Lovat get themselves back into title race
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THE race for the 2014 Orion Premiership is back on as Lovat closed the gap between themselves and Newtonmore at the top.
Lovat scraped a 2-1 win over relegation-threatened Lochaber and were indebted to arch rivals Glenurquhart, who pulled off the shock result of the day as they held league leaders Newtonmore to a 2-2 draw at the Eilan.
Newtonmore lead the table by two points, but Lovat have a game in hand and also face ‘More at home later in the season in what could be a title decider.
Including the Newtonmore game, Lovat have five matches left, and manager Alan MacRae will be preaching the simple message that if his side win their remaining games the title is theirs.
For Lovat the opposition in those five games is Newtonmore, Glenurquhart and Kingussie at home, while they also travel to Kinlochshiel and Kyles Athletic.
On Saturday, Lovat were made to scramble against a Lochaber side fighting for their Premiership survival.
Youngster Graeme MacMillan maintained his impressive form of late with two first half goals, but the Spean Bridge side produced a battling second half performance and Ben Delaney reduced the leeway on the hour mark to set up an anxious 30 minutes for the Kiltarlity side.
However, they held on to take both points and their sense of relief turned to joy as news of Newtonmore’s stumble against Glenurquhart was confirmed.
Lochaber now have three matches remaining — home and away to Kyles Athletic and at home to Kinlochshiel — and results are now a necessity if Robert Johnstone’s side are to beat the drop.
‘Shiel were on course for both points against Kingussie as they held on to a 2-1 lead courtesy of first half goals from Jordan Fraser and Ally Nixon, but Kingussie struck three time in the final 20 minutes through a Thomas Borthwick double and a counter by Louis Munro to take the points back to Badenoch.
Glenurquhart bounced back from their disappointing performance in the MacTavish Cup final as they held reigning champions Newtonmore.
It was a result that will go some way to restoring wounded pride and leaves the Glen support puzzling over the inconsistent performances of their side.
James MacPherson opened the scoring for the Drumnadrochit-based club in the 13th minute, but two penalties — both converted by Norman Campbell — in a five minute spell just before the interval gave the home side a precious half-time lead.
It looked to be enough but six minutes from time, Neale Reid grabbed the equaliser to give the long suffering Glen a result to savour.
Meanwhile in the south, Kyles Athletic produced a barnstorming second half performance to beat Argyll-shire rivals Inveraray 6-2 in the final of the AJG Parcels Celtic Society Cup.
Inveraray settled first and scored through Euan McMurdo in the sixth minute. Roddy MacDonald responded for Kyles in the 13th minute, but McMurdo restored Inveraray’s lead after 20 minutes, before Kyles’ Dunkie Kerr made it 2-2 at the break.
If the first half was an even affair the second half was anything but. Kyles captain Thomas Whyte put his side in the lead in 62 minutes before MacDonald produced another individual effort for Kyles’ fourth goal. Captain Whyte then completed the scoring with two late goals.
Fort William powered their way to a 5-1 derby win over Kilmallie in the Marine Harvest National Division — a result that is a huge setback for the Canalsiders in their quest for the title and promotion to the Orion Premiership.
The Fort dominated the first half, posting a 3-0 lead at the break courtesy of a Gary Innes strike and a double by Gordy MacKinnon.
Innes made it four shortly after half-time before Peter Carmichael struck a counter for Kilmallie shortly afterwards. A penalty conversion by Arran MacPhee from the spot on the hour mark completed the scoring.
Beauly won their derby encounter against Caberfeidh with a 1-0 triumph at Strathpeffer, Jack MacDonald’s strike in the 11th minute proving decisive. The win hoists the Braeview Park side into second place in the table, but with just four matches left their title bid looks doomed.
Strathglass’ championship push in Marine Harvest North Division One is also over after they were hammered 5-0 by Skye in Portree.
Barring an unlikely collapse, the islanders are an odds-on bet for the title with Ballachulish shaping up to be their south opponents in the play-off for promotion to the National Division.
In other matches, Glenurquhart edged out Beauly 3-1 at Braeview, while in the Friday evening match Newtonmore consolidated second place with a 3-0 victory over Kingussie.
