Youth v experience in top of table clash
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RECORDS are set to tumble in tomorrow’s Orion Premiership when Newtonmore and Lovat meet in a top of the table clash at the Eilan.
Neither team has dropped a point with the halfway point in the campaign just around the corner.
Lovat lost home and away to the champions in 2013 but there is an air of expectancy at Balgate that this could be their year. Winning the MacTavish Cup has brought a new self-belief to Alan MacRae’s young side evident in this year’s results.
Tomorrow’s tussle is a battle of youth over experience with Paul John MacKintosh’s Newtonmore side hardened in the battle of winning four consecutive Premiership titles and on their own pitch a formidable side.
Lovat have youth on their side and can boast a forward-line with pace and deadly finishing. MacRae may choose to start with youngster Graeme MacMillan on the bench but his pace could be crucial in the final quarter of the match as he proved against Kinlochshiel last Saturday, where Lorne Mackay scored from 30 yards.
Inverness hope to overturn a run of poor results in the Balliemore Cup tomorrow when Kilmory visit the Bught in a rearranged first round tie. Originally scheduled for last Saturday the tie was switched to the Bught after Kilmory’s pitch in Lochgilphead failed an inspection.
Inverness have tumbled out of the competition at the first round stage every year since 2009 but there is huge incentive this year under the revamped competitions structure.
Monday’s quarter-final draw handed Inverness the potential of a home draw against Oban Celtic and it also pitted the two favourites, Skye and Strathglass, against each other, throwing the competition wide open to less fancied clubs.
But Inverness manager Alan Macleod will not be looking too far ahead, concentrating his energies on tomorrow’s tie which he knows is eminently winnable, but will require his side to beat a team from the South area in open competition for the first time in a generation.
Home defeats in consecutive years against Taynuilt and Glenorchy in the Camanachd Cup have scarred the Bught support and they will be on guard against an unpredictable mid- table outfit from South Division One.
In the build-up to the match Inverness received a blow in midweek when Liam Girvan left the club just weeks after re-signing from Glenurquhart. But MacLeod is hopeful that the loss of his top scorer will be offset by the arrival of Martin Davidson from Beauly and Alex Duncan from Fort William. These two should line up for the first time at the Bught and with Innes Simpson settling in at full centre, there is a quiet confidence that Kilmory can be put to the sword.
Meanwhile, Glenurquhart without a win in the league since the opening day of the season face Inveraray at the Winterton with the match open to reversal of the fixture if Inveraray’s pitch fails a Saturday morning pitch inspection.
The Glen hope to welcome back some of last Saturday’s absentees who missed the 4-1 defeat by Newtonmore, with Neale Reid and Arran MacDonald expected to be in the pool while James MacPherson and Andy Corrigan remain on the injured list.
In other matches, Kyles Athletic seek their first win of the new campaign with the visit of Kinlochshiel to Tighnabruaich.
Kingussie in the throes of a major rebuilding project have delighted their fans with a strong start to the league which sees them in third place behind Lovat and Newtonmore.
They face Lochaber at Spean Bridge and with the home side off to a low-key start in the league, Kingussie could continue to lay claim to the best of the rest tag.
In the Marine Harvest National Division the match of the day is at An Aird where Fort William entertain league leaders Oban Camanachd.
Caberfeidh entertain Bute looking to build on their excellent win in Glasgow last Saturday while Beauly are in Dalmally to meet Glenorchy who got their campaign off to a winning start against Bute.
Beauly with three successive defeats have slipped towards the foot of the table and will be looking for a morale boosting result ahead of next Saturday’s MacTavish Cup quarter-final clash at Newtonmore.
