Marine Harvest National Division
Caberfeidh 4 Oban Celtic 2
Caberfeidh twice came from a goal down to beat Oban Celtic 4-2 at Castle Leod.
‘Cabers’ missed the influence of full centre Craig Morrison who started a two-game ban after being red carded against Skye the previous week. Oban Celtic travelled without Fulton Ross, Rory Bruce and Iain Mackechnie. Keeper Stephen Davidson was also missing so Jack Hill played in goal for the first time in four years.
The Oban Celtic players wore black armbands and there was a minute’s silence ahead of throw up following the passing of Neil ‘Nonny’ MacInnes.
Neil Carmichael got Kenny Wotherspoon’s side off to a great start when a long ball forward led to a goal with just a couple of minutes played.
When referee Andy MacLean awarded ‘Cabers’ a penalty in the seventh minute, Kevin Bartlett stepped up to send the ball low and hard into the net to make it 1-1.
Oban Celtic lost Andy Hunt early in the match with a hamstring problem.
Neil Carmichael got a second to put the Oban side back in front on 17 minutes.
Stand-in Oban Celtic keeper Jack Hill then made some good saves in the match including one from an Ally MacLennan piledriver from 35 yards out with the goalie turning the ball over the bar with his stick.
Oban Celtic were unable to hold out until the interval though and a second from Kevin Bartlett on 40 minutes drew the sides level again. Bartlett beat his marker before rounding the keeper to score.
The second half was just a couple of minutes old when ‘Cabers’ took the lead for the first time when Colin MacLennan got on the end of a ball into the goal area just ahead of the keeper to score.
Oban Celtic pushed hard for a leveller but this time it was Caberfeidh’s turn to hit them on a counter-attack and Gavin Mclauchlan played a one-two with Kevin Bartlett before scoring from around the penalty spot to make it 4-2.
Oban Celtic’s Daniel MacMillan required a hospital visit to get a cut head attended to.
Caberfeidh now only trail league leaders Skye by a point with both sides having played three games.
Despite competing well in their first three league matches, Oban Celtic are still in search of their first points and they will have to put that search on hold as they don’t have a game this coming Saturday.
Strathglass 1 Inverness 1
Strathglass and Inverness had to settle for a point apiece in a 1-1 draw at Cannich.
Strathglass were without injured pair George Phimister and Hamish Myers. Scott Douglas started at buckshee back.
Inverness were minus Scotland U21 forward Charles MacDonald who was at a different shooting competition so Jason McLeod started in attack. William MacKinnon was still out injured and with goalie Ian Munro missing, boss Drew Mc- Neil started between the sticks. Inverness made a strong start and created an opening on seven minutes. James Cameron was impeded outside the ‘D’ but referee John Angus Gillies played advantage and Cameron surged forward, But, with the keeper to beat, Cameron was unable to get a strike goalwards and the ball was cleared to safety by the home defence.
Inverness kept pressing for the opening goal and Sorley MacDonald sent a couple of shots wide of target.
Strathglass took the lead on 43 minutes, the goal coming against the run of play. Michael Stokes peeled away from Dougie Rankin and passed to Steven Hyslop on the ‘Strath’ right. Hyslop showed great composure to slot the ball into the keeper’s right hand, bottom corner of the net.
Inverness levelled on the hour. A long clearance from David Glass found James Cameron at half forward and he crossed to Jason McLeod who turned his marker and shot past the helpless Ally MacAdams in the ‘Strath’ goal.
Inverness suffered a blow on 70 minutes when David Glass had to go off with a twisted knee. Kenneth Loades came on in his place.
Inverness missed Charlie MacDonald’s influence and when he made a late arrival at the match, he replaced substitute Loades who had only been on the field for a couple of minutes.
Strathglass almost grabbed a winner with 10 minutes remaining. Scott Douglas found space 25 yards from goal and unleashed a powerful strike which produced a tremendous save from stand-in keeper Drew McNeil who threw himself to his left to chest the ball to safety.
James Cameron collected a late booking for dissent.
Over the piece, both teams were probably happy with a point. Inverness defender Adam MacMaster was solid throughout the game and David Glass worked tirelessly in the centre line. Seth Jones was commanding in the Strathglass midfield, along with the impressive Michael Stokes.
Skye Camanachd P Beauly P
The meeting between Skye Camanachd and Beauly at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree, was postponed on Friday evening because of an unplayable pitch.
The sides meet at Braeview Park this Saturday in the first round of the Marine Harvest Camanachd Cup.