Skye Camanachd 3 Kingussie 0 | |
13 May 2012 Skye Camanachd are through to the quarter finals of the Strathdearn Cup following their 3-0 win over Kingussie at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree on Saturday 12 May 2012. Skye manager Murdo Morrison named an 18 man squad for the game which emphasises the number of players available to the Islanders at the moment. Morrison made three changes to the 16 man squad which drew with Kinlochshiel in Marine Harvest North Division 2 last week as Stephen Murchison, Iain MacLeod and Angie MacPherson all dropping out for various reasons. Chris Rose, Allan MacLeod and Iain MacLellan returned from the first team and David MacInnes and Andrew Grant were also back. However with boss Murdo Morrison working and assistants David Grant and John MacLeod on the field, club stalwart Donnie Martin took charge of the team from the touchline. Kingussie were without Greg MacRae who is recovering from a broken foot. They were also missing forward Rory Borthwick who received a first team call up. Skye put holders Newtonmore out of the competition in the first round and they knew this was a difficult tie against the current Sutherland Cup holders who beat Skye 4-0 at the Dell a couple of weeks previous. Skye won the toss and played with the wind in the first half and they pressed the Kingussie goal from the start. Visiting keeper Russell Menzies did particularly well to palm away a deflected Iain MacLellan shot as the home team looked to make the break-through. It wasn’t all one-way traffic though and Savio Genini and Michael Clark were linking up well in the Kingussie attack. Despite Skye’s best efforts, the Kingussie defence, well led by veteran Rory Fraser, kept them out. The weather was particularly harsh during the half time break but the elements eased by the start of the second period meaning Kingussie did not have the same wind at their backs. Skye took the lead on 61 minutes. A brilliant turn and run from Iain MacLellan down the Skye right left his marker trailing. MacLellan put a tantalising cross into the Kingussie D and as the ball dropped, Will Cowie picked his spot and steered the ball into the Kings’ net. The goal gave Skye a boost and they continued to attack and doubled their lead on 69 minutes with Cowie again doing the damage with another controlled finish with MacLellan again involved. Skye’s third goal on 77 minutes had an element of good fortune. Substitute John MacKenzie got on the end of a ball at the edge off the D and as he played the ball goalwards, Kingussie keeper Russell Menzies slipped as he came off his line to narrow the angle and the ball rolled into the net. Kingussie pushed Rory Fraser into attack as they looked to get back in the game and Chris Holleysong went close with one effort which hit the side netting and another Rory MacGregor attempt came off the frame of the Skye goal. So it’s Skye who go through to a quarter final tie with Lovat, who beat Aberdeen University 3-2, next month in what will be a third consecutive home tie in this competition. Best for Skye were full centre Chris Rose who covered lots of ground and two-goal Will Cowie who showed such accuracy in front of goal. Kingussie were well served by Ruairidh Wink and Hamish Anderson. Skye Camanachd from; John MacLeod, Andrew Banks, Jack Latton, Neil John Campbell, Allan MacLeod, Chris MacLennan, Chris Rose, Magnus Burd, Paul MacKinnon, Will Cowie, Iain MacLellan, David Grant (captain), subs John Angus MacInnes, John MacKenzie, Andrew Grant, Ally “Duntulm” MacLeod, DJ Gilpin, David MacInnes, Kingussie from; Russell Menzies, Ruairidh Wink, Rory MacKeachan, Scott MacIntyre, Rory Fraser, Ryan MacWilliam, Hamish Anderson, Jake MacPherson, Rory MacGregor, Chris Holleysong, Savio Genini, Michael Clark, subs Darren Hanlon, Lewis Falconer, Michael Falconer Match Referee – John Matheson The match balls are sponsored by Nor-Dan |