Newtonmore Win 31st Camanachd Cup | |
18 September 2016 Newtonmore lifted the Camanachd Cup, winning 1-0 in a tight encounter with Oban Camanachd on a glorious afternoon at An Aird, Fort William on Saturday 17 September 2016. This 109th Camanachd Cup Final was a much anticipated encounter as these sides currently occupied the top two places in the Marine Harvest Premiership but they had yet to meet this season. The supporters from both clubs contributed to a colourful occasion as the blue and white of Newtonmore in a crowd of close to 4,000, mingled with the red and black of Oban Camanachd. . Newtonmore manager Paul John MacKintosh had missed much of the lead up to the game as his work commitments took him to the Czech Republic. However he arrived home in the early hours of Friday morning and the one significant change to his starting line-up saw the pacey Ackie MacRae, who had himself spent much of the last year abroad, come in at wing centre. Chris Sellar failed to recover sufficiently from a knee infection so he missed out. Oban Camanachd boss Iain Hay was pleased to see defender Garry Lord play against Fort William the previous weekend in his comeback game following a four game ban. Lord took up his usual role in defence so Willie Neilson started on the bench. Daniel Cameron and Andrew MacCuish played despite receiving stitches to facial wounds suffered in the Fort William game. The teams were piped out onto the field by the Lochaber Pipe Band before being introduced to Camanachd Association President Jim Barr, Camanachd Association Chieftain Jock Turner as well as Caol & Mallaig Highland Councillor Allan Henderson. Newtonmore won the toss of the coin and played with a slight wind advantage in the first half. Oban Camanachd had an early set-piece chance bur Lorne Dickie’s shot was taken out of the air by Newtonmore’s Steven MacDonald before the ball reached the goal. MacDonald held off a challenge before ushering the ball out of play. ‘More keeper Owen Fraser sent the goal hit into the Oban half and when Rory Kennedy gathered possession, he sent the ball long but out of play. This was the lead up to the game’s decisive moment which came after just 3 minutes. Oban keeper Gavin Stobbart didn’t strike the resultant goal-hit cleanly and Evan Menzies reacted first, controlling the ball ahead of Scott MacKillop around 40 yards from goal. Menzies burst forward, running at the heart of the Oban defence, and he held off a challenge from the chasing MacKillop before showing great awareness to push the ball back into the path of Glen MacKintosh who had found just enough space left of centre. MacKintosh’s finish was as clinical as it was instinctive; drilling the ball low across keeper Stobbart into the far corner of the net to make it 1-0. A swift Newtonmore move down the right on 6 minutes saw Neil Stewart find Evan Menzies on the left with a cross-field pass. Menzies played a reverse pass to the outside which picked out Norman Campbell who then ran into the D with the ball but Stobbart came off his line to block Campbell’s path. Oban Camanachd were very much in the game and Newtonmore goalie Owen Fraser had to produce a great save as he stretched to turn away a Daniel Cameron strike from wide on the right with the ball dipping just under the bar. Andrew MacCuish made enough space to send a shot wide on 15 minutes as the Mossfield men battle to get back on level terms. The sides fought out the midfield area before a turn and shot from Glen MacKintosh, following a Norman Campbell pass, bounced wide of Gavin Stobbart’s right post with the contest just a couple of minutes short of the half hour mark. Newtonmore were forced to make a change moments later when Neil Stewart landed awkwardly, dislocating his left knee. Stewart, who had been on a fine run of form leading up to the final, was stretchered off and this is the third time that he has suffered such an injury. Fraser MacKintosh came on in his place. Just after play restarted, Gary McKerracher played the ball out of the Oban defence to Daniel Cameron on the right, just in front of the main stand. Cameron was nudged in the back by Andy MacKintosh and Scott MacMillan sent the free-hit into the D where Daniel MacVicar tucked the ball low past Owen Fraser, However the Oban celebrations were cut short as the goal judge had immediately flagged for offside and referee Robert Baxter ruled out the effort. Andrew MacCuish took a Daniel MacVicar ball under control and shot wide as Oban Camanachd, with Lorne Dickie prompting play in midfield, continued to make best use of the wide areas and the final moved into the closing