Shinty round up
Fifteen fixtures beat covid restrictions on Saturday July 10.
Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup – first round Southern Section Inveraray W/O v Lochaber
Inveraray were given a walkover when Lochaber were unable to field a team for their tie at the Winterton.
Inveraray now meet Kyles Athletic at the Playing Fields, Tighnabruaich, in the second round on Saturday.
Artemis Macaulay Cup – first round
Oban Camanachd 4 Bute 0
Oban Camanachd eventually eased to a 4-0 win over Bute in their 3pm throw-up at Mossfield.
Oban Camanachd were without Garry Lord, whilst Daniel Madej was a late injury call-off with an ankle problem. Lewis Buchanan’s scoring exploits for Lochside were recognised with a starting spot.
It took time for Oban Camanachd to break down the islanders but they managed on 35 minutes when Connor Howe scored from close range. Howe got his second from a similar range a minute before the break.
The Oban side made changes at half-time to strengthen the centre line with Keith MacMillan and Ross Campbell coming on, replacing Evan MacLellan and Blair MacFarlane.
A typical Daniel MacVicar goal made it 3-0 on 55 minutes as he turned his marker before firing home from more than 20 yards out.
Ross Campbell added a fourth with the goal of the match on the hour. Campbell beat his man and hit a shot from distance with the ball going low into the corner of the net.
Innes Jackson was rewarded for his Lochside performances with a debut for the final 20 minutes of the tie.
Oban Camanachd manager Stephen Sloss said: ‘Bute were up for the game and maybe we were a bit complacent to begin with as I thought we were poor in the first half. The changes at half-time made a difference.’
Turning his thoughts to this weekend’s Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup tie at Fort William, Sloss added: ‘It’s a big game at Fort William in the Scottish this Saturday and we’ll have Garry Lord back for that.’
Oban Celtic 6 Ballachulish 0
Oban Celtic are also through following a comfortable 6-0 victory over Ballachulish in their noon throw-up at Mossfield. Oban Celtic were still missing the injured Craig MacMillan, whilst Ballachulish missed the experienced John MacDonald and Lorne Brown.
Duncan MacDonald was dangerous throughout and gave Oban Celtic the lead on 17 minutes. MacDonald is finally free of a niggling injury and his side were reaping the benefits as he finished off a break forward.
The ball was played up the line to Daniel MacMillan, then on to Ross MacMillan who found Duncan MacDonald and he beat his marker to score from outside the ‘D’.
Oban Celtic forced a corner from the re-start and when the danger was only half-cleared, Duncan MacDonald again beat his opponent before making it 2-0 with 19 minutes played.
Lennon Campbell took down Neil Carmichael’s long ball from midfield on 35 minutes and played a one-two with Duncan MacDonald before adding a third whilst Duncan MacDonald scored the goal of the game three minutes later. Ross MacMillan found Daniel MacMillan.
MacDonald was coming away from goal as he met MacMillan’s cross and he produced a spectacular finish as his reverse overhead volley beat the keeper to make it 4-0.
Oban Celtic immediately withdrew Duncan MacDonald to give Ewen Campbell, aged 15, his debut. The youngster is returning from a thigh injury that has curtailed his season so far.
Promising youngster William MacEwan came on for Daniel MacMillan and he linked up well with George MacMillan. When Neil Carmichael’s long ball forward wasn’t dealt with, Ewen Campbell cut the ball back to Lennon Campbell who produced a great strike to make it 5-0 on the hour.
Young Pearce MacBeth got his chance to shine for the final quarter of the contest as Oban Celtic kept the pressure on the Ballachulish goal.
Ross MacMillan turned home a rebound after Kenny Michie had saved Ewen Campbell’s initial shot, but Campbell was just unable to get out of the ‘D’ in time and referee Deek Cameron ruled the effort out for offside. The same two players combined a couple of minutes from time. Ross MacMillan saw his strike saved by Kenny Michie but Ewen Campbell slipped the re-bound past the keeper to notch his first senior goal and make it 6-0.
