Glenurquhart just happy to have home draw
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THE quarter-final draw in this year’s Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup leaves the way open for one of the sport’s less-fancied teams to make it through to the semi-finals with five of the top Premiership sides drawn against each other.
The competition was blown wide open as holders Newtonmore exited the tournament at the second round stage, losing 2-1 to last year’s beaten finalists Kyles Athletic.
Beauly also bowed out with a narrow 1-0 defeat by Kinlochshiel, but Glenurquhart made it through to the last eight courtesy of a 5-3 victory at Lochaber.
With Newtonmore now out of the equation, the Glen co-manager Billy MacLean acknowledged the competition is more open.
"The gap between the top clubs has narrowed and even teams from the lower divisions like Inverness, Skye, Fort William and Kilmallie will feel they have chance and that is great for the sport," he said.
Glenurquhart face either Inverness or Inveraray for a place in the semis and Maclean is happy with the prospect.
"I know it is a stock phrase, but it is true, there are no easy games at this stage and what you hope for is simply a home draw," he said.
"We are happy enough with the draw, but we know that Inverness or Inveraray will be tough opponents. However, to be playing at home in front of our own supporters is massive for us."
The Glen looked to be home and hosed as they raced to a 5-1 lead over Lochaber, but the Spean Bridge side fired back after the break to cause the visitors some discomfort in the final quarter of the game.
"When you lead 5-1, you probably think it is all over," said MacLean. "We were at our best, particularly upfront in the first hour or so.
"But in shinty things can change quickly and credit to Lochaber. They are a good side and got it back to 5-3. They had a penalty five minutes from the end and had that gone in we could have been in trouble."
In the event, goalkeeper Stuart MacKintosh pulled off a fine save and the Glen were safely through to the last eight.
James Macpherson struck a double and the Glen’s other scorers were David Smart, Fraser Heath and Neale Reid.
There were few real shocks in the second round aside from ‘More crashing out of the competition, while area league side Skye made light of the long journey to Rothesay as they ended the dreams of National Division side Bute with a terrific 3-0 victory.
Both Caberfeidh and Beauly are out, however, after they lost out to Fort William and Kinlochshiel respectively.
Beauly and Kinlochshiel played out a tense match at Braeview with ‘Shiel edging through courtesy of a Jordan Fraser spot-hit in the 76th minute.
Caberfeidh found themselves involved in a 10-goal thriller at An Aird, but despite their best efforts fell to a 7-3 defeat.
Cabers forced an own goal in the first minute when Lewis Smith deflected the ball past goalkeeper Paul MacKay. It was a dream start but a nightmarish defensive effort saw the Strathpeffer side concede four goals to trail 4-1 at the interval. A double from Daniel Stewart and goals by Bryan Simpson and Gordie MacKinnon did the damage.
Iain MacColl reduced the leeway shortly after the restart, but efforts from Arran MacPhee and a second by Stewart reasserted the Fort’s dominance. Craig Morrison scored a late consolation for the Sky Blues before Simpson completed the scoring with just five minutes remaining.
Camanachd Cup clashes between Kyles and Newtonmore are rarely places for the faint-hearted. Their epic clashes of the 70s and 80s are the stuff of legends and this latest encounter evoked those memories as both sides battled to the last to produce a thrilling cup tie.
This time round, Kyles manufactured a last minute winner just when it looked as though Newtonmore had done enough to earn a replay at the Eilan.
A goalless first half gave way to desperately tight second half before Kyles made the breakthrough in the 65th minute with Roberto Zavaroni beating ‘More keeper Ritchie with a low strike that squeezed in at the post.
Just when it looked as though Kyles might hang on, ‘More’s Steven MacDonald equalised with only six minutes remaining.
Kyles were not finished, however, and with just seconds left on the clock, Colin MacDonald drove the ball beyond Ritchie to leave the holders distraught and out of the cup.
In other ties, Kilmallie came through in the Lochaber derby as they knocked out Ballachulish with a 4-0 victory.
Meanwhile in the Sutherland Cup, Beauly booked their place in the last eight with a 4-1 triumph over army side the SCOTS and now face Kingussie in the quarter-finals
In the leagues, Lovat’s Orion Premiership title hopes were dented when they dropped a point at Inveraray with the Royal Burgh side hitting a last minute equaliser to earn themselves a 3-3 draw.
Strathglass edged closer to Skye at the top of North Division One courtesy of a 3-1 victory against Inverness at Bught Park.
The Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup quarter-final draw is as follows:
Glenurquhart v Inverness/Inveraray; Kinlochshiel v Fort William; Lovat/Kingussie v Kyles Athletic; Skye v Kilmallie. Ties are scheduled to be played on Saturday 5th July.
