The Saturday Shinty Snapshot – Saturday 31 August 2013 - UPDATED! | |
02 September 2013 The spotlight was on reserve shinty this weekend as Lovat won the Strathdearn Cup and Ballachulish lifted the Bullough Cup on Saturday 31 August 2013.
Strathdearn Cup Final Lovat 5 Kinlochshiel 2 Lovat lifted the Strathdearn Cup with a 5-2 win over Kinlochshiel at Craigard. Lovat manager Graeme MacMillan was dealt a blow ahead of the game when full centre Euan Ferguson was ruled out through illness. Sam Ferguson had also been a doubt but he started. Kinlochshiel manager Colin Fraser had a full squad to pick from and Calum MacLean lined up in defence. Lovat made an early change on 24 minutes with former Skye Camanachd player Ian Nicolson replacing Jamie Matheson and Nicolson set up Danny Kelly to score the opening goal of the game just a minute later, with the youngster’s snap-shot giving keeper Iain Cameron little chance. The goal was against the run of play but Kinlochshiel regrouped and they had a set-piece opportunity on 32 minutes when Alasdair Nixon collected a Duncan “DA” MacRae free-hit. Nixon crossed and Aedan MacRae’s shot was saved by Chris MacCallum and Duncan “DA” MacRae tried to scramble the ball over the line but he was penalised by goal judge Russell Ross. Kinlochshiel got the leveller their play deserved on 42 minutes when Aedan MacRae played on a Conall Fraser corner on the right and Scott MacLean found space at the back post to make it 1-1. Lovat went back in front on 54 minutes when Tom Collings turned defence into attack and Jamie Matheson came deep to collect his ball forward. Fraser Gallacher took Matheson’s pass and with Calum MacLean challenging, the ball broke to Seven Cameron in space on the left. Iain Cameron came off his line to narrow the angle but Steven Cameron kept his cool and rolled the ball low into the net to make it 2-1. Lovat extended their lead on 57 minutes when Iain Cameron saved a Danny Kelly shot and with Graham MacRae trying to clear the danger; Fraser Gallacher muscled in to knock the ball over the line to make it 3-1. Lovat made it 4-1 a couple of minutes later. Alan MacPherson and Danny Kelly battled to win possession in the middle of the park and MacPherson’s long ball forward was expertly controlled by Fraser Gallacher and he found Jamie Matheson who beat Iain Cameron from a tight angle. Lovat sealed victory on 77 minutes when the Kinlochshiel defence were unable to clear their lines and Jamie Matheson sent a glorious drive into the back of the net to make it 5-1. At no point did Kinlochshiel let their heads drop and they pulled a goal back on 83 minutes when Scott MacLean latched onto a loose ball on the right and his shot crept into the net by the post to make it 5-2. This was an entertaining final and whilst Kinlochshiel will rue missed first half opportunities, Lovat were deserved winners as they controlled the centre line in the second half when their forwards were clinical in front of goal. Lovat captain Ton Collings was presented with the Strathdearn Cup by Camanachd Association President Archie Robertson.
Bullough Cup Final Kyles Athletic 0 Ballachulish 3 Ballachulish added the Bullough Cup to the Aberdein Considine Cup, which they won earlier in the season, with a 3-0 victory over Kyles Athletic at Mossfield. Balla’ included captain Alan Clark in their squad; his first inclusion since he injured his shoulder, and scored a hat-trick, in the semi-final win over Lovat. Michael Slezas put Balla’ ahead on 17 minutes and they doubled their advantage a minute before the break through Duncan MacDonald. Scott Henderson sealed the win with a 77 minute strike which made it 3-0. The sides could yet meet again this season in a Marine Harvest South Division 3 title play-off if Ballachulish, as expected, win their remaining league games. Lachie Wood was the match referee.
Orion Group Premiership Newtonmore 5 Fort William 1 Newtonmore are just one win away from clinching their fourth Orion Group Premiership with a 5-1 win over Fort William in their 3.30pm throw up at the Eilan. Home captain Jamie Robinson served the second match of a two game ban for the reigning champions. Injury continued to rule out Rory Kennedy whilst Chris Sellar and Fraser MacKintosh were added to the injury list. John MacKenzie, Steven MacDonald and Cameron Binnie were other absentees. There were starts for second team regulars Marin Ivil and David Fraser. Fort William continued without Gary Innes as they scrap for points in their battle to beat the drop. Glen MacKintosh put Newtonmore ahead after 16 minutes. Danny MacRae added a second on 28 minutes but Fort William showed that they were up for the fight when Gordie MacKinnon pulled a goal back a couple of minutes before the break. However Newtonmore re-established their advantage in the second half and David Fraser made it 3-1 on 57 minutes. Michael Russell added a fourth on 67 minutes and Danny MacRae got his second just 3 minutes later to make it 5-1. The only down-side for Newtonmore was an injury to forward Drew MacDonald who had to be helped from the field with a knee injury following a challenge which earned Fort William’s Steven Stewart a yellow card from referee Evan MacRae. Newtonmore can now clinch the title with a win against Kinlochshiel at Kirkton next weekend. Fort William, who have three games remaining including meetings with Newtonmore and Lovat, know they must beat bottom side Oban Camanachd at Mossfield next Saturday.
