Strathglass and the MacDonald Cup: The Art of the Steal

It’s always satisfying to call it as it is- Strathglass managed to finesse their way to a win in Saturday’s MacDonald Cup fixture. (I know -finesse is not the word that comes first to mind when talking of a Strathglass victory, but there you have it)  

It was as anyone could observe, a very tight game on the heaviest of pitches but the Strath just about managed to win – and though it sticks in the writer’s throat to say it, the result made so many of the Glasaich and the almost-Glasaich so happy that no-one could begrudge them their victory - apart from that is, everyone in Glen Urquhart.

The problem with the report however is that whenever you go up to Strathglass you spend so much time walking round blethering to the natives and queueing for tea - a whole skill set in itself - that you never see the actual game for any length of time. As a consequence, I had to go to the YouTube production of the game filmed, produced and narrated by Eoghan the Bard and though its production values and costs are not as flashy as those of “An t-Eilean” (faodaidh tu sin a ghoogladh), the confession is that like all shinty addicts the Wing Centre is an avid watcher of the poet’s productions.

So what did the Wing Centre learn? Well for one thing that the two Frasers that Strath had at the back (and front) Josh and Donald are pretty powerful performers .

Josh in particular at full back gave a very convincing impression of King Canute holding back the tide while Donald is simply a proper shinty player and a role model for any youngster watching. He blocks well (fortunately), hits well and always keeps a calm perspective on events. Everyone in the Highlands knows that when it comes to clans the Frasers are the best at shinty- that is apart from Macdonalds, Macleans, Macraes, Mackintoshes and Macleods.  Mackenzies? Not so much. They are of variable quality on the field -much better at the paperwork, handling the money and foretelling the future. Being all descended from the Tutor of Kintail or the Brahan Seer they are much more effective at coming up with business solutions to deal with the problems inherent in the indigenous sport as it struggles to absorb the tides of incomers who pour north to tempt us to worship at the altar of false sports.

“There will come a day,” said the Seer,” when competition between the Glens and Straths will be restricted to the sports of pickleball and disc golf. On that day, Kerrow Brae will crumble and Beauly get into a Camanachd Final once again.”

So to the game. The opening exchanges were tight enough with the sides fairly even while both sets of legs were fresh. It was Strathglass who made the early running Glenurquhart surviving an early scare thanks to quick thinking by Glen keeper Stuart Mackintosh. However he was helpless a few minutes later when a long shy from the far side by centre Seth Jones was poorly dealt with by the Glen backline only for the ball to fall to Strath skipper Penri Jones who made no mistake from just outside the D.  Jones , the current North Division 1 player of the year is no stranger to MacDonald Cup Glory having scored a hat-trick in the same fixture in 2021 when his side last picked up the cup.

That really was the end of the Strathglass threat: the Glen piled forward but despite Alfie Macleod hitting the woodwork were unable to convert before half-time. After the break things became more frustrating for the Glen and for the rest of the game, particularly in the last half hour of the contest it was one way traffic.

However, through a mixture of bad luck, careless shooting and last ditch ‘Glass defensive efforts, the black and reds were unable to snatch the equalising goal that would have allowed them to retain the trophy. The one consolation for the Glen was that the man-of-the match trophy -the Shewglie Trophy - was picked up by Glen youngster Alfie Macleod.

Alfie is one of a trio of London Shield under-17s to have made the Glen first team forward line for this season’s MacDonald Cup encounter, the others being Doug Brockie and Daniel Maclean. Joining them in the squad were wing back  Tom Edwards and Murphy Ross on the bench so the future does indeed look good. The positives for the Glen are that all the young guys performed well as did Sean Brown in the centre, the Robertson brothers, the Mackintosh brothers and not forgetting the other Macleod brother who worthily took his place as the final front man.

Of course, as was expected the Glen won both of the other matches on the day: the women’s game and the Ali Ban.

