Glen Superheroes keep MacTavish dreams alive

 It just shows you that you can never take sport for granted: things can happen that you would never think about. Last week Lovat defeated Oban Camanachd in a game they deserved fully to win while the Glen lost 5 goals against Lochaber, a side that were scraping to get a team together for the previous month. This week Glen defeat Lovat 3-2 in the MacTavish when even the most optimistic supporter of the red and blacks would not have voiced that hope out loud. So, what happened?

For one the defence were excellent. Stuart Mackintosh in goal had a fine game but more impressively the two wingbacks-Fergus Robertson and Chris Mack were fantastic.

They have always been good players but on Saturday against experienced Lovat forwards they turned in mature skilful performances which must have taken pressure of Lachie Smith at full back and based on this pundit’s observations he is a top class defender- which is only to be expected as he has played for Scotland under21s. 

Ali Mackintosh was solid at buckshee which allowed Mike Fraser at full centre to spray the ball about to the forwards  and that’s what created scoring chances.

It’s a real shame that over the last few games we don’t have any pictures from Neil P these days (though thankfully Tina Marshall came up trumps with one or two) but when he was anticipating their absence the Wing Centre has had to be creative with his pics- and a quick look through his toy-box allows him to set up some realistic scenarios.

 Particularly good is the Glen defensive line up with  Smack as Batman, Lachie as Superman, Chris Mack as the Samurai Red Power Ranger, Fergus as Cain, Keeper of the House of Mystery  and Ali Mac as the Yellow Power Ranger. Go Go Power Rangers!!

And go they did right from the start.

The first goal for instance- it came within 40 seconds of the start and doubtless for reasons that every Fort William fan knows ref Deke Cameron would have approved. A ball comes up the line, Jed Stoddart knocks it forward and Stuart Macdonald come wide off his line to clear. However, his attempt does not clear the Glen front men and John Barr’s shot forward bounces towards an empty goal and is seen safely into the net by Dixie Maclennan.

For Stuart the Lovat keeper the only figure in the toybox that suits is the guy who drives old Macdonald’s tractor-note the blue jersey.

That was all the scoring for the first half although there were chances for the Glen to have gone in three goals ahead. A second might have come when Stuart Macdonald stopped a drive from John Barr only for the rebound to be knocked past the post.  Another should have been posted on the score sheet just before the break when a long high dropping on-target ball from Eddie Tembo at right midfield was knocked back into play by Stuart Macdonald. John Barr reacted quickly to take the ball in the air but his shot went agonisingly past the post.

Whatever Lovat were doing at the other end remained a mystery because the sun was bright and the enjoyment of a conversation about shinty related matters with Russell Ross and Roy Mackenzie was a great distraction. When the ball went past the post into the Barleyfield, it had to be retrieved- not too fast but equally importantly not too slowly. Throwing it back on with the intention of allowing unproductive time to pass unobtrusively is also an art form. The ball has to be rolled on slowly so that it doesn’t quite reach the keeper and he has to come back for it. Either that or it has to be thrown past him so he has to scamper after it.

The conversation with the two Glasaich was most enjoyable- it’s the only way to pass a sunny Saturday-watching shinty and talking about shinty. The talk touched on excellent players of the past. George Fraser of Strathglass was picked out as a top-class player: other players came up too. We wondered if Beauly legend Gerry Maclennan would bother putting up with some of the fancy dan forward play in evidence nowadays. We agreed that he was a good enough player and could cope with anything that was thrown at him- and in fact would throw it right back.

The second half allowed us to see the Lovat forwards at close quarters and they certainly fared no better. Greg Matheson just didn’t seem at it somehow- and nor did Lorne Mackay and Fraser Heath.

Then Glen scored again- away down at the houses. The ball was played out nicely from the Glen defence to Mike Fraser and he played a neat 1-2  with Ruaraidh Ralston who passed in side to Conor Golabek. Gola neatly turned his marker and fired home a sweet strike past Stuart Macdonald to further cause consternation in the Lovat camp.

Lovat however kept on pressing away and eventually were rewarded with a penalty given against Glen keeper Stuart Mackintosh for smothering the ball when Lewis Tawse had a chance to score. Greg Matheson took the shot and just managed to beat Mackintosh at his right hand post though the keeper almost kept it out.

Glen continued to fight hard during the last quarter and were rewarded with a third goal because Lovat when pushing up were vulnerable to the long ball forward. Eventually one of those found John Barr one on one against his man. The big forward beat the defender and fired home a rasping shot into the bottom corner to make it 3-1 with barely 14 minutes left on the clock.

Here is a nice illustration of the Glen front men- Conor & JB-Robin and Big Bad Man

Lovat poured forward and Glen rejigged their backline to cover the gaps and this worked fine until the very last minute when Greg Matheson found himself free on the left just outside the box and made it 3-2 with a fine strike. Too little however and from a Lovat  point of view too late and the visitors who were worthy winners now go on to the next round.

For the moment it doesn’t matter what happens there but it’s as well to pause and reflect about how sport is never really predictable. The one other thing to say after this is how well the Lovat players took their loss. They were naturally disappointed but one and all they congratulated the winners- and you can't say fairer than that.

Thanks to Tina Marshall for the two real photos- and to Rossie Mason for his "guys".

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