Kenny Michie in the Ballachulish goal made some great saves throughout, particularly denying Ross MacMillan, and did well to turn a Ewen Campbell effort around the post. However, Celtic were also guilty of passing up some good chances in front of goal.
Andy MacDonald did well at buckshee back for Celtic, mopping up and hitting balls forward from the Ballachulish midfield.
Oban Celtic now host Oban Camanachd in the Artemis Macaulay Cup quarter finals with the tie currently scheduled for Saturday July 24.
With Oban Celtic manager Dougie MacIntyre unavailable, Les Kinvig took charge of the side, assisted by Allan Duffy. Les said: ‘It was good to be playing again. We haven’t had a game for almost a month and it took a while to get up to speed but when we did, the goals flowed.
‘We have a tough match against Glasgow Mid Argyll in the Camanachd Cup this Saturday. They have been playing well recently. The tie will be too soon for Craig MacMillan’s return from injury.’
Artemis Macaulay Cup quarter finals Kyles Athletic 3 Glasgow Mid Argyll 2
Kyles Athletic survived a late fright to beat Glasgow Mid Argyll 3-2 at the Playing Field, Tighnabruaich.
Robbie Macleod gave the hosts the lead on nine minutes and Colin MacDonald’s effort on 32 minutes made it 2-0 at the break.
When referee Graham Fisher awarded the hosts a penalty on 53 minutes, Robbie Macleod stepped up to score.
Five minutes later, it was GMA’s turn from the penalty spot with Craig Anderson scoring to make it 3-1.
Matthew Young made it 3-2 at the death, but Kyles stayed in front to go through.
Mowi South League A Inveraray 1 Lochside Rovers 2
The meeting between the Inveraray second team and Lochside Rovers at the Winterton was brought forward to Wednesday July 7 with a 7pm throw-up.
And it was Lochside who followed up a league draw with Bute and a league win over Ballachulish with a 2-1 victory at Inveraray.
The young Inveraray side were peppered with the experienced Graham MacPherson in goal and the influential Euan McMurdo, but Garry MacPherson was missing.
Lochside were without David Cameron as work duties left him on Mull, whilst Jordan Kerr was delayed due to work commitments so started on the bench. The Oban side’s starting attack consisted of Innes Jackson, Alexander MacDonald, Robbie Brown and Lewis Buchanan.
After scoring four goals against the Lochaber seconds four days earlier, Lewis Buchanan wasted no time getting back on the goal trail as he netted with two minutes played.
Buchanan’s fine head-height shot from the left of the penalty spot powered past the keeper to make it 1-0.
Lochside enjoyed most of the first half play in the Inveraray half but were unable to seriously threaten the home goal whilst, at the other end, Lochside keeper Dougie MacDonald didn’t have much to do. Lochside manager Gareth Evans replaced Robbie Brown with Jordan Kerr from the re-start. Kerr went into defence and Louis MacFarlane, who played the first half at buckshee back, went up front.
It was Lewis Buchanan again, this time three minutes into the second half, who doubled Lochside’s lead with his sixth goal in two games. Buchanan didn’t catch the ball as cleanly as he would have liked but his effort beat MacPherson to make it 2-0.
Graham MacPherson made a superb reflex save above his head on the hour to deny Lewis Buchanan a hat-trick whilst, a minute later, he saved Callum Kirsop’s 30 yarder, again above his head with his stick.
Inveraray switched their attacking formation with three forwards pushing up and one staying deep, but it was the Lochside centre line of Evan MacLellan, flanked by Callum Kirsop and Jamie Anderson, who took a grip on the match.
Lochside introduced youngsters Matthew Sloss and Daniel Pearson for valuable game time.
