Fort aiming to bounce back after surprise cup exit

FORT William hope to put their shock exit from Shinty’s Mactavish Cup behind them today by causing their own upset in the Macaulay Cup.

The Premiership newcomers were knocked out of the north area championship by lower-league Skye last Saturday and are keen to make amends.

And, although Lovat are flying high close to the summit of the league, manager John Macritchie knows a complacent performance could be punished by Fort.

“They are a decent side and our league game was very close at 2-1. We also drew with them in pre-season and I know they will be wanting to make up for what happened against Skye.”

Fort have also been handed a significant fillip with the return of talisman striker Bryan Simpson, at least for a few weeks. Simpson has been a lynchpin of the An Aird side for several years and their chief goal-grabber.

However, a change to working shift patterns forced him to inform co-boss Victor Smith at the start of the campaign that he could not commit to weekly appearances.

Thankfully for the yellow and blacks, Simpson can make himself available for seven weeks and could go straight back into the starting 12.

“Work has to come first but I was sorry to lose Bryan, so having him back is great for us. He has a lot of experience, knows his way to goal and he is a real winner,” said Smith.

Newtonmore, holders of the Macaulay Cup, have a free weekend but beaten 2014 finalists Kyles start their campaign to go one better with a home tie against Glenorchy.

That is a clash they should win but no one at the Tighnabruaich club will be taking their lower-league opponents lightly.