Keep calm and carry on- we can all unite behind that.

 There are times when it gets to you- and you need to download some stuff into a sympathetic ear. The Wing Centre met one such sympathetic ear the other day.

“I wonder if the Glen will ever win another game?” the Wing Centre asked. The Listener with the Ear was patient and concerned for his interlocutor. “Of course they will,” he said “Of course they will”

“Thank goodness” said the Wing Centre.

Then came the telling comment from the Listener. “They will win again most certainly-it’s just that I don’t know when.”

And that is the whole problem- neither the Wing Centre nor the Listener actually know when a set of Glenurquhart forwards will score more goals than a set of Glenurquhart defenders will let in.

At least the youngsters and the women’s sides have been doing OK. For instance, the youngsters U-17 have progressed to the Semi of the MacTavish Juvenile Cup having beaten Beauly 4-0. They have also recorded wins over Kinlochshiel and Skye. Sadly, they lost out to the same Skye side in the semi of the MacTavish 2-1 in a tightly fought match at Reraig, Balmacara.

 There are of course two Under 17 teams and the second- the Development side have done OK too beating Glengarry by a comfortable score. They may have lost a game or so but doubtless that will be recorded elsewhere.

As for the girls (both sides) they are a success story- and even when they lose however narrowly - they actually win. So far, the top teams have been ahead of them but truthfully, they seem to be getting closer to the top sides in standard although as always it depends on what players are available.

This last week or two has been excellent for them. A 10-2 away win against Dunadd at Macrae Park in Lochgilphead - with the goals coming from Zoe Smith who fired home a double hat-trick and singles from Ishbel Barr, Freya Gault, Rowan Brockie and Sophie Power. A more recent outing saw them rack up a 9-0 victory over Inverness with Rowan Brockie hitting seven goals and youngster Daisy Ross scoring twice. It is simply great to see our youngsters getting among the goals.

Not only that they have progressed in the Valerie Fraser Camanachd Cup eventually getting past Aberdour at Silver Sands. With the teams all square at the end of the match (4-4) the Glen ran out on top (3-1) courtesy of penalties. Glen goals came from Ruby Fraser, Ishbel Barr, Zoe Smith and Hazel Hunter.

The most recent match saw them lose out by a single goal at home to one of the more fancied top teams Kinlochshiel. It was a top class game however, and an extremely tight one with goals being exchanged regularly until Kinlochshiel finally got the result with a fine finish from a narrow angle to clinch the match. The Glen scorers were Zoe Smith with a double, Hazel Hunter with a single and Rowan Brockie also with a solo effort.

Shiel were a good side and to survive the Glen centreline and defence had to put in big performances. Up front Zoe Smith worked hard in a pressure position and always had the sharpness required to fire the ball on target whenever the opportunity arose while the other front player Hazel Hunter put in a full shift and got her reward with a nicely taken goal.

That was outshone perhaps by Rowan Brockies goal, a cracking strike up into the roof of the net from outside the “D.”

Elsewhere, midfielder Yvonne Marshall had an excellent outing with her fitness allowing her to match ‘Shiel star Lorna Macrae with the Glen girl getting the edge over her in many tackles.  Ruby Fraser and Tara Maclelland held up the wings very well, on many occasions stopping the ball coming down the field and sending it straight back up again, with subs Grace Montague and Fiona Turnbull  coming on to keep things fresh on what was a warm day.

Rebecca Van Loon at full back did a solid job as did Ishbel Barr and of course one cannot forget the excellent Kirsty Smith who put in an outstanding shift with her pacy running being particularly important. On one occasion she sprinted from midfield to track Shiel’s Lorna Macrae who was in possession and on the point of converting a chance when Smith arrived in the nick of time to thwart Macrae at the last moment and prevent a goal.

In the end despite all the Glen’s efforts it was not quite enough. But that is not a note to end on. There is a togetherness in the team-indeed all the teams which has to bode well for the future. In the end the players gain from the experience of taking part and co-operating: it’s good to win but it’s better to encourage personal development even if all the girls and guys don’t realise you are doing it. This place as it grows - and it surely is growing fast- is a much more coherent community because of the shinty. Not only are we bound closer together- through it we also have links with many other Highland communities that are priceless. Other sports are available too of course - and they all have their merits but they are not really ours. Nothing truly comes near shinty and the sense of family and cultural belonging that it promotes. In fact, you have to feel sorry for other Highland villages that don’t have a shinty team. There … I’ve said it.

