Mowi Premiership
Lochaber 3 Kinlochshiel 3
Newly-promoted Lochaber’s promising start to the season continued as they came from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Kinlochshiel at Spean Bridge.
This fixture was originally scheduled to take place at Rèaraig but the wet weather in the west ruled the pitch unplayable and the venue was switched to Spean.
Lochaber manager Ally Ferguson had a full squad to choose from and could even afford to keep Stuart Callison and Max Campbell on the bench.
Kinlochshiel defender WD MacRae was ruled out through injury, whilst Jordan Fraser was working on Uist. Donald Nixon was passed fit to play and although David Falconer’s MRI scan was clear, the game came too soon for him.
Kinlochshiel, who lost Keith MacRae after just three minutes, had the wind in their favour in the first half, but Lochaber caught their opponents cold with Findlay MacDonald hammering the ball home after four minutes.
However, Kinlochshiel’s John MacRae showed his scoring prowess as he completed a hat-trick with goals on 8, 23 and 31 minutes and the visitors led 3-1 at the break.
Kinlochshiel’s Donald Nixon had been struggling with an injury and he was forced off at half-time with Arron Jack coming on.
It remained that way until 20 minutes from time when, with Kinlochshiel claiming for a free hit in the middle of the park, Lochaber broke forward and Max Campbell’s 35-yard drive dipped over keeper Josh Grant and into the goal to reduce the deficit to a single goal.
Lochaber pushed for a leveller and, in the final minute, Ben Delaney scored his fifth goal of the season to the delight of the home support. Lochaber have now taken four points from their opening four fixtures.
It is the second time this season that Lochaber have come from 3-1 down to salvage a point.
Manager Ally Ferguson said: “We showed great spirit once again to take something out of the game.
“All credit to our lads, we didn’t defend well enough at times in the first half and Kinlochshiel keeper Josh Grant made two cracking saves so we went in at half-time 3-1 down.
“We never gave up though and if the game had gone on for another five to 10 minutes, we could possibly have won it.
“Kinlochshiel are a strong, tough side to play against and we’re delighted to get a point. It’s great to be pushing teams like Kinlochshiel all the way and competing with them over the 90 minutes.”
Kinlochshiel boss Willie MacRae added: “They caught us napping at the start but at 3-1 up, we should have seen it out. We played some nice shinty in the first half but didn’t turn up after that.
“It was physical at times and I felt their second goal was crucial.
“It’s the second successive Saturday where we’ve lost a last-minute goal and this one is even harder to take.”
Glenurquhart 0 Skye Camanachd 2
Skye Camanachd have now won three of their opening four league fixtures after beating Glenurquhart at Blairbeg.
Glenurquhart went into the match in search of their first points of the season but were without defender Lachlan Smith whose booking against Kingussie a fortnight ago triggered a one-match suspension.
Injury ruled out Skye pair Ryan Harrison and Ross MacKinnon but Ross Nicolson was free of his two-match ban.
Skye took the lead midway through the first half when Dan MacDonald gathered the ball on the left before sending a low 20-yard shot across Glenurquhart keeper Stuart MacKintosh into the far corner of the net.
Whilst keeper Stuart MacKintosh may have been caught out by MacDonald’s strike, the Skye full forward’s third goal over four games this season, he was the main reason the islanders didn’t extend their lead, pulling off save after save, particularly from Ruaraidh Macleod.
Skye lost full centre John Gillies to a knee injury after which the Glen went on to have their best spell in the game. However, in the final minute, Ruaraidh MacLeod got in behind his marker before flicking the ball home to make it 2-0 and clinch victory.
Skye boss Willie MacDonald said: “We created plenty chances and hit the target several times which I was pleased about, but Stuart MacKintosh was terrific in their goal and made several great saves from Ruaraidh MacLeod alone.
“John Gillies suffered a swollen knee, and we missed him when he went off midway through the second half, but we don’t have a game next week, meaning he has time to recover.”
Newtonmore 1
Kingussie 3
Champions Kingussie stay top of the league after coming from behind to beat neighbours Newtonmore 3-1 at the Eilan.
Newtonmore, with the wind in the first half, dominated the early exchanges and took the lead after 10 minutes when Drew MacDonald swept the ball home on his backhand from the right of the ‘D’.
The hosts continued to dominate but had to settle for a 1-0 interval lead.
Kingussie came more into it in the second half and were now the dominant force. Ruaridh Anderson levelled on 59 minutes with a fine early strike from wide on the left.
Kingussie took the lead with 20 minutes remaining when a deflected ball fell kindly for Cameron Bremner to the right of the penalty spot and he blasted it by Kenny Ross in the Newtonmore goal.
Kingussie clinched victory a couple of minutes from time when Savio Genini swept the ball in from the left of the ‘D’ to make it 3-1.
Kingussie manager Iain Borthwick said: “The strong wind meant it was a game of two halves. We were all over the place in the first half, probably the worst I’ve seen our defence in a long time, but we’ll put that down to the wind.
“It was one-way traffic after that and it was all about us being patient. I knew the boys would get chances and I’m pleased to see three different names on scoresheet, especially Cammie Bremner.”
Lovat 1
Kyles Athletic 0
Lovat stay second in the league after edging out Kyles Athletic 1-0 at Balgate.
