Keeping out of the D

To Aberdour and Bust (the Window!)

2008-05-16T22:28:00.003+01:00

The Wing Centre was unable to go to Aberdour but he had thought he would have some fun with a posting. Indeed he had started work on a long ballad in the Auld Scots Style filled with allusions to Mr Bell as the “eldern knight,” “the blude red wine” of the managers and Sir William Reid as the “skeely skipper” in charge of the minibus on this hazardous voyage to Fife. The whole point was of course to get in a reference to the line “Half ower half ower to Aberdour” which appears in the original Scots ballad, “Sir Patrick Spens.” That’s right the one you did not bother to listen to when you were in school.
But then all of a sudden there was no need to bother. Ping!
Into his mail box popped the piece below, written in the style of the blog- but by whom? The Yahoo e mail address was anonymous and so there was no saying who had actually written the piece. What bothered the Wing Centre was the fact that the style was precisely accurate.
“Is the style of the Blog so easy to rip the p*** out of” he replied to the anonymous Yahoo-er.
“Not just the Blog, Wing Centre, you as well” was the reply from Mr Nobody.
There is no point in arguing with someone who is not there and so without further ado-here is the voyage to Aberdour in the Kingdom.

Aberdour 0 Glenurquhart 4
It was with some trepidation that Hendo’s heroes headed for Fife on Saturday to fulfil the 2nd round Sutherland Cup draw, against the unknown quantity of the relatively new club Aberdour.
Mr Reid was contacted at a very early stage in the week leading up to this game, and was taken aback by the organisation of this outfit. Used to the Friday night phone call from some of the North’s more senior clubs the communication from Aberdour nearly had Mr Reid falling off his couch. A number of questions and a host of information came from their Chairman, Mr Fred Mathieson.
The one that touched Mr Reid most deeply was
“ Do you think your boys will be likely to stay at all after the game?”
“Stay” exclaimed Mr Reid, “ you’ll be lucky if you get rid of them by Tuesday!”
It was a somewhat changed band of heroes that headed down the A9 from the side which had turned out the previous week. With a number of players unavailable for selection from the previous Saturday, some reshuffling was going to be required. This week only Bradley Dixon and Calum Smith could be claimed as falling into the youth category, but they also welcomed Garry Mac and Rodger Grant back from injuries
Given the lack of youth in the side, the management were somewhat concerned with the overall pace of the squad, and their fears were to be realised early on when the bus
stopped at the greasy spoon in Balinluig and at least six full breakfasts were spotted.
It would appear that the Dr Whyte diet decreed for first team consumption was by no means suitable for the Heroes.
Eventually they arrived in Aberdour, after finally
realising that the “railway Bridge”, Fred had said to look out for was not that of the “Forth” variety. They quickly realised too that some of their opposition were Scottish Internationalists, Yes, Female shinty internationalists - players with plenty experience. This was met with yet more trepidation-what would happen if these chicks beat them. Embarrassing or what . Despite the initial hesitation of his heroes , Mr Reid and Hendo were not for wimping out and the players were quickly told to get on with it.
Wherever a new shinty team starts up in the south, it is always interesting to carry out some background info on how things started. No explanation was necessary on this occasion however, as the familiar figure of Jack Asher was spotted in the foreground. A quote from the sideline banter came from Fred, when he said that Jack had told him once: “ Listen Fred, the whole world wants to play shinty, they just don’t know it yet”! If you could take a small proportion of Jack’s enthusiasm for the game and inject it into some of the youngsters of today, shinty would be much the better for it.
The match itself got going with the home side playing the best of the shinty, and all Hendo’s fears were realised early on. The Glen were being shown up in terms of fitness and they received a lesson in how to play shinty for the first 20 minutes. Some major re-shuffling was needed in the middle of the field to try and keep the home side at bay. After the “non full breakfast participants” were moved into the centre line, the Glen started to tighten things up a bit. However, most of the early chances fell to Aberdour, through strong play from Calum Shaw at full centre and Ally Hutt at buckshee forward. Many of the chances went a begging however, and Monkey made a number of amazing stops in the Glen goal.
