Lovat just keep getting in the way

Not sure that the Wing Centre cares very much for Clan Chiefs. He always remembers what his fellow clansman A.W. MacKenzie , erstwhile Councillor for the Glen, used to say about our neighbours over the hill-perhaps not all of them, but at least some of them. They were in thrall to their chiefs. You know the ones who lived once upon a time in a large castle on the banks of the river at Beaufort.

If ever Alastair W found out whilst in the shop on a Saturday morning that we were due to play those of a black and white persuasion he would say scornfully “Clear the way for Lovat” (always pronounced in those days as “L-o-w-v-a-t” not, as is the fashion now, ”L-o-v-e-a-t”) which is what he claimed a flunky was employed to say as he directed the car/shooting brake/gig/carriage of the Chief of all the Frasers along its chosen route or into its appointed parking place or stable.

Now the Wing Centre does not believe that this story really refers to our crofting neighbours over the hill- they are too much like us to behave in that fashion. Rather it strikes me as a Beauly story more suited to the inhabitants of that urban centre than to the honest men and women of Balgate. You can see here how well Ronan and Billy get on get on- but then they are both goalies and that possibly explains the bond!  

Be that as it may, a youngish Glen team were unable to stand in the way of a competent Lovat squad as they pushed past them clearing the way for a MacTavish semi-final clash against Fort William. Not that the Glen did not put in a performance-they certainly did but better finishing, more strength and experience were enough to carry the visitors over the line.

In fact they looked a little behind in the opening exchanges and a little careless ness at the back resulting in a poor clearance presented Lovat’s Marc Maclachlan with a free shot at goal which he accepted gratefully to put his side into the lead within five minutes of the start.

After that unfortunate start the Glen settled down and an intriguing contest took place – and with the return of Lachie Smith to the back line out of necessity (he had not started because of injury) the Glen looked a more solid unit.

 Play swung back and forth with Ally Mackintosh playing well at the back and Ally Maclean holding the centre though for Lovat Craig Mainland looked in commanding presence in defence for the visitors.

Lovat doubled their lead in the 39th minute when young Mr Maclachlan finished from inside the D after the ball had been allowed to run across to him on the far side. Despite the set back Glen continued to compete but despite having territory and possession could not manage to accurately place their shots on target. Any that did come through were competently dealt with by Lovat keeper Ronan Macmillan.

Glen got back into the hunt with a nice goal in 57 minutes when a ball fired  through by Sean Brown was knocked home from close range by Charlie Macleod with Daniel Maclean in such close attendance that he was credited with the strike.

Unfortunately, the Glen were not able to maintain the single goal difference for more than three minutes when an opportunist goal from Lewis Tawse brought the score to 3-1. His strike is worth noting because it was so well taken- a drive from Maclachlan was blocked and when Greg Matheson’s follow up shot was saved by Stuart MacKintosh, Tawse was on hand to take the ball in the air with the heel of his club and finally settle the match. Glen had a number of chances after that including one super shot from Alfie Macleod which Macmillan tipped over the bar- but then if you don’t put the ball in the net, you inevitably find that you lose the game.

A tight game then and one that the Glen competed in well- a 2-1 would have looked better in the record books but it all comes down to the same in the end.

Glenurquhart’s name will not be on the cup this year- and Lovats might still be, though as their manager Iain Nicholson knows only too well there will be sterner tests to come.

Speaking of sterner tests, the Women’s 1st Team headed to Skye for their only Saturday away game in the league. After losing 4-2 to Skye in the first game of the season, the team were hungry for a chance at redemption.
Unfortunately Caitlin Maclean getting Skye’s first goal within five minutes set the tone for the first half with Skye having most of the advantage. Despite a couple of good attempts from Rowan Brockie the Glen were unable to score and another two goals from Maclean saw the first half finish 3-0.