Recent rain left underfoot conditions difficult and the moment that made the difference came with just 10 minutes remaining. The Kyles defence didn’t deal with Graeme MacMillan’s ball forward from midfield and Lovat’s Greg Matheson ran in, taking the ball by diving keeper John Whyte before scoring from left of the ‘D’ to give his side a 1-0 win.
Lovat manager Jamie Matheson said: “We had Drew Howie and Craig Mainland fit to start and I thought we edged the first half but as the match went on, it was clear one goal would win it.
“The recent weather left the pitch heavy which made it difficult for both sides. The game was scrappy, but we are fortunate to have Greg who gives us that bit of extra quality in attack.
“Our keeper Stuart MacDonald and our back four are excellent. They always give us a great chance.”
Mowi South Division 1
Ryan MacKenzie put the Glasgow Mid Argyll second team ahead midway through the first half against Ardnamurchan.
Ross Brown, who was originally to referee the postponed match between Bute and Fort William, turned out for GMA and added a second soon after. Ryan MacKenzie went on to complete his hat-trick, with Ross Brown getting his second before Herbie Patterson pulled a goal back to make it 5-1. Mark Bain’s penalty on 74 minutes rounded off GMA’s 6-1 victory.
Mowi North Division 1
The Inverness seniors and the Kinlochshiel juniors shared the points following a 2-2 draw at the Bught Park outside pitch.
Inverness led when Stephen Bellshaw scored the only goal of the first half on 44 minutes, but Duncan MacMillan equalised on 57 minutes. Ewan Campbell put Inverness back in front on the hour only for Kinlochshiel to fight back for a second time through Rory Barclay on 77 minutes.
The wet weather meant the rest of the Mowi North Division card was washed out.
Mowi North Division 2
The Caberfeidh colts beat Lewis Camanachd 3-1 at Castle Leod. The game was played with difficult underfoot conditions. Caberfeidh broke the deadlock through Ruaraidh McCreadie who won possession and finished from the left of the ’D’ midway through the first half.
Lewis lost young defender Donnie Murray with a hand injury before Kian MacLeod added a second from the penalty spot a minute before the interval. Cameron Grant made it 3-0 on the hour with a 25-yard back-hand strike, high into the net past former Caberfeidh player Paddy Wilson in the Lewis goal.
Paul Duke pulled a goal back from the left of the box with 15 minutes remaining, his 50th goal for the club, but Caberfeidh were 3-1 winners. The match marked a refereeing debut at this level from Kai Macaulay who was in control throughout.
The Kingussie colts finished strongly to beat the Kilmallie colts 8-3 at the Dell.
Duncan MacDougall put Kilmallie ahead, but Toby Thain’s double and Mike Slimon’s strike turned the match Kingussie’s way and they led 3-1 at half-time. Seamus Macfarlane made it 3-2 on 58 minutes but Robert Shiells a couple of minutes later and a hat-trick goal from Toby Thain on 65 minutes had Kingussie 5-2 ahead.
Martyn Cameron cut the deficit on 75 minutes, but Robert Shiells took his tally to four goals with strikes on 81, 86 and 89 minutes to make it 8-3.
Lochaber juniors defeated the Strathglass juniors 4-0 at Spean Bridge. Ben MacDonald’s 12th-minute opener was followed by Mikey Gordon’s quick-fire double on 27 and 30 minutes. David Langan added a fourth on 35 minutes before a scoreless second half.
Women’s Camanachd Association
Mowi National Division
Champions and league leaders Badenoch showed they still have the hunger for another title success as they beat Skye Camanachd 6-0 at the Dell.
Megan Ralph scored four times with Kirsty Deans and Hope Borthwick also on target.
Kinlochshiel overcame Glasgow Mid Argyll 11-2 at Kirkton. Lorna MacRae and Lexie Mackenzie both scored four times for the hosts with Tibby Mackenzie, Effie MacLean and Katie MacRae also netting. Kirsty Gray scored both GMA goals.
Lochaber recorded a solid 6-0 win over Inverness at Spean Bridge. Claire Delaney and Missy Cameron both scored twice with Leah Maxtone and Mairi Duncan getting the others.
Mowi South Division 2
It was a day to remember for the newly-formed Inveraray side who won their first league match, beating Ardnamurchan B 3-2 at Strontian. Katie MacKay scored all three Inveraray goals, with Macy Morris and Hannah Collins replying.
Mowi North Division 2
Strathspey defeated Skye Camanachd B 2-1 at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree. Alison Jones scored twice for Strathspey with Bethany Mackintosh countering.
Glenurquhart B defeated Lochaber B 6-2 at Blairbeg. The Glenurquhart scorers were Rowan Brockie, 2; Freya Gault, 2; Sophie Power and Rebecca Van Loon. Brooke Falconer scored both Lochaber goals.
Isla Strachan scored all four goals as Strathglass won 4-1 against Glengarry at Cannich. Leona Falconer got Glengarry’s goal.
Laura Soffe scored six times as Lovat won 10-3 victory against Kinlochshiel B at Balgate. Fiona Urquhart grabbed a hat-trick and Chloe MacMillan got the other. Sandra MacRae’s brace and Anna Matheson counted for Kinlochshiel.
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