Kilmory and Inveraray shinty teams notch up league wins
Wet weather led to a number of call-offs on Saturday March 12, but there was still plenty of shinty action in the games that went ahead.
In Mowi South Division Two, the youthful Kilmory team continued a good start to the season, securing their first points after a deserved 2-0 victory over the Aberdour seconds across in Fife.
Taking advantage of the wind at Silversands, Kilmory pushed ahead with two well-taken quickfire goals from Alex Cunningham on 24 and 26 minutes to take an interval lead.
There was no more scoring in the second half with both teams struggling a bit on the sticky pitch.
With Inveraray seniors’ Mowi National Division match against Skye called off due to heavy rain - after the Aray lads had reached Fort William - Inveraray juniors had the option of a strong bench for their Mowi South Division Two match versus newly-formed Strachur-Dunoon.
The match was reversed from the Winterton to Dunoon Stadium with the more experienced Inveraray side running out 4-0 winners.
Experience aside, the Inveraray side still contained five players under 16 and one 17-year-old.
A competitive and hardfought game started at a good pace with Strachur-Dunoon showing good hitting and a willingness to chase down balls. Inveraray struggled for cohesion and had to wait until the 30th minute to find the breakthrough, Allan MacDonald scoring with a shot from distance.
This settled the visitors and in the 42nd minute after some hard work by Ryan Pugh, the ball broke to Ewan Donnan, who struck from the angle to find the net.
No sooner had the dust settled than Inveraray found themselves three ahead when Craig Taylor found space to put the ball past Dunoon keeper Nathan Ross.
The second half was a closely-fought affair with both teams playing good, clean shinty. Inveraray had to step up a few gears to keep Strachur-Dunoon at bay, bringing on Colin Campbell, John MacKenzie and Allan Cameron to ensure composure throughout the team. Good second-half performances from all the Inveraray youngsters ensured the game was safe before Inveraray’s Allan Cameron finished the scoring in the 85th minute.
This was the first competitive match for Strachur-Dunoon, and with a number of players missing - others having not met before the game - they showed plenty of determination, which bodes well for the future.
Kyles Athletic’s away tie with Kilmallie in the Mowi Premiership was a Saturday morning postponement.
The Kilmallie squad had already planned to attend the funeral of club chieftain Hugh 'Shep' MacIntyre ahead of the game as the club paid their reGlendaruel spects to one of their stalwarts.
In Mowi South Division One, Kyles Athletic juniors drew 1-1 with Glasgow Mid Argyll at Peterson Park in Yoker.
In the same league, newly-created Cruachanside - an amalgamation of Glenorchy and Taynuilt players - were due to travel across the sea to Bute, but the match was postponed on Friday morning because of Covid issues, as was the game between Tayforth and Col Glen.