The MacTavish Cup Final 2019-and some other matters of little interest

The last couple of years have gone unrecorded here on the D. Doesn’t matter why – but one thing that should have been put down was an appearance in the MacTavish Cup final. Of course, we’ve been there before -indeed we have been in MacTavish Cup finals all the way back to 1904: OK just the one back then but then more recently 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015 and of course 2019. All that plus a Macaulay final in 2012 and Camanachd Cup finals in 1988 and 2014 makes the Wing Centre ask himself -why haven’t we won more of them?

It’s the wrong question to ask one supposes because the answer is always a little too stark. We didn’t have enough players who were good enough for most of the losses; we were massively unlucky in 2013 and should have won- and we were (honestly) lucky in 2015 while the Macaulay win was out of sight. The Glen have never played better nor have they since. The planets were aligned and to coin an understatement.things went well 

But that’s to ignore the MacTavish appearance of 2019. The draw was kind but we still had to win a game at home against Skye which we eventually managed to do. Then there was the Strathglass game which was a little tighter than expected. 

The final was different. It was an excellent day in many ways and though we were the underdogs- for most of the first half and a fair bit of the second, there was a real chance of doing something.

Yet the final result was 3-0 which really was not a true reflection on the game. However, one thing that didn’t help was that Evan Menzies, the Newtonmore captain had a game and a day to remember. He played as the papers were keen to say “a pivotal role in his side’s triumph” scoring two second half goals and generally causing the Glen defence problems throughout the ninety minutes.

But a fairytale ending for Menzies did not look to be on the cards during a first half in which the better opportunities fell to Glenurquhart.

Conor Golabek and Ewan Brady both created scoring opportunities for the Glen with Brady’s 25-yard drive in the 11th minute causing Newtonmore’s 48-year-old goalkeeper Kenny Ross some anxiety. Newtonmore looked to be rattled and with barely twenty minutes gone they lost midfielder Conor Jones to a nasty facial injury after an accidental clash with the caman of team mate Steven MacDonald.

Veteran Jamie Robinson replaced Jones and his presence seemed to settle the Badenoch side and under his influence ‘More created their own opportunities but their shooting –even that of Menzies was at this stage inaccurate.

The Glen however continued to look dangerous. Further efforts from Ewan Brady and Oliver Black failed to beat Ross but Glen’s luck began to run out when Connor Golabek had to come off with what appeared to be a hamstring problem. James MacPherson replaced him but with both sides deadlocked the first half came to a goalless ending.

The second half should have been better for the Glen but despite maintaining some forward momentum the real finishing precision was elsewhere.

‘More looked to have breached the Glenurquhart defence in the 57th minute but Menzies’ close range strike was given offside. Five minutes later however after a period of strong pressure they finally opened the scoring through Iain Robinson on 63 minutes. Michael Russell’s corner from the left was knocked down by Evan Menzies into the path of Robinson who knocked the ball high into the net to make it 1-0.

Glen fought hard for the equaliser but without the pace of Golabek up front the odds were against them. Eventually, Michael Russell and Glen MacKintosh combined before Iain Robinson put Evan Menzies through on goal and he slotted the ball low past Glen keeper Stuart MacKintosh from the edge of the D to make it 2-0 with 85 minutes gone.

Finally, in stoppage time, Robinson turned Michael Russell’s corner from the right to Glen MacKintosh. Mackintosh’s sharp shot was well saved with his feet by Stuart MacKintosh but he could not prevent the follow up from Evan Menzies who was quickly in to stroke the rebound home

A disappointing and undeservedly harsh final score line but if the truth is told- that was probably the best bit of the season. We were a fair side throughout the season but not good enough.

The defeat in the Balliemore semi to Fort William was a real disappointment.

This was game that we should have won by a country mile in the first half alone but in the end Fort William reached the Balliemore Final after coming from behind to win 4-1 at Spean Bridge.

Glenurquhart struck first when Ewan Brady gave us a 24-minute lead with what was to be the only goal of the first half. That sadly was the only conversion of what turned out to be a pile of good chances which were scorned.

In the end the Glen was left to rue several missed first half opportunities when Fort William equalised just 4 minutes into the second period. The ball was played across the D and a defensive mistake resulted in the ball being flicked up into the air and Lachie Shaw was first to react with a neat finish which saw it sneak into the bottom corner of the net.

Fort continued to grow in confidence throughout the rest of the half and a throat injury to Michael Fraser basically finished off the Glen’s chances of a rescue mission leaving Shaw to go on to complete his hat-trick with two more goals in 61 and 63 minutes.

Finally, Padraig McNeil rounded off the 4-1 win a minute from time after Victor Smith’s shot was well-saved by Glen keeper Stuart MacKintosh and McNeil was first to react to the loose ball, slotting it home from inside the D.

These were probably the two defining games of the season for the Wing Centre and although the 3-2 loss to Fort at home in the National League was another cruel blow, Glen really should have picked up both points on that occasion so it does not count as a downer.

Now we are where we are- with shinty on hold- and all that solid hard winter work on the training ground wasted not to mention the money invested in training and physio. There is nothing for it however but to pick it up again where we left off.

There is always something to look forward to however. The next blog may well be entitled “Visiting Cork in the company of Old Cork” -but the title might be the best thing about it. There will be some interesting pictures though .It might just be worth a read.

Thanks to Neil Paterson for his photos.

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Will it be Netty or will it be Betty? Badenoch holds its breath.

