The Shinty Round Up - Saturday 19 February 2022 | |
20 February 2022 A small number of pre-season friendlies beat the elements with the new shinty season now just over a week away.
Kinlochshiel 2 Inverness 1 The Kinlochshiel and Inverness first and second teams were to meet at the Bught Park but a pitch inspection led to revised plans which saw the club’s senior side meet at ‘Shiel’s former pitch at Kirkton. This was a terrific encounter on a soft pitch and ‘Shiel fielded a strong side but were missing Conor Cormack, John MacRae and the injured Paul MacRae. Former Ballachulish and Skye player Dougie Rankin was in goal for Inverness in his first game back following a heart scare and he turned in a man-of-the-match performance. Jordan Fraser gave ‘Shiel the lead in the first half and they had the chance to add a second when referee Neillie “Ach” MacRae awarded them a penalty. Ali Nixon, now recovered from a hamstring problem which limited his game time at the end of last season, hit the spot-hit well enough but Dougie Rankin saved well above his head. The keeper couldn’t get the ball away though and Duncan Matheson nipped in to bundle it over the line Finlay Calder scored for an Inverness side who worked really hard throughout.
Oban Celtic 0 Glasgow Mid Argyll 3 With several teams still idle, Oban Celtic and Glasgow Mid Argyll both bucked the trend, each playing their second pre-season friendly at Mossfield. Celtic lost out at Kyles Athletic the previous week whilst GMA beat Inveraray. The hosts were missing Lewis Mcphee, Neil Carmichael, Peter Currie George MacMillan and new signing Jordan Kerr for this clash whilst GMA travelled north without Ewen Fraser and Jonnie MacAskill. The visitors went ahead midway through the first half when Jamie McFadyen shot goalwards from 25 yards out. Keeper Robbie MacKay got his fingers to the ball but couldn’t keep it out. Both sides were forced into first half changes as a groin problem ended Andy MacDonald’s afternoon with Michael MacKinnon, who had been delayed through work commitments, taking over and he played very well. GMA’s Calum McLay, who missed all of last season, suffered a broken finger following an accidental clash and Celtic’s Craig MacMillan was withdraw on the half-hour prompting an Oban Celtic reshuffle which saw Scott Dempster drop back into defence. Oban Celtic put Dylan Cooke onto the wing from the start of the second half with Jamie Forgrieve going to half back where he had a particularly good game. GMA doubled their lead around 20 minutes into the second half. They worked the ball down the right before crossing and John Sweeney’s 20 yard shot on the angle beat the goalie. Garry Luke added a third on 73 minutes. Robbie MacKay saved with his feet by his left post but couldn’t flick the ball out for a corner and Luke raced in to score. The Oban Celtic second team were to face the Lochaber second team but that game was called off with Ganavan waterlogged. Oban Celtic are without a fixture this Saturday as their attentions now turn to Skye’s visit on the opening day of the new shinty season.
Strachur-Dunoon 3-0 Uddingston Strachur-Dunoon made their first appearance, beating another new side, Uddingston, 3-0 at the Grammar School. Cameron Middleton, Craig Torlay and Fergus Irvine scored the goals that made the difference.
Inveraray P Oban Camanachd P It was clear earlier in the week that Inveraray’s meeting with Oban Camanachd at the Winterton could not go ahead.
Aberdour P Glengarry P Glengarry’s trip to Fife to play National Division side Aberdour was called off 24 hours ahead of throw up due to the weather conditions. The Aberdour second team’s Saturday game with their Bute counterparts was also off as was their encounter with Uddingston on the Sunday.
Skye Camanachd P Kilmallie P The Thomas Ferguson Memorial Cup match between Skye Camanachd and Kilmallie in Portree was called off earlier in the week as was the second team meeting between the sides at the Canal Parks.
Kingussie P Fort William P Kingussie and Fort William were left disappointed when both Market Stance and An Aird were deemed unplayable which meant the reserve team meeting between the clubs was also called off.
Newtonmore P Caberfeidh P Newtonmore suffered their fourth postponement of the pre-season when their match with Caberfeidh at the Eilan was called off. The second team friendly between the sides at Strathpeffer also fell.
Bute P Kyles Athletic P Bute’s derby with Kyles Athletic was another weather-related early week call off. Meantime Kyles Athletic became the latest shinty club to have a defibrillator fitted at their clubhouse. It was fitted by Gavin Kerr and is available to the whole community and indeed visitors to the area. |