 First off in the morning on the pitch behind the school were the girls’ side who had a comfortable 4-0 win over their maroon clad opponents. This game provided Glen shinty club with a couple of firsts - not the result and not the venue but the fact that the girls were able to use the Church of Scotland Hall to change. The other first was the trophy the girls were awarded at the conclusion of the game. The Maclennan Quaich was not up for contention on the day but another mysterious trophy appeared on the day of which more later.

 In the absence of regular first team manager Freddi Gilbert, her assistant , Rory Maclean took charge of the side, aided and abetted for the day, by second team manager Judi Crichton.

This was ,in fact,  an extremely competitive game, though the Glen dominated the opening 35 minutes. Hazel Hunter opened the scoring with a neat finish into the roof of the net which capitalised on a slip up in the Strath backline before following it up with the strike of the match. This came about when Fiona Turnbull played the ball square to youngster Rowan Brockie. Rowan moved the ball quickly on to Hunter and the Glen’s free scoring front girl turned past two defenders before firing the ball low into the Strath net. Rowan Brockie added a third before the break to basically seal the match- and though the second half remained competitive the Glen management duo used the time to give all their youngsters on the bench some game time. Rowan Brockie grabbed her second to make it 4-0 and the game then levelled out with both sides having lots of attacking opportunities, though no further goals were scored.

Player of the match-probably would have to be Ruby Fraser but special mention must go to Samantha Moon at full centre who give an excellent performance on her debut for the Glen.

The trophy? In the absence of the real Maclennan Quaich-which surely must be played for on some not to distant occasion- the trophy up for grabs was the Completely Different Quaich. It should have been christened the Corrimony Chanty. Presented to a local plumber by the Wallace family of Corrimony it was once no doubt used by the noted artist and illustrator H Frank Wallace and doubtless by a few other artists as well.

Later in the morning the Ali Ban took place at Blairbeg – and this time the young Glen side, bolstered by the returning Ali Maclean took command from the start of the match but did not immediately take the chances they were offered. Andrew Corrigan found himself early on one on one with Strath keeper but failed to convert. This set a bad example for youngster Glenn MacDonald who also passed up a chance which he will definitely convert on another occasion. To be fair though Strath keeper Ali MacAdam made a number of good saves. The break-through eventually came when Corrigan opened the scoring from close range. Ali Maclean then doubled the scoreline in favour of the Glen with Seonaidh Macleod adding a third quickly after that. The game then got somewhat bogged up  with the pitch hampering the Glen’s forward play.

The second half saw the Glen resume their advances with Glenn Macdonald firing home a brace and John Cameron finishing off the afternoon with a superb strike from about 35 yards to make the score 6-0. Hats off to a young Strath side for keeping the game competitive and particularly to Strath goalie Ali MacAdam who had more than a half-dozen excellent saves.

After the match Glen captain Shalom Brown picked up the cup on behalf of his team while the man of the match trophy-in memory of the late Russell Cameron- went to Ali Maclean.

Thanks to Neil Paterson for the excellent photos but such a shame the Glen did not get a pic taken at Strathglass. Why?  Glass were happy to pose in Drum. At the very least we’d have a memento for Murphy, Tom and the other young guys of their first appearance in a MacDonald Cup. Just as well the Wing Centre kept the team lines!!

And was that Mr Macleod in shorts in the Strath team at Blairbeg ? It surely was.

All in all then a good day’s shinty with both sides having a great deal to feel good about. 

At least Roddie’s mood lifted in the course of the day-look at him after the MacDonald Cup win at the top of the blog- now look at him in the Ali Ban Man of the Match pic.Double click on the pic if you like, Chalk and cheese-no wonder. That image-the top one- should be on the front cover of this years Year Book. Are you listening Aaron? Well done , Mr Maclennan

 The title of the blog? Homage to Mr Trump and of course to the Glasaich-for they surely did half-inch the match. Even Penri will tell you if you ask him. Fair play to them.