On Saturday the Neighbours came round to play in our Shinty Bubble

This week we had yet another two Covid-secure games of shinty- both of them against our near neighbours Beauly. To Drum people of this generation, Beauly always seems a little posh: they have a square, an upmarket tweed shop, a Deli, an Italian café (the Wing Centre’s special favourite) , a classy antique shop, Munro the Butchers and of course should they need it-and many of them do-Calum Fraser from Glenurquhart is there to test their eyes. Those of us of an older generation remember that it wasn’t always quite so posh however- and back in the day when the antecedents of the Wing Centre’s good lady were denizens of Ferry Road there used to be a regular column in the press called “The Chirpings of a Beauly Gutter-sparrow.” This column used to lay out the gossip and dirty laundry of the villagers for all to see and no doubt caused mirth and annoyance in equal measure.

What would the sparrow have said this week after the two games in Drum? We don’t actually know but there is a report about Saturday’s two games against the Glen on the Beauly Shinty Club Face book page. While the report was kind to the Glen in some ways it was also sketchy on Drum details and so it falls upon the Wing Centre to set the record straight.

Glen 2nds 1     Beauly 2nds 5

This was an interesting fixture for the Glen in that in order to accommodate Beauly’s young team- it was more or less their under 17s- the Glen felt obliged to stand down a number of their more experienced players and fill out the side with youngsters. The result was the Glen lined up as follows with the inclusion of a number of schoolboys who were making their debuts. Also included in the line up were ladies’ players Ishbel Barr and Hazel Hunter.

The game was quite evenly matched from the outset with  nothing much between the sides in the early exchanges. The Glen’s young midfield performed well with full centre Chris Mack putting in an excellent shift. Despite an  early knock to Ishbel Barr which meant that she had to leave the field, the Glen kept their focus and  Hazel Hunter who had taken up position at full-forward played a leading part in the match and although physically tested by Beauly full-back Ewan MacCormick,  her pace , her  skill and her constant switching of positions meant she was always a threat.

However it was at the other end that the opener came when after some neat forward play Finlay MacLennan found enough space away from his marker to knock the ball past Glen’s keeper  youngster Craig Fraser to put the visitors ahead with a fine finish.

For the rest of the half Beauly continued to have the greater possession but strong defending from and a couplie of good saves from Fraser meant Beauly were unable to extend their lead before half-time.

After the break, Beauly continued to push forward and were able to double their advantage through youngster Callum MacIver who profited from a slip by Glen full-back Callum Miller. This was a good little contest all afternoon. 15 year old MacIver is a pacy and wholehearted player who competes well but credit must also go to Miller who played him fairly and stuck to the spirit of the game all afternoon.

The Glen then came back into the game for a period, but the Beauly defence played well limited any shooting chances. Eventually in the 71^st minute a quick ball up the left-hand side from Chris Mack was knocked across by Ewan Carroll and fell invitingly for Hazel Hunter who outpaced her defender and first-timed the ball home past Beauly keeper Lennox Stewart from just outside of the “D”.

Though Hazel is no stranger to goal scoring in the ladies’ game, this was her first goal at senior level and delighted the committee members present who have seen her progress through the ranks at the club from the Primary teams upwards.

Beauly still had the edge though and as the Glen youngsters ran out of steam two examples of excellent finishing by Rory Tuach and a late strike from Finlay Maclennan saw referee John Matheson blow the final whistle on a final score of 5-1.

 

Glen 3 Beauly 1

Glen made a superb start in this match going 2-0 ahead inside the first three minutes-not the start that Beauly would have expected. This was in fact a good Beauly team with David Maclean back in their ranks after his spell at Newtonmore. Not that it made much difference to the Glen who were far from at full strength with their students Cameron McIntosh, Finlay Ralston and Fergus Robertson missing as well as Oliver Black who looks to be a long-term absentee after damaging ligaments in training.

The opening goal was an excellent one with the ball fired up from the hit off by Conor Golabek to David Maclennan. He laid it off quickly to Josh Macdonald-Haig and his excellent strike from a tight angle gave Beauly keeper Lee Dunbar no chance.

The second followed almost immediately when directly from the hit off Glen forced a corner. The strike was taken by Jamie Maclennan who profited from a piece of good fortune when the ball took a deflection of a divot on the pitch and flew past a helpless Dunbar to put the Glen two up with Beauly wondering what hit them.

To be fair to them, Beauly then began to play a bit and their physical centre-line began to win more of the bar but despite this they were unable to create any real chances – and with John Barr, Lachie Smith, Finlay Robertson and Cameron Bremner solid at the back, Glen keeper Stuart Mackintosh had only one save to make. Half time score 2-0 for Glenurquhart.

The second half saw Beauly continue in positive mode and their front men were able to link up well and from time to time create chances. Glen keeper Mackintosh kept out a good attempt from Calum Flynn and they finally got their goal when Jack Macdonald was able to find the same divot on the pitch to wrong foot Mackintosh and bring the Greens back into the game.

Beauly were unable to profit from this fillip however and though they continued to play well the Glen defence remained secure-and the centre line of Mike Fraser, Liam Robertson and Conor Golabek proved hard to get past. Finally,  with the clock ticking down to the end of the game Glen’s Conor Golabek pounced on a loose ball at the edge of the box and fired it past Dunbar to make the final score 3-1 in favour of the Glen.

An entertaining game certainly- and we saw enough from Beauly to understand that with their wanderers back they are a side with potential. For the Glen the message is that their defence-most of whom have had recent Premier League experience- are a match for anyone. Elsewhere the players are a fair match for any other side and with the prospect of Saturday’s absentees being in the picture when the sport returns the future looks good.

Many thanks as always to Neil Patterson for the photographs.

 

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