Like many other athletes the shinty players at the WCA have decided to put some of their lockdown training effort into raising money for charity- and a good thing too because across the board charities of various sizes and in various locations have been left struggling for cash as the economy has been shut down to keep corona-virus at bay. The Wing Centre originally almost said “the Ladies at the WCA” before he realised what he was doing and “woke” up with an awareness that he was not writing a report on the Lochalsh WRI for the Ross-shire Journal circa 1971. Yes, he knows, it’s a generational thing - but he also knows that like the virus - although hopefully not because of the virus - this antediluvian attitude will eventually pass too.

However, this tricky situation that charities find themselves in, through no fault of their own, will not pass quite so easily and for that reason and to coincide with the first round ties  (Co-vid postponed them naturally) of the WCA Camanachd Cup, the committee members of the WCA have only gone an picked sides and are intending to race each other up Mount Everest. The date of the event is the 17^th May and the charity to benefit will be Chest, Heart & Stroke (Scotland) (CHSS)

Mount Everest? That’s what the Wing Centre wondered too: how can you race each other up Mount Everest when the Foreign Office has banned international travel? It does seem that there is a simpler explanation even though the poster the Wing Centre found in his in-box was a little bit misleading. The WCA Committee have divided themselves neatly into two teams with six athletes on each side. The idea is that each member of each team manages to complete the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest against the clock.

Now Mount Everest is 29,029 feet high in old money (FYI actually 8848 m. confirmed by Chinese Survey team in 1975). Some complicated mathematics was apparently undertaken by WCA President Lisa MacColl and it transpires that this converts into a grand total across the team of 57,455 steps so it looks like each individual contestant will have to manage 9,575.83333333333 (to infinity) steps.

 Of course, some of these girls have passed their Higher Maths-either that or they have been responsible for collecting the membership fees from either the Under-17 squad or the Club Committee (the two most difficult tasks in any Shinty Club) and so they have simply rounded it up to 9576 steps. What this means is that each competitor will have to cover the other side of 4.5 miles.

In the end, as was always going to be the case, they rounded it up once again -this time more sensibly to 5 miles - and so on 17^th May, the individual members of the two teams of players will each be WALKING 5 miles against the clock. The times will be totted up and the team which walks it fastest will be the winner…and the loser faces a forfeit.

And thereby hangs a tale …. because one team is captained by Elizabeth McGregor and the other by her twin sister Jeanette. They hail from Kingussie and both are formidable players from a shinty playing family-their brother Bob was letting in goals for Kingussie’s Premier side all last season and probably would have continued doing so this year if games had actually gone ahead.

Again, because it’s Kingussie and it’s a traditional “auld hielan toon” the nice names that Mrs McGregor called them were quickly “hielandised” to Betty and Netty which is why we have Team Betty and Team Netty on the posters.

Team Betty’s consists of Elizabeth herself-she plays in goal for Badenoch (and Scotland). She is also the Fixture’s secretary of the WCA. Supporting her is WCA President Lisa MacColl (Aberdour), Camanachd Association Director Lyndsay Bradley (Ardnamurchan) Karen Williamson (formerly Karen Cameron of Invergarry, Vice President of the WCA) Taryn Neilson (Aberdour). Taryn is also the WCA’s Events Co-ordinator which is a shame because with Co-vid on the go there are not likely to be any events to co-ordinate. The final member of this team is Natasha Andean (WCA Treasurer now a player with Badenoch ).

Team Netty includes (unsurprisingly) Netty (WCA Publicity Director /International wingback and player for Badenoch). Niamh Donnelly (Scotland International and Aberdour player) is also in the squad.

 Niamh is an NHS worker currently in the front line of the Co-vid fight. Tina Marshall is also in Team Netty. She is a shinty referee and the first female to officiate as line judge at a Camanachd Cup final. Tina’s role at the WCA is concerned with referee Development in the women’s game which considering she is a former Lovat player is a clear case of poacher turned gamekeeper. Also making up the squad are Claire Delaney (yet another player from a well-known Lochaber shinty family) and Gillian Brown (Aberdour- Gillian has just finished her Masters Degree at Uni where she was heavily involved in the sport). The final player in Netty’s line up is Melanie Williams (Bute player & WCA Secretary) – so we have a group that which pretty much gives a window into the full range of the shinty world.

All are, as already said, serving members of the present WCA Committee.

Why choose CHSS? The answer is why not? Initially however, the suggestion was made by Tina Marshall. A friend of hers, Emma Knox, who is her local Councillor and also a Manager at CHSS, posted on Social Media that CHSS were running a step-up challenge to raise funds for the charity during lockdown.   It struck Tina that the type of challenge proposed was perfect for what the WCA were looking for as a committee, providing competitiveness and banter as well as team bonding in a time where it could be easy to lose sight of all three of those things.  However, when the WCA committee discussed the challenge and who it was for, they found that most of them have first-hand experience of family members having illnesses (Heart failure, Strokes, Heart attacks) for which CHSS provide support.

There is however a sting in the tail - for the losing Team Captain. It goes without saying that both captains are Kingussie girls through and through - they have supported their side through thick and thin. 

So you need an incentive not to lose? You bet - and the one chosen is truly terrifying for these ladies brought up as they were on the high Badenoch chaparral. The losing forfeit is that either Netty or Betty has to pose for the publicity shots in the blue stripes of Newtonmore! 

They should be glad for the lockdown however because otherwise they might have been sent out to walk up and down Kingussie High Street in the same colours. A blue and white “Willie Winkie” hat would also look nice. Surely someone- some knitting granny in Newtonmore - can oblige.

However, it would be great if you could all oblige and go on to this Just Giving page and contribute to a worthy cause which is (the Wing Centre can’t stop himself) close to all our hearts.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/womens-camanachd-association