The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Skye out of danger zone but players left gutted at dropping vital point
Skye Camanachd moved out of the Mowi Premiership relegation zone at Kyles Athletic’s expense following their 2-2 draw with Lovat in Portree.
Skye led twice through James Pringle and Ross Gordon, but Greg Matheson, back in the Lovat starting 12 following his honeymoon, hauled his side level on both occasions.
Skye manager Kenny Macleod said: “We were excellent and I’m really happy with our performance.
“The result is just hard to swallow as I think they only had three shots on target but scored twice.
“The boys are distraught at the dropped point, but that just shows how far we have come.”
Lovat boss Jamie Matheson added: “It was a really good game although the weather wasn’t the best. Skye played really well and I was impressed with the way their forwards moved the ball and they caused us a lot of trouble.
“I think we owe credit to our keeper Stuart MacDonald, and I’ve said this many times, but he made a couple of saves today I don’t think any other keeper makes.
“Not a lot of teams will come and win games here.
“It was also good to have Greg back and he did what he usually does with two great finishes.
“He didn’t have a lot of chances today, but the ones he gets, he puts in the net. He’s invaluable to us.”
Elsewhere, Jordan Fraser scored after 36 minutes to put Kinlochshiel ahead at Oban Camanachd, but youngster Matthew Sloss levelled after the restart and it finished 1-1.
Oban Camanachd boss Gareth Evans said: “We were flat in the first half but had constant pressure after we equalised and just couldn’t put Shiel away.
“It’s frustrating and just
like our games against Newtonmore and Lovat, it’s another dropped point at home.”
Shiel boss Willie MacRae said: “It was a very good point. Oban Camanachd put us under the cosh after we went ahead, and we have keeper Josh Grant to praise for three outstanding saves.”
There is no change at the top of the table as a Struan Ross goal after just six minutes was enough to give league leaders Newtonmore a 1-0 victory over third-placed Beauly at The Eilan.
Kingussie remain second after first-half strikes from Ruaridh Anderson and Thomas Borthwick secured
a hard-earned 2-0 victory at Kyles Athletic.
Caberfeidh ended their four-game winless run in style, blitzing Glasgow Mid Argyll 9-1 at Castle Leod.
GMA led through a great Cailean MacLeod strike in the opening minute, but shinty’s top scorer Craig Morrison proved too hot to handle, scoring a remarkable seven times to take his tally to 19 goals for the season, while Kevin Bartlett and Gavin Mclauchlan got the others.
Sharp-shooter Craig Morrison was pleased with the win, but stopped short of setting any scoring targets for the season, saying: “We passed the ball around much better today
than in recent weeks. I haven’t set a scoring target although I did get 37 goals last season to finish top scorer and it would be nice to beat that total.”
Kilmallie missed the chance to top the Mowi National Division when they drew 3-3 against Glenurquhart. Daniel MacLean, Ryan Porter and Andrew Corrigan scored the home goals, but Martin Stewart’s brace and Seumas MacFarlane’s effort in the final minute earned Kilmallie a point.
Fort William’s Lewis Clark scored twice, but efforts from Willie MacVicar, Dan MacDonald and Jamie MacVicar earned Col Glen an impressive 3-2
victory which takes them above the Fort in the table.
Fraser Watt’s double secured Inveraray’s 2-0 win over Strathglass.
Tayforth’s trip to London to play the English Shinty Association in the MKM Building Supplies Oban Bullough Cup quarter-final ended in a disappointing defeat. Matt Mossop’s shot from distance into the top corner was all that separated the sides. Tayforth’s Duncan Martin said: “They played the conditions better than we did and it took a good goal to decide it. It’s a tough result to take but we’ll enjoy our night in London then focus on our remaining league games.”