stages of the first half. Gavin Stobbart got his body behind a Glen MacKintosh shot before the ball was bundled out for a corner and MacKintosh went close again during 4 minutes of first half stoppage time; accumulated mainly because of Neil Stewart’s injury, and when the half time whistle did blow, the teams remained on the field for the duration of the break. Newtonmore made a second change at half time as Drew MacDonald replaced Jamie Robinson, adding speed to the ‘More midfield. Oban Camanachd now had the wind in their favour and they went into the second half in confident mode. Gavin Stobbart was called into the first serious action of the second half when he did superbly well to turn away a deflected Norman Campbell strike from the right before stopping Paul MacArthur’s shot from the left with his feet and the Oban defence survived the period of pressure on their goal. Stobbart then did well to get his right foot to a Norman Campbell shot, deflecting the ball to safety. Oban Camanachd made their first switch as Aidan MacIntyre made way for Willie Neilson with 56 minutes played. Oban Camanachd had a let-off a minute later when Fraser MacKintosh and Glen MacKintosh combined down the left wing to play in Norman Campbell who took a heavy challenge from Gary McKerracher before taking the ball round the keeper to score. However McKerracher’s challenge was penalised and play was brought back for a ‘More free-hit with Newtonmore’s Paul MacArthur booked for airing his protests. Gavin Stobbart saved with his legs from Glen MacKintosh before a Daniel Cameron shot at the other end went wide. Michael Russell survived a booking when he tripped Andrew MacCuish on 66 minutes as the Oban man bore in on goal. Owen Fraser had to be alert as he used his feet to keep out Daniel Cameron’s low shot from Scott MacMillan’s free-hit. There was a booking for Scott MacKillop with 20 minutes remaining for upending Evan Menzies as he cut in from the ‘More left. Malcolm Clark came on for Andrew MacCuish and Conor Jones took over from Evan Menzies as both teams introduced fresh legs into their attacks with 10 minutes to go. Oban Camanachd tried hard to force a late leveller but the Newtonmore defence of Steven MacDonald, Michael Russell, Andy MacKintosh and Rory Kennedy, in front of keeper Owen Fraser, has been solid throughout the season and never really looked like lapsing. Oban reintroduced Aidan McIntyre for Scott MacMillan. Norman Campbell almost broke through the Oban defence with 5 minutes remaining but he was brought down by keeper Stobbart just outside the D. The set-piece was cleared for a corner which Oban defended well. Referee Robert Baxter’s final whistle sounded bang on the 90 minutes and whilst there was ultimately disappointment for Oban Camanachd, the strides they have taken this season mean that rather than battling relegation, they have pushed themselves into the upper echelons of the game. Andy MacKintosh’s role in a well-oiled Newtonmore defence earned him the Albert Smith Medal for the man of the match. He was presented with the coveted medal by family member Mrs Rene Smith. Newtonmore captain Steven MacDonald accepted the Camanachd Cup from Jock Turner and he held aloft shinty’s famous trophy which made it back to the Eilan for the third time in the last six years. So Newtonmore add the Camanachd Cup to the RBS MacTavish Cup which is already in their trophy cabinet. They are desperate to add a seventh successive Marine Harvest Premiership title to their haul. Oban Camanachd stand in their way and the sides meet again this coming weekend, this time at Mossfield, and a Newtonmore win will mean they only need one more point to make the title certain. Throw up is at 1pm with newly crowned Marine Harvest South Division 1 champions Oban Celtic hosting the Kyles Athletic second team at the same venue at 4pm. Newtonmore from: Owen Fraser; Steven MacDonald (captain), Michael Russell, Andy MacKintosh, Rory Kennedy; Ackie MacRae, Jamie Robinson, Paul MacArthur; Evan Menzies, Neil Stewart, Glen MacKintosh, Norman Campbell; subs Fraser MacKintosh, Drew MacDonald, Conor Jones, Craig Ritchie, David Fraser Oban Camanachd from: Gavin Stobbart; Scott MacKillop, Gary McKerracher, James MacMillan (captain), Garry Lord; Scott MacMillan, Lorne Dickie, Aidan McIntyre; Daniel Cameron, David Lafferty, Andrew MacCuish, Daniel MacVicar; subs Willie Neilson, Malcolm Clark, Robert Alexander, Scott MacMillan, Iain MacMillan March Referee – Robert Baxter Goal Judges – Graham Irving & Deek Cameron Linesmen - John Wood, Iain Kennedy, Ross Brown & Neil Ferguson Fourth Official – Innes Wood |