Inveraray 3 Kingussie 1 Inveraray came from a goal down to beat Kingussie 3-2 at the Winterton. Inveraray co-managers Graham MacPherson and Garry MacPherson continued to be without Douglas Dando and Andrew McMurdo. Kingussie’s absentees included Paul Gow, Ryan Borthwick and John Gibson. but veteran Kevin Thain took the field at full forward. Lewis MacNicol continued his good scoring run in the league with a strike after just 10 minutes. However Kingussie got their noses in front with two goals just before the break. Chris Holleysong, who had been given a start against Newtonmore the previous weekend, made it 1-1 on 40 minutes whilst Kevin Thain put the visitors in front on the stroke of half time. The end-to-end nature of this exciting contest continued and Garry MacPherson made it 2-2 on 62 minutes. The winner came 5 minutes from time and it was Euan McMurdo who got the goal which puts Inveraray into third place in the table.
Oban Camanachd 0 Kyles Athletic 0 Kyles Athletic moved a point away from the drop zone following their 0-0 draw with Oban Camanachd in their 4.30pm throw up at Mossfield. Oban Camanachd were boosted by Scott MacMillan’s return from injury last weekend against Lovat and youngster Sean Morgan was given another outing. Kyles had David Zavaroni free of suspension but Andrew King served the second match of a two games suspension for a points accumulation. The Tighnabruaich men also resisted the temptation to start forwards Roddy MacDonald and Thomas Whyte in what was their last outing ahead of the Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup Final against Newtonmore in a fortnight’s time. Neither team were able to make the break-through so the points were shared. The result means that Oban Camanachd are now officially relegated to the next season’s new national second tier.
Marine Harvest North Division 1 Caberfeidh 1 Strathglass 0 Caberfeidh secured a place in next year’s new national second tier with a 1-0 win over Strathglass at Castle Leod. Strathglass fielded a strong team and it was the first time this season that manager Callum Duff had been able to select from a full pool of players. The Cannich side made it difficult for Cabers and whilst point would have been enough for Caberfeidh, they sealed the win with a Brian MacDonald goal on 77 minutes. MacDonald, normally a defender, was pushed forward to good effect and his effort beat Josh Grant in the Strathglass goal. Cabers promotion comes at Skye Camanachd’s expense and the teams have had contrasting fortunes in the second half of the season. Whilst Skye only took three points from their last seven games, Caberfeidh have been on a fine run taking eleven points out of the last available sixteen points.
Marine Harvest South Division 1 Glasgow Mid Argyll 4 Aberdour 0 Glasgow Mid Argyll are homing in on the Marine Harvest South Division 1 title with a 4-0 victory over Aberdour at Yoker. GMA were without ace marksman Craig Anderson, who has netted 31 times this season, after he damaged his ankle ligaments in the win over Oban Celtic last weekend. Mark Bain put GMA ahead on 15 minutes with the only goal of the first half. Andy Mathie made it 2-0 just a couple of minutes into the second half. Mark Bain added a third with his second goal of the afternoon on 67 and a Garry Luke strike 6 minutes from time rounded off a 4-0 triumph. Barring a collapse of catastrophic proportions, GMA will win the league title next weekend against second place Bute at the Meadows. This is because whilst they only have a two point lead over the Islanders, the goal difference is plus sixteen in the Glasgow side’s favour, meaning that Bute would have to win by nine clear goals to finish top of the table.