The second half was a lot more even with both teams strong in attack and defence. Emily Van Loon, came on at half time and had an excellent game at wing back. Two goals from Skye late in the game saw the match finish 5-0 in favour of the home side.
Aside from the score there was plenty of positives to take from the game. The girls fought with tenacity and positivity right to the end and many played in new positions throughout the game. With each of the subs getting on it was a great chance for some of the less experienced girls to show what they were capable of.  The only real disappointment for the Glen was the fact that with all their numerous subs on the sidelines the Islanders could have reasonably agreed to play a 12 a side match-this is what the W.C.A would like to hope the game is moving towards-and it is a pity that Skye were unwilling to do that.

Hunting for positives is what we all must do- and we had to continue with them against Fort William. An early injury to Andrew Corrigan-a muscle tear-plus injury to Ben Mackenzie meant the Glen had to work hard to keep in the hunt. However, Chris Edwards and Murphy Ross gave a good account of themselves as did Antonio Dann.

As always Brad Sneddon had an excellent afternoon but it wasnt quite enough. A couple of defensive slips -one by the boss and a dodgy penalty (that's what young Mr Brown told me anyway) saw Fort William 3-0 up at the break. 

Despite the direness of the straits the heads did not go down and the side stuck together and managed to complete a competitive second half in which they only shipped one more goal. Unfortunately, the youngsters up front such as Glenn Macdonald and David Hart, because of the fact the defence and midfield are under such pressure, are not able to get much in the way of quality ball- and without Seonaidh Macleod who has been unwell the side struggles to find the net.

However, the experience of such games has been a positive one (that word again) because this midweek at under 17 level both Glenn and David were in amongst the goals with young Mr Hart bagging a hat-trick. I hope he got the ball to take home.

Only one other pic to add today- the Treasurer and that other Mr Mackenzie /Mackenzie-Roy from Strathglass. Now you might think that the Treasurer would have the money- and the green bag might suggest he does-but in fact it is Roy who really has the capital and he probably has the Business Solutions too. The question is would you actually accept a Cookie from this guy?

If you would then https://mackenziebusinesssolutions.co.uk/ is the place to go-apparently.*

* message to Roy-the invoice is already in the post.

Thanks for the photos to Tina Marshall, Fort William Face Book and T.W. Maclean.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

 It might well be that a picture is worth a thousand words-and an ancient Japanese philosopher claimed it was - or was it an American advertising man? Whatever might be the truth, we’re just a few weeks into the new shinty season so far and already the Wing Centre has begun to let his regular programme of blogging slip just a little. And, to make things worse , he’s struggling for pictures.

The really big miss is that the club doesn't have a dedicated photographer- so we have to rely on folk from other teams to capture our memories. However, throughout this blog I’ll pop in pics showing how the club has helped to support the Community over the years- you’ll find out why at the end.

So what has been happening on the field?

Last Saturday saw action in the MOWI at Blairbeg between the Glenurquhart Women’s 2^nd Team and Skye which resulted in a 3-0 win for the red and blacks. With the pitch bone dry after two weeks of sunshine, the dry and fast surface perfectly suited the free-running game of the young Glenurquhart forwards and right from the start they put the Skye defence under pressure. The visiting keeper had to look lively on several occasions to keep the Glen at bay but eventually a neat pass in from the wing via Daisy Ross found its way to full forward Rowan Brockie and she fired home the opener.

Skye fought back well but found that they were quite unable to make any headway against an excellent Glen back line where both Rebecca Van Loon and her sister Emily each gave a solid display of defensive shinty- anticipating the play, snuffing out the danger and firing the ball up to the centreline where Roisa Brown and the rest of the midfield were on hand to bring the forwards into play. The wing forwards, in particular Jessica Crichton and Sophie Power helped by the dry conditions kept the Glen on the offensive - and by the end of the match this superiority had yielded two further goals. The second also came from Rowan Brockie who latched on to a ball crossed over by Sophie Power and despite being forced wide the team’s top scorer still managed to find the net from a tight angle.