Steven Cameron pulled a goal back for the hosts on 77 minutes. A long ball from Euan McMurdo was palmed away by Lochside keeper Dougie MacDonald but he lost sight of the ball as it dropped and full forward Cameron lofted the ball into the roof of the net to make it 2-1.
Inveraray pressed for a leveller but Scott Robertson and Ross Campbell, the latter playing at the back during the second half, as well as Calum MacMillan were outstanding for Lochside.
Lochside Rovers boss Gareth Evans said: ‘We lost 6-1 to Inveraray during the pre-season so this was a pleasing result. The pitch was in excellent condition and we definitely played better in the second half. However, although we had most of the play, we were a bit wasteful in front of goal at times.
‘It’s off to Taynuilt this Saturday where we want to keep the good league run going.’
Col Glen P Taynuilt P
Col Glen’s game against Taynuilt at Glendaruel was postponed because of covid restrictions.
Mowi South League B Aberdour 2 Glasgow Mid Argyll 2
The Aberdour second team staged a late fight-back to draw 2-2 with Glasgow Mid Argyll’s second team at sunny Silversands.
With no first game, Aberdour included Alistair Abbott, Iain Fullerton, Tom Aitchison, Tom Bowerman and Angus Thorburn in a 15-player squad.
After a goal-less first half, GMA took the lead on 46 minutes when Neil Robertson found space to score, low into the net.
Aberdour started the second half well, pressing for a leveller but GMA doubled their lead on 73 minutes when Cameron Middleton’s shot took a deflection off Aodan Burns’ club on its way past Kevin Latimer in the home goal to make it 2-0.
It stayed that way until three minutes from time when Tom Bowerman made a surging run forward and with the keeper narrowing the angle, Bowerman slipped the ball to Martin Cameron who had the simplest task of knocking the ball into an empty goal from
close range. Aberdour went for it and Tom Bowerman was key once more as he made a mazy run into the ‘D’ before being brought down and referee David Mitchell awarded a penalty. Bowerman took responsibility as he crashed the spot-hit into the top corner of the net to make the final score 2-2.
The sides meet again this Saturday in Glasgow.
Bute 3 Tayforth 6
Tayforth won 6-3 against the Bute seconds at the Meadows.
Former hurler Brendan Duggan rattled home goals on 10, 15 and 42 minutes to complete his hat-trick and give the visitors a 3-0 lead.
There was a goal-glut either side of the break with Neil McKirdy pulling a goal back on 43 minutes, only for Brendan Duggan to get his fourth of the afternoon to make it 4-1 at half-time.
Bute’s Rory MacDonald made it 4-2 a minute after the re-start but Finlay Stark on 47 minutes and Ewan Menzies three minutes later put Tayforth out of sight.
Rory MacDonald got his second goal with 10 minutes remaining to make the final score 6-3.
Mowi Central League Ardnamurchan 1 Lochaber 5
The Lochaber reserves won 5-1 against Ardnamurchan at Strontian.
Donald MacRae scored the only goal of the first half after 16 minutes and the same player made it 2-0 four minutes into the second half.
Cameron Loughray struck twice on 57 and 70 minutes to make it 4-0 and Matthew Bradley’s own goal increased the visitors’ advantage a couple of minutes later.
Calum Ritchie grabbed some consolation for Ardnamurchan when he scored 15 minutes from time.
Kilmallie 4 Glenorchy 1
The Kilmallie colts were 4-1 winners against Glenorchy at Canal Parks.
Kilmallie took a grip of the match in the first half with Ross MacKenzie on 20 minutes, Iain MacIntyre a couple of minutes later and Ross MacKenzie again on 41 minutes amassing a 3-0 lead.
Kenni Gray pulled a goal back on 42 minutes to make it 3-1 at the break. However, Iain MacIntyre found the net on 61 minutes to make it 4-1.
Oban Celtic P Kilmory P
The game between the Oban Celtic seconds and Kilmory at Ganavan was postponed because of the travel restrictions affecting Kilmory’s young squad.