Bute 12 Oban Celtic 1 Second place Bute rattled up a dozen goals for the second successive Saturday as they beat Oban Celtic 12-1 at the Meadows. The Islanders have been trying hard to eat into Glasgow Mid Argyll’s huge goal difference advantage and they could have done little more over their last two outings. When referee David Mitchell awarded the Islanders a penalty after 5 minutes, Gordon MacMillan stepped up to score from the point. MacMillan got his second just 60 seconds later whilst a double from Robert Walker on 20 and 36 minutes and a goal from John MacCallum 5 minutes before the break made it 5-0 at the interval. Robert Walker completed his hat-trick with a goal on 55 minutes and Gordon MacMillan took his tally to four goals with strikes on 60 and 63 minutes. Robert Walker made it 9-0 when he converted a 69 minute penalty and Iain MacDonald made it double figures on 75 minutes. John Turnbull got some consolation for the Oban side when he pulled a goal back a minute later. However Robert Walker, who scored seven times against Strachur a week earlier, took his personal tally to six goals with efforts on 80 and 89 minutes to make it 12-1. David Whitelaw missed a late penalty for the home side and their winning margin could have been greater had it not been for some fine saves from Oban Celtic keeper Jack Hill. Spare a thought for Oban Celtic who have been caught up in the title contenders’ race for goals as they lost eight goals to GMA last week followed by twelve against Bute this Saturday. Oban Celtic now finish the season on eleven points, a point ahead of Taynuilt who have two games in hand. If Taynuilt can collect at least a point from their final two games, that should be enough for them to pip Oban Celtic to the final 2014 Artemis Macaulay Cup place.
Kilmory 4 Taynuilt 2 Kilmory beat Taynuilt 4-2 at MacRae Park. Taynuilt were without the suspended Stuart Gillies who was sent off in last week’s draw with Glenorchy. David Graham struck twice for Taynuilt but Gordon Watt went one better with a hat-trick for Kilmory whilst Alastair MacArthur got their other.
Marine Harvest North Division 2 Newtonmore 5 Skye Camanachd 0 Newtonmore extended their lead at the top of the table following their 5-0 win over Skye Camanachd at the Eilan. Skye Camanachd second team manager Murdo Morrison was unable to make the trip so David Grant again looked after the side. David MacInnes was missing as he served the second game of a two match suspension following his red card against Glengarry. Andrew Banks was free from suspension after serving a one match ban for a points accumulation. Work commitments ruled out defender Magnus Burd and forwards Angie MacDonald and John Angus MacInnes. Neil MacVicar was included to give him valuable game time following his call up this week to the Scotland U21 training squad. The lack of a recognised keeper meant that David Grant started in goal. League leaders Newtonmore were still without the injured Neil Stewart and keeper JD MacLeod has missed recent games through injury. Donald Fraser was on first team duty. Calum Stewart provided a real goal threat after scoring four times against Kinlochshiel last weekend. Sam Richardson fired Newtonmore into a 23 minute lead after David Grant had saved from Calum Stewart and Mark MacDonald added a second 5 minutes later. A quick-fire Calum Stewart double with great strikes on 40 and 43 minutes left Newtonmore four goals to the good and in control at the interval. Calum Stewart completed his hat-trick 15 minutes from time to round off a comfortable 5-0 win. A win at Glengarry next weekend will guarantee the league trophy remains at the Eilan.
Glengarry 5 Fort William 1 A powerful second half performance from Glengarry saw them beat Fort William 5-1 in their 4.30pm throw up at Craigard. The match followed the Strathdearn Cup Final between Kinlochshiel and Lovat Davie Duncan gave the visitors an 11 minute lead with the only goal of the first half. However the second half belonged to Glengarry and Martin Cameron made it 1-1 on 54 minutes. Steven Simpson added a double on 56 and 61 minutes to make it 3-1 and Martin Cameron completed his hat-trick with goals on 75 and 80 minutes to make it 5-1. The victory means Glengarry go above Fort William in the table.
Marine Harvest South Division 2 There were no matches scheduled in Marine Harvest North Division 2.
Marine Harvest North Division 3 Strathspey Camanachd 4 Lochcarron 5 Second place Lochcarron had to battle all the way to beat Strathspey Camanachd 5-4 in an entertaining clash at Freuchie Park. The visitors had lead 4-2 at half time. However Strathspey fought back to level the game at 4-4 with just 10 minutes remaining before losing out at the death. Edgars Peca grabbed a hat-trick for Strathspey whilst Andy Hay got the other. Gregor Cushnie, Kenny Cushnie twice, Crisdean Finlayson and Arran Matheson all counted for Lochcarron.
Inverness 3 Lewis Camanachd 3 Inverness and Lewis Camanachd shared the points following a thrilling 3-3 draw in their 12.30pm throw up at the Bught Park. Donald Lamont gave Lewis the lead with the only goal of the first half. Stuart MacRae made it 1-1 on 55 minutes but Will Church put the Islanders back in front on 66 minutes. Stuart MacRae got his second for the home side on 81 minutes to make it 2-2 but the scoring still wasn’t over. Will Church seemed to have given the Islanders both points with a goal 5 minutes from time. However Andy Henderson scored for a youthful Inverness side with seconds remaining to make it 3-3. Inverness forward Conor Golabeck was sent off by referee Al Hunter in injury time. |