An injury to Aberdour full back John MacLachlan midway through the first half, could be argued as the turning point in the game. Rather than moving the injured player, Ally Hutt took up the dual role of both forward and defender, and with only the likes of Kingussie’s Davie Anderson, having ever made this a success, it was a role too far for the impressive Hutt.
The stalwarts from the Glen put this decision down to inexperience, and probably something the Young Fifers will learn from for the future. The pace of the Aberdour players certainly caused the Glen real problems throughout the game, and Booboo Fraser must have thought narcotics had been taken because of the constant running of Ross Nicol at wing centre. Forest Gump wouldn’t stand a chance against this kid! Eventually the Glen began to get the ball up to their forwards, and on 37 minutes “Panda” Crichton, gave Tom Bowerman no chance in the home Goal.
The nerves of the away team, and that of poor Hendo were eased just after half time when “Panda” again found his range and sent a strike high into the roof of the Aberdour net. Panda’s shooting certainly poses a threat to the opposition - not to mention the windows of the bus- and if he can improve his fitness and overall play, this animal shows good promise and should create competition for places up front.
Early in the 2nd half, a tiring Mathew Clark was replaced by the returning Rodger Grant, and his fitness and strength helped to shore up the team, and finally the Glen started to settle.
Lisa Norman at buckshee back began to find Stuart Morrison’s distribution hard to deal with, and in 62mins, he was rewarded with a goal from his own build up play, this finishing the game off as a contest. The Glen could have been more had it not been for the excellent work of Fraser Mathieson at wing back, and saves from goalie, Tom Bowerman. On one occasion the excellent Aberdour keeper went on a mazy run out of defence after a fine save, whereby he was promptly told by his player coach; “Well done Tom. Now get back in your cage”!
Lisa probably did not realise the irony of her remark what with the Glen having a Monkey in “the cage” at the other end, and a Panda firing shots at her poor keeper!
Mid way through the 2nd half, Garry Mac was brought on at full back, and this released Grant into wing centre and in turn Calum Jock up front, who in 83 minutes hit the best strike of the game, and made it four.
The message from the stalwarts at the game was, that Chips put in a sterling effort in trying to keep Calum Shaw at bay, but other than that, the only hero was the one in the picture, who drove the bus! The other heroes of course were Aberdour, and the score line was flattering to say the least towards the Glen. Fred, Lisa and Co, must be congratulated in what they have achieved with this squad, and they are a real credit to the game. The stalwarts wish to thank their hosts for their great hospitality, and hope to meet up with them again in the future.
The lesson from Fife was that if this Glen team wants to achieve success this season, they are going to have to cut back on the fry ups, and improve on their fitness levels. They will not get away with it in Aberdeen on Saturday, because there they will have to face the most famous runner the Glen has yet produced in the shape of Jamie Bell. But then his Mam is a wifie fae Fife and ,on the evidence of the Aberdour females in the team, that is where he got his running from.

Aberdour Team:
1 Tom Bowerman (GK)
2 Ross Nicol (Wing Centre - it's a lucky shirt number thing)
3 John MacLachlan (FB)
4 Fraser Mathieson (FB)
5 Lisa Norman (HB)
6 Alistair Shaw (HB)
7 Calum Shaw (Full Centre)
8 Katy Smith (Wing Centre)
9 Ally Hutt (Half Forward)
10 Doug Newsom (Half Forward)
11 David Rogers (Wing Forward)
12 Joe Dunton (Full Forward)

The forwards move about a lot (except maybe Joe) as tactics or necessity require, so whether they were a square, a diamond or an irregular polygon would be hard to say).

Subs:

Ruaridh Reid (came on for Joe)
Amy MacDonald (not used)
Fred Mathieson

There it is , just as it came in, along with the picture of Mr Reid himself surprised that he has actually found Aberdour. He seemingly had no trouble finding Ballinluig.
As for the parallel Blog writer , there has been no further word as to his identity . The rumour from the Blar is that they are all in there practicing the style now, which can only be greeted as good news for the Arty part of Drum but presumably regarded as a mark of shame up the Glen

Even Stevens or What?

