Lovat thrash rivals Glen
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In Division Two, Glenurquhart turned the tables on Lovat with a 4 - 1 win, while in Division Three Boleskine’s promotion hopes were dented after they were beaten 5-1 by Lochbroom, who had former Inverness player Dickie MacKenzie to thank after he hit a treble.
In the Marine Harvest Leagues, Caberfeidh made it three wins from three in North Division One to move level on points with second place Lochaber after a 5-1 win at Lochcarron. Kevin Bartlett’s hat-trick was the highlight as Cabers hit the goal trail.
Stuart Callison with a double and Sean Nicholson were the Lochaber marksmen, while Iain MacMillan scored twice for the Argyllshire side.
Mid Argyll will face Lochaber, who needed extra-time to overcome Oban Camanachd, who let slip a 2-1 lead going into the final minutes and also had Matt Rippon red carded.
In Portree, Glasgow Mid Argyll shocked Skye, winning 2-1 in what was the result of the day. Second half goals from Ewen Forsyth and Craig Anderson sealed the victory after a Neil MacVicar goal in the 43rd minute had given the islanders the advantage at the interval.
Beauly will now face Lochgilphead outfit Kilmory for a place in the final.
Inexplicably, Inverness collapsed after the break with Beauly scoring seemingly at will. Marc Maclachlan grabbed a hat-trick and a double from Jack MacDonald completed the scoring.
The sides went in level at the interval with Connor Golabek’s 22nd minute penalty conversion cancelled out by Ross Forbes’ strike in the 38th minute.
The hosts recent form had the Highland Capital side wearing the favourites tag in what was a make or break match for both clubs, but the form book was thrown out as Beauly produced a commanding second half performance to run out 6-1 winners.
The derby clashes were not restricted to the Orion Premiership, however, and in the Balliemore Cup quarter-finals, Beauly entertained Inverness at Braeview.
Doubles from Russell MacKinlay and Euan McMurdo and strikes by Gary MacPherson, Andrew McMurdo and Rhuaridh Graham brought the good times back to the Royal Burgh side, who have struggled to find the net in the league this season.
Inveraray produced a sparkling performance, beating Kinlochshiel 7 -1 at the Winterton.
The Fort, who have drifted towards the foot of the table recently, secured the points with Daniel Stewart netting in the 40th minute and a double from Ryan Campbell in the 63rd and 68th minutes. Martin Stewart was the lone marksman for Kilmallie.
Bute stay above Kilmallie at the foot of the table after the Corpach side were beaten 3-1 by Fort William.
Newtonmore’s dropped point has allowed Kyles Athletic to draw level with them at the top of the table after the Tighnabruaich side’s 1-0 triumph over Bute in the Cowal derby. Roddy MacDonald’s strike in the 45th minute was all that separated the teams.
The match ended in a 2-2 stalemate after two goals from Ronald Ross were cancelled out by strikes from John MacKenzie and Calum Stewart. Ross was later forced into a defensive role after Kingussie’s Lee Bain was harshly red carded just before the interval as ‘More trailed 2-1.
Shinty’s first official ‘Derby Day’ was blessed with bright sunshine across the country and the Badenoch clash between Kingussie and Newtonmore provided plenty of live action for the BBC Alba television cameras.
Lovat climb to third in the league just a point behind joint leaders Newtonmore and Kyles, while Glenurquhart slip down the league, but remain four points clear of the relegation zone.
Matheson then converted a penalty in the 67th minute, before Menzies reduced the leeway in the 75th minute, but it proved to be of little consolation to the Glen.
Glenurquhart did stem the flow until half-time, although the match was eventually put beyond them within five minutes of the restart with Owen Ferguson and Matheson scoring in quick succession.
The visitors moved full back John Barr upfront, but the switch had little effect with a dominant Lovat midfield restricting the service to the Glen forwards.
The Glen were in early trouble when Matheson fired home in the 15th minute and twenty minutes later Martin Bell doubled Lovat’s advantage.
With youngsters Euan Lloyd and Euan Menzies drafted in from the reserve side, the makeshift Glen team were no match for a fluent Lovat side who produced one of their best performances of the season.
Glenurquhart made the short journey to face their rivals missing almost half of their first choice line-up with Eddie Tembo, David Smart, Neale Reid, Liam Girvan, Andy Corrigan, Paul MacKintosh and Dave Girvan all unavailable for a variety of reasons.
While Lovat’s win was not entirely a shock, the scale of the triumph was totally unexpected and pushes Lovat back into contention at the top of the table.
GREG Matheson was Lovat’s hat-trick hero as the Kiltarlity side cruised to a 5-1 victory over Glenurquhart in their Orion Group Premiership derby clash at Balgate.