(Team photos from Glenurquhart Shinty Club Facebook-Individual ones courtesy of Phil Downie.)

Extra ! Extra! Read All About It

The Wing Centre likes to read the West Highland Free Press on a Friday if not for the politics at least for the shinty which is regularly carried-though to be fair, given the paper is, as would be expected, always focused on the Island or the Western seaboard, it perhaps does not really fit the Great Glen. Can’t blame them for that though when a copy was bought to read about the Glen Under 17s magnificent win over Skye, there wasn’t a word to be seen in print. Then the Glen Women’s 2nds defeated Kinlochshiel 3-2 this Saturday past at Blairbeg in the WCA Mowi North Division 2 and only the barest minimum appeared in the pages of the press. So, what to do? Nothing for it but to actually write the report oneself.

A short investigation soon revealed that Kinlochshiel were actually putting out quite a strong side with both Poppy and Lexie Mackenzie playing in the starting squad. The Glen by way of contrast put out a younger team with a backbone of some more experienced older players like Alison Van Loon, Amanda MacLennan and Lyndsey Fleming also in the side to guide the youngsters. The ploy worked well and after a strong opening spell the Glen went ahead with an early strike from Amanda Maclennan which was quickly doubled when a Hayley Ross strike from close in made the score 2-0 in favour of the home side.

 Unfortunately, an injury to the scorer took away some of the Glen’s momentum and this allowed ‘Shiel to fight back with two goals from Poppy Mackenzie to level the tie at the halfway mark.

From this point the game became extremely competitive but goalkeeper Alison Van Loon as well the rest of her defence including daughters Rebecca and Emily held firm limiting the ‘Shiel forwards to a few meagre chances which they could not convert. Meanwhile the Glen centreline of Tara Maclelland, Hayley Ross and Grace Montague continued to graft in the midfield and a number of opportunities were created for both Glen front players Lyndsay Fleming and Amanda Maclennan.

Glen made good use of all four substitutes with Connie Maclennan coming on up front and Jessica Crichton, Lucy Burnett and Daisy Ross all bringing their fresh legs to the contest. Eventually just when it looked like stalemate was on the cards Amanda Maclennan, who had been struck in the face by a ‘Shiel hit out and played on through the pain, found herself in just the right place to pick up a cross ball from Fleming and thus was able to snatch the winner with a fine back hand strike which found the net despite a valiant effort by the ‘Shiel keeper to prevent the ball crossing the line. The only unfortunate aspect to the game was its ending when Glen youngster Daisy Ross picked up a painful hand injury just before the full-time whistle.

So, there we have it.

If the Glen win and nobody reports it - did it even happen?

It certainly did- and what is more the Glen Under 17s  also won over Shiel (7- 4) in the London Shield. Scorers were Seonaidh MacLeod (2) David Hart (1) Alfie MacLeod (1) Daniel MacLean (3)

With both those games being

against West Highland opposition a quick check of the WHFP proved to be a disappointment. Again, there was an absence of coverage in the printed media. 

We could however do with an absence of coverage in the printed media with regard to how the Glen’s Premier League side lost to Kingussie. The WHFP certainly mentioned the result but fortunately did not carry a report. I say “fortunately”- but perhaps one should say unfortunately. Certainly the score made it seem that the match was somewhat one sided but then you cannot always go by the score . A report would have explained how Kingussie hung on for all of the 90 minutes under severe pressure and were fortunate to get away with the result they did. Indeed, if Dylan and Savio had not been playing the game would have ended in a 1-1 draw. Perhaps -but then again …….

Glen Young Team Flying Skye-High…….

 

Another shinty weekend- and more time spent that one will not get back. No that is probably too harsh. The shinty weekend started on Tuesday when the under-17s finally decided to start actually trying to win and pulled off a 2-1 against Skye that would not have been expected either in the wooded Glen of Urquhart or the Island of Mist.

