Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Games People Play






That’s the Glenurquhart Games over for another year and now the Club must face up to the prospect of two or three weeks which will determine the ultimate success of the season. The Club has worked hard enough to get where it is: the next trick will be to keep focused for the run in.
Not that the Royal Marines were focusing last weekend. Despite billing themselves proudly as the “Royal Marine’s Visibility Team” the driver of the 15 tonner smashed the Club’s scoreboard into tiny pieces as he tried to extricate his vehicle from the muddy mess left on the park at the end of the Games. The park too took a battering – and would have fared worse had not Games chairman Iain Urquhart taken his tractor down to the field and pulled the big show vehicles out. Left to themselves there is little doubt that the Show folk would have taken route 1 – across the field to the Balmacaan Road exit leaving goodness knows what kind of mess.
As it was with sun and wind drying out the ground the former president, the Chairman, the Treasurer, Geordie, Davie Menzies, Peter, Boy, Hendo, Mike and of course, the foreman Mr Reid himself spent an entertaining evening forking out the holes caused by hammers and shot putts as well as trying to level out the deep ruts caused by the lorries.
That aside the men in Black and Red were fairly high profile on the big day having decided to lug a caber up to the top of Achmony following the hill race route. Before they set out they had conned gullible members of the public not only to sign the post but also to pay money to guess how long it would take to get it there and back. 43 minutes turned out to be the answer to that particular question a turn of speed which caught everyone out. Then having done that ,the bold boys only went and won the tug of war – a picture of the squad is included of them receiving the trophy from Games chairman Iain Urquhart- and to cap it all Ewan Menzies actually ran the hill race in a very respectable time as well.
While the Club website is really coming into its own with pictures and info about recent events (http://glenurquhartshintyclub.com/) what with all the emphasis on Premier survival, the eyes of the Glen public –including those of the Wing Centre- have been diverted from the fortunes of Hendo’s Heroes.
Big mistake! The heroes have just produced two back to back 7-0 wins - against Beauly and against Kilmallie. The Beauly game was an excellent encounter notable for the fact that five of the goals came from youngsters. If this sort of free scoring, free running play carries on in the team with youngsters to the fore then perhaps we ought to restyle the team as “Mike’s Mites”.
Against Beauly – who were by no means an unpromising outfit with wing back Scott Maclean in particular playing well - the young Glen forwards were simply too hot to be stopped.
Kelvin Mackenzie opened in 10 minutes and he was quickly followed on to the score sheet by Daniel Mackintosh. Dan the Man took his first neatly firing it home from the left hand side of the D in 22 mins then ramming home his second in 35. Ewan Brady extended the Glen lead with a tricky shot from about 15 yards in 38 minutes – and the Glen were coasting.
Goal of the match was that scored by Kelvin Mackenzie in 55 minutes when he turned quickly and found the roof of the net with an excellent strike. Ross MacAulay who had a fine display in the centreline then was on hand to score two goals from distance -one an unstoppable drive in 62 minutes and his second –and the Glen’s seventh- in 70 minutes with a shot which bobbled past the by now demoralised Beauly back line. Beyond Beauly the player to feel sorry for was forward Ewan Menzies who had a series of excellent strikes on target – all of which were saved by the Beauly keeper.
The young Glen forwards were equally on song against Kilmallie who also went down by 7 goals to nil despite an excellent display by their stand-in keeper Robbie Macfadyen. In this game Glen got off to an excellent start with Iain Macleod slipping the ball through to Ewan Brady who found the net in the first move of the game. The time on the clock? A mere 22 secs.
From that point on despite a strong wind which undermined the game the young Glen forwards were rampant. Daniel Mackintosh in particular found space in the early part of the game but his shot agonisingly grazed the bar. Not long after that Kelvin Mackenzie fed the ball back to Mackintosh but his drive was blocked by Macfadyen. Then Mackenzie dribbled through himself but his final shot whistled past the post. Two minutes later Macfadyen again defied the glen forwards this time saving from Mackenzie after the latter had run on to a neat through ball from Ewan Menzies.
The second Glen goal eventually came just before halftime. The provider was once again the inspirational Iain Macleod. He held the ball until Daniel Mackintosh made some space on the left and when Macleod flicked the ball through to him the Glen youngster finished with style.
The second half saw five Glen goals –the first coming in 56 minutes – when Menzies finished strongly. His drive fired in from the right and from a narrow angle was too fast for Macfadyen and though the keeper did manage to get a touch on the ball with his stick he was unable to keep it out of the net.
Six minutes later Ewan Brady got his second courtesy of an excellent piece of skill from Daniel Mackintosh who juggled the ball over the head of the ‘Mallie full back into the path of Brady who accepted the chance gratefully. Brady picked up his hat-trick shortly afterwards when drove the ball home from the edge of the D.
Ewan Menzies was also a hat trick kid with two late goals both of them well taken, the last being right on the final whistle. What made the victory sweeter was the news that Fort had beaten the Garry 3-0 – a result that meant a ten goal advance on the day over Glengarry for the Glen. This league trophy is there to be won for the second year in succession but as always caution is the watchword. And there is of course still the Strathdearn. Interesting times indeed.
And who else played well? Chips, Ian Macleod and Smithy as always were doing the biz. Boo-boo Fraser looked as if he was back on song and the Shopkeeper himself was solid at the back. Calum Smith did the simple things well as did Ross MacDiarmid. Kelvin? He was excellent but try as he might his luck was out in front of goal. About 7 of his shots were stopped by Macfadyen and after he had got over his frustration he began to see the funny side - but by then we were winning comfortably.
The pics speak for themselves. Enjoy!

