The Shinty Preview – Saturday 10 March 2012 | |
09 March 2012 After an exciting opening day the second weekend’s shinty fixtures take place onSaturday 10 March 2012. Orion Group Premiership Kilmallie v Lovat After an excellent opening day result and performance against Newtonmore at the Eilan, Lovat are on the road again as they head for the Canal Parks to play Kilmallie. The home side should at last have Michael Rodger free of suspension which will give boss John Morrison another option in attack. One Kilmallie player who will be on a high is Scottish international John Stewart as his wife Amy gave birth to their son Harry John this week. Lovat boss Allan MacRae will be looking for more of the same from his troops and his side should be along usual lines. Greg Matheson scored 18 goals league goals last season and he is already up and running with his match-winning hat-trick last weekend. Newtonmore v Bute Newtonmore will want to get their bid for a third consecutive title back on course when they playBute. The match was to take place on Rothesay but the venue has been switched to the Eilan following a midweek pitch inspection. ‘More boss Norman MacArthur will hope to have Danny MacRae back but the match will come too soon for Jamie Robinson. Fraser MacKintosh is also a doubt. The Islanders picked up a valuable point against Fort William last weekend and manager Barry Martin will have his side fired up for the trip to play the champions. Throw up is at the earlier time of 12.30pm. Kingussie v Kyle Athletic Kyles Athletic make their first appearance of the season following the postponement of their game against Inveraray at the Winterton last weekend. Donald Irvine is missing for the visitors as are longer term absentees Grant Irvine and Sandy MacVicar. Youngster Cameron Keith is called into the squad. Kingussie don’t often lose once at the Dell far less on successive weekends so manager Russell Joneswill be looking for a reaction from his players following last weekend’s home defeat to Kinlochshiel.Ronald Rossis still out for the home side. Kinlochshiel v Fort William Kinlochshiel were unable to play on their Kirkton pitch last weekend and the wet west coast weather may cast a doubt over the venue for this week’s game against FortWilliam. ‘Shiel boss Johnston Gill will give full centre Steven Callander every chance to prove his fitness after he picked up a knock in last week’s win over Kingussie. Scottish U21 international John MacRae returns to the squad after missing last week’s game through suspension. FortWilliam, who announced a new shirts sponsorship deal with the Letterfinlay Lodge this week, gave youngster Arran MacPhee a senior debut last week and he is likely to be included again. However they will be without Gary Innes who has swapped a drive to Wester Ross for a musical trip toItaly. Glenurquhart v Inveraray The new Glenurquhart management team of Fraser MacKenzie and Drew McNeil made a winning start to the 2012 shinty season when they beat Kilmallie last weekend and they now welcome Inveraray to Blairbeg. That victory was secured without forwards Neale Reid and Ruairidh Cameron but they should be fit for this one. This is Inveraray’s first outing of the season and it is unlikely that Russell MacKinlay will travel. Camera-man Norman Strachan will be on hand to record match highlights for the Camanachd Association’s shinty library.
Marine Harvest North Division 1 Beauly v Lochcarron Early league leaders Beauly entertain Lochcarron atBraeviewPark. Barrie MacDonald opened the season with a bang as he scored twice in the win over Inverness last week and a second win would give them a great start to the season. Lochcarron will be difficult opponents though and they will take encouragement from last weekend’s performance against Lochaber in which full back Allan MacKenzie was outstanding. Scorer Kieran Murray picked up a knock in that game and he will be given every chance to prove his fitness. Strathglass v Inverness There is a derby match at Cannich where Inverness make the short journey to face Strathglass. The home side makes their first appearance of the season as they were the odd team out last weekend in the seven team league. Robert Geddes made a scoring appearance for the Strathglass second team last week but he takes over for his second stint in charge of the senior team for this one. Scott Douglass is still on the ‘Glass injury list. Inverness played well against Beauly last week, with former Skye Camanachd stalwart Somhairle MacDonald linking up well with ex Fort William player James Cameron in attack, without getting any reward and this should be a close encounter. Lochaber v Skye Camanachd Lochaber and Skye Camanachd meet at Spean Bridge. Lochaber have a doubt over forward Ben Delaney who picked up an injury in the draw with Lochcarron at Battery Park last weekend. Skye Camanachd look set to have the same squad which came from 3-0 down to beat Caberfeidh 4-3 at Castle Leod last Saturday.