2008-05-11T19:03:00.002+01:00

North Division 1
Glenurquhart 2 Kinlochshiel 2

After all the negative publicity you read about the old game in the papers and after the Treasurer had moaned on to the Wing Centre about a boorish spectator who had refused to participate in the collection, it was a pleasure (almost) to be present at a high tempo match which was an advert for most of what is good about shinty.
It was, sadly for the Blairbeg support, a game of two halves and for some reason Kinlochshiel refuse to be beaten which, if there is a good quality for any shinty side to have, must be at the top of the list.
No doubt there will be an excellent report in the WHFP which will come out as usual on Thursday and may - as would be natural -have a Kinlochshiel angle to it and why not?
The WHFP reports have been excellent of late and no way does the Wing Centre have either the energy or the sheer number of pages in his notebook to match their scribe. Thus a broad brush approach will have to suffice though there will be some attempt to dwell on the Glen goals-as would equally be natural.
As for the ‘Shiel strikes they came courtesy of Neil Fraser and if he keeps on scoring like that no doubt he’ll soon win his way back into the Lochbroom first team alongside his dad. Actually while the subject has been raised , it seems pretty clear too that young Mark Macdonald is now just about ready for a step up into the Lochbroom team, so one should expect Ruaridh and Mr Irving to pay up the £50 quid each and give them a call now to get them back from the nursery club.
From the Wing Centre’s point of view, Mark and Neil appear to have developed enough not to look out of place in the Broom squad. Hopefully these transfers will have gone through before the Glen next meet Shiel in the return League fixture.
Enough of this nonsense except to say Manager Keith Loades looked very sad in the first half and his legendary shortness in the grain with his team was on the point of erupting so whatever hairdryer treatment he and Johnstone Gill gave them at half time must have been very special because it did the trick. The two supremos know their shinty and certainly moved their men about , made their centre line compete to get a grip and ultimately that forced the chances required to square the game out of a Glen defence that did not like the questions being asked of it. It would not be unfair to say that Shiel took both their chances.
The first half however was another story. The Glen started with a bang and were one up within a minute. Paul Mackintosh fired a ball up to Neale Reid on the left who sprinted his way past Steven Callender, fired the ball across the D where it was sharply dispatched by Gregor McCormack before the Shiel defence had woken up to the fact that the game had started.
For the next 30 minutes the Glen had the game in their pocket and it was not long before Neale Reid-a constant thorn in the flesh of the ’Shiel defence despite taking big hits from the his marker- doubled the Glen lead with a super strike. The ball was worked up right to Gregor McCormack and he fired it out to the left wing ,where Reid coming in at pace skipped into the clear and powered the ball high into the top corner of the net with keeper Graham Kennedy helpless
At this stage of the match the Shiel defence looked ragged and referee Macrae had to keep on top of a range of persistently late defensive challenges from the ‘Shiel backs and centre men who seemed to be off the pace. However, keeper Kennedy was on form and while he was helped by the post on one occasion , he still had the reflexes to deal with strikes from Reid , Andy Corrigan and a particularly fierce drive from 30 yards from Lewis Maclennan which counted as a game saving stop.
Gradually however, in the last quarter of the first half things began to change. Perhaps the Glen’s fitness was not enough to sustain the opening speed, perhaps the physicality of the Shiel resistance took its toll or perhaps the ‘Shiel boys are simply scared of Keith and Johnstone and began to play better as the Glen tired.
Whatever the reason the Kinlochshiel centreline began to win more of the ball and Finlay Macrae came more into matters. The introduction of Scott Maclean also had a great deal to do with matters from the Shiel point of view since it was clear that young John Macrae was not fully recovered from last week’s knock to the ribs.
Shiel maintained their competitive edge in midfield and for a while the Glen defensive hitting looked snatched and uncertain. The ‘Shiel fight back properly began in the 61st minute when Scott Maclean crashed through two tackles on the left to force the ball across the D where Neil Fraser was on hand to crack it past Stuart Mackintosh from close range. From a defensive point of view the Glen had time to clear the ball but neglected the opportunity to do so and paid a heavy price.
The pattern of play continued in the same direction with Shiel edging it for possession although the Glen made themselves sufficient opportunities at the other end to seal the game. By now however their shooting was out of sorts and Paul Macrae was finally proving to be too strong for the Glen forwards. The Shiel forwards however must have earned the wrath of their managers because of the way they neglected to put shots in on target when they had legitimately won the opportunity.
As play became more physical both the Glen’s Andrew Macdonald and Shiel’s Scott Maclean were lucky to remain unbooked and it was from a controversial decision by referee Macrae on the left-a foul by Maclean was not picked up -that the ball was played across to Neil Fraser once again unmarked on the edge of the D , and he had a simple task to finish it off.
The Glen mounted a late surge to get back what they had thrown away but there was not enough time or passion left in them to turn back the tide. As a game it was almost a repeat of last season’s League match when the Glen romped away to an early lead before neglecting to keep it right to the final whistle.
Shiel have themselves probably thrown away too many early points at the start of the season to feel happy about their League winning chances and being out of the Balliemore- thank goodness - they can look forward to a barren season unless of course they win the Camanachd Cup which, lacking goal scorers as they do would not seem to be a good bet. They are a hugely talented and determined team however and they have a nice edge to their play. For the Glen the message must be train harder and make sure you finish off teams when you have them at your mercy.
Even Stevens or What? Too much what in these encounters for the Wing Centre’s liking.