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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Determined Glen pick up three home points out of four.



It’s been a tough old run in but Glen have so far managed to come out on the plus side and although mathematical security is not quite assured the side is closer to Premier League safety that it was three weeks ago.
The first side that needed to be overcome was Glasgow Mid Argyll, a team which picked up both points when Glen visited them in the smoke. This time the points went to Glen but it was not as straightforward as the 4-0 score line would appear to suggest.
GMA did well but came to the match minus not only team boss George Hay but also without a considerable number of their more experienced players. Archie Robertson took the helm however and his expert eye laid out a side which included 6 youngsters from the Bearsden and Milngavie shinty academy.
Glen began the match all guns blazing but apart from Ewan Brady hitting the side net in an early attack nothing really went goalward with any threat behind it and the few balls which were on target saw keeper Donald Oliver on hand to smash them away. Glen however made the breakthrough in 19 minutes however when John Barr playing at centre picked up a cross ball in midfield and then fired it home from all of 40 yards
The next act of note came from Ali Mackintosh, playing in the unfamiliar role of wing forward, but his drive at goal was once more saved by Oliver with his legs.
The second goal eventually came in 27 minutes when Eddie Tembo smashed the ball in on target and this time, though Oliver stopped the initial shot, the rebound fell to a razor sharp Neale Reid who tucked the ball home with a deft touch.
In 37 minutes, Tembo, again running through the defence at will caught a high ball in the air but his full blooded overhead strike came back off the GMA bar and was scrambled away to safety.
The second half followed a similar pattern and Glen pressure eventually paid off when Eddie Tembo reacted quickly to glance home a ball which had deflected off a defender to put the home side three up and finally in 79 minutes Neale Reid got his second when some close pressure on Oliver resulted in a fourth Glen goal