The Glen’s final counter came courtesy of some quick thinking by Hayley Ross who followed up a strike which was stopped by the Skye keeper and swept the rebound into the net to make the score 3-0 in favour of the Glen.

Meanwhile the Men’s first team has been doing OK too despite a slip up to Col-Glen (let’s draw a veil over that). Wins against Strathglass and Inveraray, a draw with Kilmallie and a narrow 2-1 victory over Bute in the Camanachd will have to do for just now.

However,the narrow 1-0 loss to Lochaber though did cause a little confusion in the Glen not that a Lochaber win was unbelievable.

You have to picture the scene. The scoreline comes through. The spectator asks

“Its 1-0. Who scored for them?”

“Delaney.”

“What! Mike Delaney - he’s not playing at his age is he?”

“Don’t be daft.”

“Don’t tell me it was Kirsty”

Now you never know if some people are trying to wind you up or not-or is it simply down to the fact that both Michael and Kirsty are much better known in the Glen than Ben is.

The good thing is that some of our own young lads are starting to get goals but they will be tested this week against Lovat in the MacTavish. 

The seconds have had some hard tests too – though truthfully in their league results will to some extent be determined by whether their opponents have their first team playing away  or not.

They have in fact run Inverness first team close twice and the defeat to Newtonmore saw a loss of four goals late in the game after the Glen being up 3-1 in the first half.

Still a 10 -0 win over Inverness’s 2^nd team in the Highland Industrial Supplies Sutherland Cup cheered everyone up particularly Oliver Black who bagged five goals all to himself.

Sadly for Ollie, the Treasurer was so mean he wouldn’t allow him keep the match ball. Other scorers on the day were Glenn Macdonald (2) Seonaidh Macleod (2) Andrew Corrigan and Jamie Maclennan.

However, away from the action on the field for a moment it’s worth taking a moment to celebrate how the club integrates into the community.

 

It has long been the Wing Centre’s belief that Glenurquhart Shinty Club is one of the corner stones of the Glen community but of course without the wider community there would be no Shinty Club.

Bearing this in mind  the Shinty Club has always been  keen to put something back which is why this picture from 2007 shows the then Glenurquhart and Scotland under-17 international Neale Reid down at the Glen Care Centre handing over a cheque for £100 which had been donated by the Club to help with the old folk’s Christmas Party.

Accepting the cheque on behalf of the Care Centre is Mrs Agnes Morrison whose son Burton Morrison was also a Scotland shinty internationalist and turned out over many years for Glenurquhart , Aberdeen University and Glasgow Mid Argyll. Time has moved on- and now Agnes’s son Burton is the  President of the Camanachd Association.

A lovely picture then which shows how the indigenous sport can reach across the generations and unite the community - and it is also perhaps a reminder of how important it is both for the Club and for those outside it to reflect on what a community is.

Of course this is not the only aspect of village life which the club has supported. The Pavilion at Blairbeg was also built and entirely funded by the Shinty Club - without any Council help. It is also there for the use of the Glenurquhart Highland Games on its big day as well as being available to other local organisations.

Beyond that, Glenurquhart Shinty Club regularly gives back to the community in another way not everyone realises. In fact every year since 2013 Glenurquhart Shinty Club has handed over to the Glenurquhart Care Project a generous portion share of their Annual Christmas Raffle (aka the Swinndle).

This year was no different and on Saturday past, the day of the Daffodil Tea held in the Care Centre, the Treasurer handed over a cheque for £770 to Val  Cooper, chair of the Friends of the Care Centre.

As you can see from all the pictures of cheques being presented over the years there’s a little bit of theatre involved in the presentation. This year the Treasurer and Val tried to harmonise their cos-play- and its doesn’t look too bad. They both blend in with the planter -more or less – which was apparently the intention.

 Enjoy the pics- and remember all these old friends who are in some cases no longer with us.