Jordan Murchison drifted a shot wide of target with Scott Kennedy guarding his goal by his post. Calum Gibb came on for Gilleasbuig MacDonald for Skye. Gibb was given a role in attack with Will Cowie dropping back to full centre. The match fell into a lull with little goalmouth action. Keith MacRae swept in his second goal on 73 minutes as he was found in space on the ‘Shiel left. The goal came from a free-hit after a Skye defender had been penalised for a kick. David Falconer, who had returned to the field of play in attack, moved the ball short to John MacRae and he cut the ball back across the D to Keith MacRae on the left and his shot flew across keeper Iain MacLeod into the net to make it 5-0. Iain MacLeod saved with his legs at his left post from Gordie MacDonald, who was back on, on 76 minutes. Shockie MacLennan dropped back into the Skye defence with 13 minutes remaining. Play started to get scrappy and, with a minute remaining, referee Archie Ritchie had a word with ‘Shiel’s Colin MacDiarmid following an altercation with Skye’s Allan MacKinnon after MacKinnon had played a quick free-hit off Zander Grant. MacDiarmid was immediately substituted. The final whistle confirmed Kinlochshiel’s victory and Mark MacDonald was outstanding at full centre for them whilst three-goal John MacRae was always a danger in attack. Skye keeper Iain MacLeod was best for the Islanders whilst his older brother Ally “Spod” MacLeod stuck to his task in defence. The George Michie Memorial Cup was presented to Kinlochshiel captain Mark MacDonald by Cameron MacDonald; George’s nephew. Skye Camanachd from: Iain MacLeod; Steven Morrison, Ally “Spod” MacLeod, David Grant, Ally MacDonald; Allan MacKinnon, Iain Murray, Gilleasbuig MacDonald (captain); Will Cowie, Danny Morrison, Jordan Murchison, Will Cowie; subs Chris MacLennan, Alan Palmer, Calum Gibb Kinlochshiel from: Scott Kennedy; Paul MacRae, Oliver MacRae, Duncan “DA” MacRae, Finlay MacRae; Donald Nixon, Mark MacDonald (captain), Jordan Fraser; Keith MacRae, Gordie MacDonald, David Falconer, John MacRae; subs Zander Grant, Ewan Falconer, Colin MacDiarmid Match Referee – Archie Ritchie |