The match against Inveraray was probably a more severe Premier test but a greatly under strength Glen thankfully notched up yet another valuable point. With seven players from the regular side not available for a variety of reasons, Glen started the match in a state of uncertainty but as always opened at speed. With youngster Kelvin Mackenzie starting on the wing the pace of the Glen front men did cause some problems for Inveraray and in 8 minutes Neale Reid had a snap shot which keeper Graham Macpherson had to look lively to field. Gregor McCormack was next on target and minutes later Calum Fraser drove past the post.
At the other end though Inveraray always posed a threat-even without the presence of Gary Macpherson and after some sloppy Glen defensive work Grant Griffin pounced to put the visitors ahead with an emphatic strike.
When Griffin again pounced on some uncertain Glen defensive work to put Inveraray two up matters began to look grim for the red and blacks though up the other end, with Ian Macleod and Arran Macdonald driving them on from midfield more and more pressure began to build up on the Inveraray defence. You have to say that while Davie Robertson is a fine full back, the key to the ‘Rary defence is keeper Macpherson. He is sure in the air excellent at clearing his lines- rarely does a ball come back off him far enough to make a chance for the incoming forward- and he is like lighting off his line to clear the danger. However just when the clock was running down on the first half, Neale Reid put the Glen back in the picture with a stunning strike. Macpherson had just pulled off a fine save from a powerful strike from Iain Macleod but his defenders were slow to clear and Reid work the ball wide and hammered it home to throw the Glen a lifeline. Indeed one minute later Eddie Tembo hunted down a cross by Kelvin Mackenzie but his resulting shot whizzed just past the post.
The second half opened once again with the Glen in the ascendancy, this time shooting towards the shop. Once more Reid was on target almost immediately after the break when he picked up a ball in front of the defence and buried the ball with venom to score yet another memorable goal.
And that was really that - except for the fact that Glen were unable to snatch a winner despite having a number of good opportunities and then... disaster! Calum Fraser got tangled up with Davie Robertson and having caught his opponent round the neck found himself dismissed. Fair play to Robertson, he shook his opponents hand to indicate his sympathies for the man sent off and the Glen got on with adjusting to the last 20 minutes with 11 men on the field.
Was it a fair sending off? From the point of view of old stagers who put up with and handed out worse without being dismissed, the red card looked harsh. It was however correct.
Glen pushed on and had a further chance or two but in the last ten minutes they had their backs to the wall as Inveraray pushed forward to secure a winner. By now however they found a determined Glen defence with Ali Mackintosh, John Barr, Davie Girvan and particularly Stuart Reid in excellent form. Keeper Garry Mackintosh also played his part and though Inveraray caused Glen hearts to miss a beat whenever they crossed the half way line, they did not in hindsight actually threaten as much as the Glen spectators feared they might. The real downer was that John Barr found himself in the ref’s book with the last hit of the game when his clearance out for a shy- and he struck the ball- was judged to be dangerous to the young Inveraray forward who caught the follow through on the side of the foot. Perhaps it was though the Wing Centre doesn’t think so- but he would say that wouldn’t he?
When all the fuss had died down however the end of the story was that Glen had picked up a valuable point on a day when both Oban and Bute failed to do so.
However there is still a great deal of shinty to play before anything is actually settled-and at this stage of the shinty season it is safe to say that the form book is now meaningless.
One picture is of Stuart Reid who had an excellent afternoon at full back though the other two of Lewiston’s finest- Arran Macdonald and kid brother Neale gave him a run for his money.
The other should be in a caption competition. Iain Macleod is practising his heather step but what is Whytie up to and more importantly why is EJ letting him do it?

