Skye Through To Balliemore Quarter Finals - Skye Camanachd 3 Inverness 1 - UPDATED! | |
17 April 2013 Skye Camanachd are through to the Balliemore Cup second round after a 3-1 win over Inverness at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree on Saturday 13 April 2013. The Islanders were still without the injured Chris Rose who is awaiting surgery on his figure. Gilleasbuig MacDonald was also missing. However Kenny Campbell returned to the first team squad after an absence stretching back two years and he started on the bench. Ally MacDonald travelled with the second team whilst Iain Murray and Kenny MacLeod were back after missing the previous week’s defeat to Beauly. Inverness went down 6-1 to Skye in Portree on the opening day of the shinty season. They were without James Ross, James Cameron, Gordie MacKenzie and former Skye Camanachd player Somhairle MacDonald. The visitors played with the wind at their backs in the first half so manager Allan MacLeod opted to play former Skye player Dougie Rankin at full forward to try and exploit that advantage However it was Skye who made a pacey start to the game and they got their reward on 7 minutes. Will Cowie created the chance with a surging run forward which got him away from his marker. Cowie fed Skye’s top scorer Neil MacVicar and he drilled a low shot into the net to make it 1-0. Skye continued to press without really troubling Adam MacMaster in the Inverness goal although a Jordan Murchison effort wasn’t far away. However the more the half went on, the more Inverness came back into the game, and the Skye defence survived a couple of close things before Inverness eventually levelled. The ball fell to wing centre Charlie MacDonald around 25 yards from the Skye goal and he had no hesitation in drifting a great drive, high into the Skye net to make it 1-1. Indeed Inverness might have gone into the half time interval in front. There seemed little danger when Dougie Rankin collected the ball near the right touchline. However he swivelled before sending a fantastic shot which was dipping into the roof of the Skye net before Michael Nicolson stretched to some-how tip the ball over the bar with a quite magnificent save. Skye regrouped at the interval and they were now playing with the wind advantage. Kenny Campbell joined the Skye attack in place of Jordan Murchison. Skye regained the lead on 55 minutes. A long ball forward from Darryl Macintosh was deflected into Kenny Campbell’s path by Neil MacVicar and Campbell celebrated his return to the top team by steering the ball past MacMaster into the net. Skye pressed for a third goal and full centre Iain Murray and forwards Danny Morrison and Will Cowie all went close. Inverness manager Allan MacLeod pulled Dougie Rankin back into defence to try and stem the Skye tide. However it was Skye who extended their lead on 71 minutes. Neil MacVicar fired goalwards and although Inverness keeper Adam MacMaster saved well with his feet, Danny Morrison was on hand to knock the rebound into the back of the net to make it 3-1. Inverness had a great chance to set up a grandstand finish when referee Graham Cameron awarded them a penalty on 80 minutes with Steven Morrison penalised for kicking the ball inside the D as he tried to clear. Mark Sproule stepped forward to take the spot-hit, although Dougie Rankin also fancied his chances of taking it. As it turned out, Sproule didn’t get a clean connection on the ball and Michael Nicolson saved with his feet and the chance was gone. There was a late appearance for Andrew Grant and the Islanders U17 player showed some nice touches. Skye Camanachd’s reward is a home tie with Kilmallie in the Balliemore Cup quarter finals. Skye Camanachd from; Michael Nicolson; Steven Morrison (captain), Shockie MacLennan, Ally “Spod” MacLeod, Allan MacKinnon, Darryl Macintosh, Iain Murray, Kenny MacLeod, Neil MacVicar, Jordan Murchison, Will Cowie, Danny Morrison, subs Kenny Campbell, Andrew Grant, Iain Grant Inverness from; Adam MacMaster, Daniel Palumbo, Peter Grace, Stuart MacRae, Arran MacMaster (captain), Charlie MacDonald, Mark Match Referee - Graham Cameron The match balls were sponsored by Nor-Dan |