Ross upbeat ahead of international clash
‘WE’VE had a great response from the players with a lot of boys keen to be part of the squad.’
That was the upbeat message from Scotland head coach Ronald Ross ahead of the latest Marine Harvest shinty/ hurling international at the Bught Park, Inverness, this Saturday, October 21.
The Scotland squad has been affected by injury to Newtonmore’s Andy MacKintosh while Fraser Heath, another who played last year, has hardly featured for his club Glenurquhart during the final third of the shinty season.
There are first caps for Lovat pair Craig Mainland and Daniel Grieve as well as Badenoch duo Michael Russell from Newtonmore and Ryan Borthwick from Kingussie.
However, the squad is built on an experienced base with Glenurquhart’s John Barr and Kinlochshiel’s Finlay MacRae again to the fore.
The latter is joined in the squad by his brothers Keith and John as well as club-mates Conor Cormack and Mark MacDonald.
The ever-reliable Stuart MacDonald will once more be between the sticks whilst CaSCOTLAND berfeidh’s Kevin Bartlett, the only player from outwith the Marine Harvest Premiership in the squad, will again be trusted with the dead-ball opportunities.
Kyles’ trio Andrew King, Grant Irvine and Roddy MacDonald have been key in their club side’s title push this season whilst Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup winners Newtonmore have Glen MacKintosh, Steven MacDonald, Rory Kennedy and new cap Michael Russell.
Lovat’s Greg Matheson and Oban Camanachd’s Daniel Cameron are others with previous experience of shinty/hurling.
Ross added: ‘I am very pleased with the squad. We have a good mixture of youth and experience and all the players have worked well throughout the preparation sessions. We’ve had five full sessions ahead of the game and that’s important.’
The preparation sessions are vital as Ross explained: ‘Shinty players have to adapt their game to suit the cross-codes rules. For example, playing the ball out for a corner in shinty is a natural thing for a defender to do and it is a chance for a defence to regroup. However in the shinty/ hurling game, it gives the opposition a free attempt to add to their points tally.’
The Scotland boss, himself a veteran of these clashes, doesn’t expect his players to be lacking in fitness. ‘I think we’ll be fine there. We are just at the end of our season so the players have been playing recently. Some have even been doing additional fitness work during the week.’
Ross is expecting a strong Irish squad to travel for the game. ‘I think they fact Scotland have won the last three matches at The Bught will influence who they take,’ he added. ‘There is no second leg to retrieve the Inverness result again this year so I expect them to be strong. They have had practise sessions of their own and they know what they are doing but we will concentrate on our game.’
Scotland from: Kevin Bartlett (Caberfeidh); John Barr (Glenurquhart); Ryan Borthwick (Kingussie); Conor Cormack (Kinlochshiel); Mark MacDonald (Kinlochshiel); Finlay MacRae (Kinlochshiel); John MacRae (Kinlochshiel); Keith MacRae (Kinlochshiel); Grant Ir- vine (Kyles Athletic); Andrew King (Kyles Athletic); Roddy MacDonald (Kyles Athletic); Daniel Grieve (Lovat); Stuart MacDonald (Lovat); Craig Mainland (Lovat); Greg Matheson (Lovat); Rory Kennedy (Newtonmore); Steven MacDonald (Newtonmore); Glen MacKintosh (Newtonmore); Michael Russell (Newtonmore) Daniel Cameron (Oban Camanachd).