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Thursday, August 05, 2010

Disappointing Glen lose out to Lovat in Sutherland





Glenurquhart 1 Lovat 4
At 2.30 pm on Saturday as he sat in the Balavil hotel in Newtonmore eating sandwiches and looking out the window into Main Street, the Wing Centre was praying for the rain to stop. By 4.45 pm at half time in the Sutherland Cup final with the score at 1-1 and supposedly everything to play for, he began to wish there had been a strong and steady downpour. By 5.50 pm the chance of an appropriate weather window had gone and with it the Sutherland Cup. Why so? Simply because the only way it seemed that the Glen forwards were going to beat young Lovat keeper Chris MacCallum on that particular afternoon was if the rain had clouded up his specs so he could not see –anything.
It was a depressing day to be in Black and Red. Things began to go downhill from the opening 20 seconds when Glen got off to a nightmare start, one that Lovat even in their wildest dreams could not have hoped for. Problems were compounded with 10 head stitches for Glen captain Dave Smart inside 4 minutes; then came an injury to Ruaridh Cameron just before half time which changed the pattern of the game- and it all ended up with the goal that never was! And yet...and yet for the first 45 minutes the Glen were in the ascendancy.
It had of course started badly. Right at the outside the ball was played wide right where a slip on the wet turf by Glen wing back Andrew Macdonald allowed Lovat youngster Greg Matheson to fire a speculative shot on target from distance The shot was blocked with his legs by Glen keeper Gary Mackintosh but the ball bounced back into the path of Lewis Tawse who burst forward and popped it into the net from close range.
Bluntly that was all that Lovat showed in the first half. From that point Glen had them pinned in their own half having taken a strong grip of the midfield despite being down to eleven men for a good 15 minutes as Smart was stitched up at the side of the field. Glen subjected the Lovat goal to a barrage of shots with Kelvin Mackenzie outstanding in his role on the left wing. Ewan Brady also had an excellent match and Ruaridh Cameron was at the heart of most moves hitting the post on one occasion and performing a keepy-up run down the right which will shine on the BBC Alba credits for the next five years. However at the heart of the storm stood Lovat’s eventual man of the match Chris MacCallum. So laid back as to be almost horizontal he stopped everything that came at him even if at times the ball struck him when he was unsure of where it was. Some of his clearances out were not to safety but when the Glen returned the ball it went high and wide. High and wide too were a number of other attempts and it was not until the first period that Ruaraidh Cameron cut the ball back at the edge of the D for Mackenzie to hammer it home to put the sides even.
The second half was on the back of that an anti-climax. With Cameron unable to continue, the decision to switch David Smart to the forward line in retrospect turned out to be an error. Lovat solved their centreline problem by switching buckshee back Alan Macpherson to full centre and he began to play a bigger part in the proceedings.
It did not take long in the second half for Lovat to get their noses in front. Jimmy Mackenzie cutely flicked a ball through to Jamie Matheson who pulled it wide left but left it for his brother Greg who put his side in the lead with a finish from a tight angle.
Just 4 minutes later, Lovat extended their lead when Greg Matheson returned the favour to his brother when he flicked the ball forward into the D to create a chance for Jamie who beat keeper Gary Mackintosh to make it 3-1.
Glen could have pulled one back straight from the throw up when Kelvin Mackenzie flicked the ball across the face of goal but a pile of Lovat bodies stopped the ball going in somehow .
However it was the Black and Whites who sealed victory in 77 minutes in controversial circumstances when Greg Matheson claimed to have knocked the ball over the line. As he turned away in celebration, Goal Judge Laurie Skudos awarded the goal although the benefit of television replays showed that defender Andrew Macdonald had cleared the ball on the goal line.
Glen had one last flourish when Kelvin Mackenzie who had an outstanding display fired a high shot on target in 89 minutes but MacCallum was once more equal to the task proving he was well worthy of the title of man of the match.
For the record out of a pool of 19 the Glen used substitutes Ewan Menzies, Ewen “Boo Boo” Fraser and Stuart Morrison while Iain Macleod and Iain Macdonald were booked. For Lovat, skipper Jimmy Mackenzie went into the book early in the match for a wild swing at back Calum Smith after the youngster had won the ball in the air.
Beyond that the veteran played well and when Lovat decided to hold what they had he filled in effectively for Gordon Kelly at full back who had it is fair to say, effectively denied space to Glen’s Gregor MacCormack for the most of the afternoon
For Lovat youngsters Michael Mackenzie and Connall MacilliChiar caught the eye while David Smart,Ewan Brady, Kelvin Mackenzie and in the first half, Ruaridh Cameron performed well for the Glen on a day that did not delight.
Neil Paterson has provided the two action pictures and the team photo is of the Glen side on a happier day.Neil can be contacted at ngpaterson@btinternet.com and his website can be viewed at www.neilgpaterson.com/
The real task for the players now - and particularly for those in the pool who did not get a start on Saturday - is to put the experience behind them, show commitment to the Club and then move on with the rest of the season.
But what on earth is the Camanachd Association doing putting on a second team match in Skye at 2.30 on a day when the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival is taking place just over the hill from Drum. What a nonsense! If they can shunt some shinty arrangements because of Ross County playing in a football match – a dispensation which did not apply to the Glen - then commonsense ought to have been afforded this fixture. What was wrong with a mid-week fixture? An early start at least for youngsters who want to go to Belladrum should have been the least that was expected. Why are the Skye seniors not playing at 2.30?
Doubtless there will be a reason.

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