Glasgow University 8 Camanachd Leòdhais 0 | |
06 February 2012 Glasgow University were 8-0 winners in the Old Cabers Cup match against Camanachd Leòdhais at Yoker on Saturday 4 February 2012. An understrength Camanachd Leòdhais team was left to rue some simple errors as they lost out on a cold and damp day in Glasgow. However the Island club’s Glasgow based players gained some invaluable match practice against a University team packed with experience from the very top levels of the sport. Calum “Trumisgarry” MacDonald from Uist put the hosts into the lead after 5 minutes as he ran past his Lewis namesake Michael MacDonald before firing on past Innes Lamont. The University side doubled their lead on 10 minutes with a well worked effort which cut the islanders defence apart. Skye Camanachd’s Kerr Gibb sprinted past Sean MacLeod before setting up Tayforth’s Calum Barton who produced a sweet finish which gave visiting keeper Innes Lamont no chance. James Livingstone of Glenorchy was handed a gift of a goal moments later when Eòghan Stewart, who was at full back and was taking the bye hits, fluffed the ball a mere 20 yards to the alert Livingstone who coolly shot past Lamont. Lewis had given their hosts a three goal head-start but they started to make some inroads and set up some attacks of their own. Calum Stamper had a hard time against Lovat’s Peter Campbell, a quality full back. Stamper had an inexperienced set of wing forwards with Jordan MacLean making a rare start and James Johnston, a rugby scrum-half, making his shinty debut. Lewis had ex-Newtonmore player Martin Hall at buckshee forward, filling in for the unavailable Kenny Mould. However Hall had not played in 5 years and his lack of match practice meant that the forwards struggled for fluency. Captain for the day Stamper did rattle the side netting on the 25 minute mark but the University keeper was never under much pressure. The rest of the side were shaking off the slow start and were dealing well with any advances by the Students. Sean MacLeod looked comfortable at buckshee back and Ally MacKenzie was a revelation at wing back, reliving his days in defence during the Boyd MacKenzie era. Things were looking rosier for na Leòdhasaich but with 5 minutes until half-time, a harmless looking ball lobbed in by Oban’s Steven Kersley dipped at the last minute as Lamont went to chest it down and went through his knees to make it 4-0 and soon Tom Smith the referee blew for the interval. Scott Murray battled manfully in the centre of the park against his own University and home captain Peter Grace. The islanders started the first half the brighter with a ten minute spell of fluent play up front that unfortunately did not result in a goal. However, any chance of a comeback was gone before the hour mark when Seori Ormiston made it 5-0. The sixth goal followed soon after when Eòghan Stewart deflected a Kerr Gibb shot past Lamont. This was Lewis Camanachd’s third own goal in two pre-season games. Lewis battled hard in deteriorating conditions and Ally Lamont, the younger brother of keeper Innes Lamont, made his comeback to shinty after a few years out. Lamont minor did battle hard and hopefully he will develop further over the coming season. The goal of the day came 20 minutes from time when the mercurial Livingstone ghosted past three defenders before rounding Lamont to slot home from a yard. Eòghan Stewart looked after the Lewis side in the absence of Paul Duke and he was reasonably happy with the experience despite the scoreline “Pre-season is for getting the kinks out before the serious stuff happens, a couple of the lads were a wee bit off the pace but that’ll come with effort in training. The Uni were a good outfit and a few of our newer and fringe players will have got a lot out of the game. I’ll speak to Dukey and let him know how things went, and with Newtonmore and Lochbroom still to come hopefully we can be flying for the start of the season.” Inclement weather in Lewis meant there was no training on the Saturday but all players are expected to check the website and the newly setup facebook group to get updates on training and for other information. The club is planning a large come and try session for Lewis and Harris youngsters in Stornoway to coincide with Scottish Champions Newtonmore’s visit on the 18 February 2012. For more information please contact the club via their website camanachdleodhais.com. |