Mallaig hit Portree for six
Portree Juniors 0 Mallaig 6 William Wilson League
Mallaig cruised to victory over Portree Juniors on a hot and sunny day in Skye to pick up a vital three points on the road.
The opening 15 minutes belonged to Portree Juniors who started the better team, creating some half chances and testing out Mark Johnston’s catching ability.
It wasn’t long before Mallaig settled into the match with fans’ favourite James MacQueen stepping up to score a right-footed half volley from the edge of the box, his third goal in his last three games.
The visiting side soon added a second after some good work down the right saw the ball passed across the edge of the box for Andrew Sneddon to take first time shot with the outside of the left foot to curl it past the keeper.
Mallaig’s third goal came from a well-delivered Andy Cunningham corner that the Portree defence failed to clear and at the second time of asking a Mallaig head connected with the ball. There was some confusion over who got the final touch but Cameron Muir was awarded with the goal in the end.
At the half-time break, Portree Juniors made some tactical changes to get back into the game but, much to their disappointment, Mallaig notched another at the start of the second half.
From a quickly-taken free kick, Jamie MacGregor clipped the ball down the left side to link with Andrew Sneddon who hit a half volley to leave the keeper with no chance and almost put the game out of sight.
Juniors continued to press and did have a couple more half chances; one from a header that Johnstone got down well for and was able to parry away.
Mallaig would add one more – this time Andy Cunningham latched on to a miss-hit shot, after some good work down the left between himself and Gordy Jamieson, to slot past the keeper to make it 5-0.
The return of Aaron McLean, who had been missing since the second game of the season, made a welcome appearance for Mallaig. David Buick came off the bench to show some lovely touches to leave an impression, while Tom Benfield and Kian Cameron both came to shore up the win.
Mallaig added a sixth with 15 minutes left. Cunningham again went through after beating a defender and lobbed the on-rushing keeper to round off a perfect day.
There were great performances from Andy Cunningham, Angus MacNaughton and Cameron Muir but it was Andrew Sneddon who claimed the man of the match.
This was an important win for Mallaig after the disappointment of last weekend’s loss to Kyleakin in the league.
Some good performances and a clean sheet gives the side some momentum ahead of this Saturday’s GF Macrae Cup Final in Broadford where Malllaig will be seeking revenge against Kyleakin.