Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Bonnie Oban Bay ?



What can you write about a game that never happened.? The Balliemore final was cancelled because the pitch was too damp. As the Kinlochshiel man said to the Wing Centre as they waded across Mossfield together “ Not only did it rain incessantly, but it never stopped all day.”
Mossfield was in magnificent condition - before the deluge. The turf was perfect and a half dry day would have meant an exciting final- but the lesson from the last half hour of the Kilmallie v Fort William Sutherland final was clear. You cannot play meaningful shinty in a pool-octopush would have been more appropriate- and the Camanachd acted appropriately in postponing the match. Naturally the guys were upset - but the two week gap will also help injured players on both sides recuperate, although if the papers are to be believed Kinlochshiel will benefit more than the Glen. It might be that the game will be an even better one but given the nice build up in the press before this match it could be hard to get the players up for the contest again.
What happens to those who paid a tenner to get in and never saw a game? The Wing Centre kept his ticket and dried it out in front of the peat fire at home and expects to exchange it for either hard cash or free entrance to the rescheduled game.
Players on both sides mingled peacefully on the field before the match as did the Kilmallie and Fort William sides, though given the venom voiced in the stand between the two sets of supporters you would have thought violence would have been done. But at the end everything was quiet. They don’t appear to actually hate each other that much.
The Wing Centre always looks to get a wee snap to remind him of the big occasion. What to record here, he did not know except the depth of the pools but then lo here were the Kinlochshiel lads all in a huddle. The Kinlochshiel huddle-just like the Celtic huddle? The Wing Centre took this pic (see above). How to interpret it soon became clear.
Surely it could only have been Uncle Bert gathering them together to explain the art of salmon netting. It was obvious: the Wing Centre knows what these Kintail lads are like. They needed a Lochalsh man to organise them to have a sweep of the Mossfield salmon pools. Once a Kintail man gets a salmon ashore, he can usually manage to sell it for himself. Not that he’ll ever eat it : for him, only the finest cut of stag will do. They are just a western seaboard version of the Glasaich. Only problem is-they can play shinty.

 
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