Marine Harvest South Division 1 Oban Camanachd v Aberdour Oban Camanachd take on Aberdour at Mossfield. It took two goals in the last two minutes from Aidan McIntyre and Iain MacMillan to seal Oban Camanachd’s 3-0 win over Taynuilt last week. Oban Camanachd had young keeper Robert Dunnings in goal last week and he is likely to keep his place. It will be a difficult afternoon for Aberdour who lost heavily to Kilmory in their first outing. Glenorchy v Kilmory Glenorchy have home advantage against Kilmory meet at Dalmally. Both sides had away wins last weekend. Glenorchy have been boosted by Alex MacPherson’s return from injury and he scored a goal in each half in the win over Oban Celtic. Kilmory have Hal Jones back in their side and he scored twice in the 6-1 win at Aberdour last week. Glasgow Mid Argyll v Taynuilt Yoker is the venue for the game between Glasgow Mid Argyll and Taynuilt. The sides served up an entertaining 4-4 draw in the corresponding fixture last season. Strachur v Oban Celtic Newly promoted Strachur have home advantage against Oban Celtic. Oban Celtic boss Davy Hamilton was encouraged by his side’s opening day performance against Glenorchy even although they went down to a 2-1 defeat.
Marne Harvest North Division 2 Newtonmore v Lochaber Newtonmore and Lochaber both won their opening fixtures and they meet at the Eilan. ‘More included 2011 senior captain Scott Campbell at full centre last weekend and he is likely to be an influential player for the side. However their goals came from teenagers Calum Stewart and Angus Gray which shows that the conveyor belt of young talent continues. Lochaber recorded an impressive win over Fort William last Saturday thanks to a Keith Neville strike 5 minutes from time. Skye Camanachd v Lovat Skye Camanachd will look to build on last week’s win over Glenurquhart when they play Lovat at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree. The Islanders will be without John MacKenzie but forward Alan Palmer is available. Lovat are likely to be without Jimmy MacKenzie who has a back injury. There will be live commentary on this match on Cuillin FM’s Saturday Sports Show from3pm. Aberdeen University v Kingussie Kingussie return to the scene of their 2011 Sutherland Cup success when they head for the Granite Cityto play Aberdeen University. Both sides are after their first points of the season. Fort William v Kinlochshiel FortWilliamand Kinlochshiel play at the Black Parks. Both teams field a mixture of youth and experience but the visitors will have to make at least one change to their line-up as won’t be able to field John MacRae who will be on first team duty. Glengarry v Glenurquhart Glengarry and Glenurquhart meet at Craigard. Doubles from Steven Cameron and Ewan Brady gave ‘Garry a 4-0 in a bad tempered clash at the same venue last season. However a late Stuart Morrison goal gave Glenurquhart a 3-2 win in Invergarry in the Sutherland Cup.
Marine Harvest South Division 2 Inveraray v Lochside Rovers Inveraray welcome Lochside Rovers to the Winterton. Both sides were in Marine Harvest South Division 1 last season before dropping a division for different reasons. Bute v Ballachulish The match betweenButeand Ballachulish will take place at Taynuilt as Ballachulish’s Jubilee Park pitch is not available.Butesecond team boss David Kilpatrick is benefiting from the presence of coach David Macdonald at full back and it took two late goals to consign them to defeat against Col Glen last weekend. Aberdour v Kyles Athletic Aberdour play Kyles Athletic inFife. Kyles forward Roddy MacColl made a scoring start to the season with a double against Lochside Rovers last weekend. Ardnamurchan v Tayforth Tayforth make the long trip to play Ardnamurchan. This will be the first meeting between these sides. Col Glen v Glasgow Mid Argyll Col Glen have home advantage against Glasgow Mid Argyll. A win will give Col Glen a perfect start to the season after their win overBute.
Marine Harvest North Division 3 Inverness v Beauly TheInvernessand Beauly reserve sides clash at the Bught Park. Inverness will have to keep a close eye on Marc McLachlan who scored four times in last week’s win over Lochcarron. Caberfeidh v Lewis Camanachd Caberfeidh and Lewis Camanachd meet at Castle Leod. Doubles from Gary MacLennan and Kirk Taylor gave Cabers a 4-0 win at the same venue last season. Strathspey Camanachd v Kilmallie New boys Strathspey Camanachd are at home again and this time Kilmallie are the visitors. This will be a tough test for the home side against the team that were relegated from Marine Harvest North Division 2 last season. Lochcarron v Lochbroom There is a local derby at Battery Park where Lochcarron play Lochbroom. The sides drew 3-3 at the same venue last but Lochcarron were unable to raise a team for their Ullapool meeting. Boleskine v Strathglass Boleskine meet Strathglass at Farr. The sides didn’t actually meet in the league last season. Boleskine were awarded the points on both occasions as ‘Glass were unable to raise a team. |