Why would the result not have been expected? Kilmallie under-17s that’s why- but lost games are for learning from- and the lessons from a difficult evening down at Canalside were well and truly learned- and the result was an excellent performance and a tight competitive game. Skye are an impressive side in their own right.

With the very early action going slightly in favour of Skye, it soon became apparent that the young Glen defence were up to the mark with Murphy Ross, Tom Edwards, and James Keating in command of their brief. Especially heartening was the performance of youngster Max Garrison at wingback who has come on by leaps and bounds to put in a solid performance.
Up front the young Glen forwards give fresh hope to this tired old scribe- Alfie Macleod is lightning quick and he along with Seonaidh Macleod set the tone. They consistently tried and often succeeded in getting to the ball first and spreading it. Balls up the middle were latched on to and held up appropriately by Glenn Macdonald and Skye defenders Nicholson and Tuncay were kept on their toes constantly.

About 15 minutes in the red and blacks opened the scoring -a ball played forward by Seonaidh Macleod was picked up by David Hart whose first attempt was initially blocked by the visiting keeper Archie Buchan only for Hart to persuade the ball over the line for the opener.

Skye weren’t for lying down however and before half time Jamie Ross had equalised via a nice finish.

The teams went in 1-1 at half time and when it came, the second half certainly lived up to its promise. It was an even contest. Excellent competitive shinty was served up to the enthusiastic crowd. Indeed, it might be tempting fate but one can probably say it without fear of future contradiction that Referee Jamie Macpherson will not have a more enjoyable game to adjudicate all season.

 In the end Glen got the win- the forwards got the glory but the result was built on solid defensive work and some hard graft in the mid-field which is traditionally the strongest part of youth teams. Immense amounts of energy and no little skill exercised by Daniel Maclean, Doug Brockie and Daniel Van Loon in the centreline were the foundation of the victory. One further feature of the match was super-cool goal keeping from Rory McWhirr- all he needed were shades to complete the picture. The match was so tight that managers Donjee Macleod and Siobhann Thomson were unable to find an opportunity to use any subs so Chris Edwards, Tyler Wilson, and Rowan Brockie had to sit matters out but with further U-17 games on the horizon there was an opportunity for competition relatively quickly.

Late in the second half Glen got the goal that eventually mattered: it followed a corner which was half defended by the Islanders who pushed it back out only for Alfie Macleod to knock it back towards goal in a high looping arc which just evaded Skye keeper Buchan. No matter-it made it over the line and the victory went to the Glen.

 Afterwards the above pic was taken of the winning side, with the exception that Rowan was overlooked. Obviously she was in the separate changing room when the team pic was called for but  she was snapped at training later in the week. She was also among the scorers along with Sophie, Finn and Glenn when the Under-17 Development side had a fine 4-2 away win against Glengarry

So what else happened?

The Mowi North Div 1 team defeated Kilmallie 12-0 in the opening round of the Strathdearn at home. This is a team that lost to Kinlochshiel badly a week before – and the main difference was Mike Fraser was in the colours this past weekend. It is difficult to write a report (other than list the scorers) on what was one way traffic as the Kilmallie youngsters were overwhelmed but fair play to them they kept competing to the end. For the record the goals came from Jed Stoddart 4, Charlie Macleod 3, Doug Brockie 3 and Josh Macdonald-Haig 2-so all the forwards were on target- and some of the strikes were superb. The important thing is to keep it going for there will undoubtedly be sterner tests ahead.

The Premier League continues to be problematic-a home defeat to Newtonmore- and to be honest we have beaten better Newtonmore sides. Finishing is the point however-in the first half Newtonmore had only three clear strikes on target and two of them went in. Daniel Maclean’s early strike kept the Glen in it up till half time. The second half saw Newtonmore eventually score two more and though the Glen continued to compete-despite lashing rain and hail at one point there was never any way the young forwards were going to get past international defenders Steven Macdonald and Rory Kennedy. Add that to the sight of former Scotland Captain Kenny Ross sprinting out of goal to clear his lines at the advanced age of 50 + and you realise what a real role model is.

Next up- Kingussie. It never rains but it pours. Och well…..

(Picture Credits-Siobhann, Judi & Glen Shinty Facebook)