*Thanks to Brian Denoon for the picture

Its just too damn quiet out there

2008-05-09T23:17:00.006+01:00

North Division 3
Glenurquhart 4 Inverness 1
Balliemore Cup
Kinlochshiel 1 Glenurquhart 2

If the big game was the Balliemore Cup match against Bert’s Boys at Kirkton , the game that the Wing centre actually went to see was the match at Blairbeg where Hendo’s Heroes managed another creditable win, albeit against a mixed Inverness side which contained some tiddlers-not to say toddlers- up front. Fair play to them they weren’t a bad side and for all the big guns that the Glen had in their armoury, the result reflects quite well on the town team whose hitting impressed the Wing Centre and the revered former President.
In the Glen ranks there was a welcome back to Donald Fraser and “Panda “ Crichton also made a second appearance of the season. Not only that but there was also the welcome re-appearance of Dave Smart in the front line : “Chips” has been sidelined with an injury for the past two weeks but his return and that of Calum “Jock” Fraser gave a bit of bite to a forward line which Beauly found quite straightforward to contain the previous weekend. . The youngsters -having had a hard week of shinty what with travelling down to Kingussie in midweek and returning with a 5-4 win at under 17 level-had to be content with a half about - though content is never the word to describe players who have to step down to let other on for a run. It is however what team rotation is all about and Hendo ,like Benitez is a Spanish sounding name appropriate enough for a supremo.
With Bradley Dickson and Ben Hosie pushing the Inverness defence in the opening quarter it did not take the Glen long to get their noses in front courtesy of a Calum Fraser strike in five minutes. That however was as much as went well for the Glen in the first half and despite a lot of ball being pumped forward Clive Girvan at full back , Kenneth Loades at wing back and “Dink” Fraser in goals did not seem to be too bothered.
Furthermore, Inverness midfielders George Johnstone and especially “Copper” Macdonald were particularly competitive and it took a concentrated effort by the Glen to keep on top of them.
In the second half the Manager brought on two more youngsters for a run-Calum Smith in defence and Ewan Menzies in the front line and both acquitted themselves well- so much so that Ewan makes his way into this weeks headline shot-once more ahead of first teamer Cork who must surely be wondering by now what he has to do to feature as a jpeg. Just you keep playing away well Cork and you are bound to get noticed by the Wing Centre.
Back on the field of play pressure eventually began to tell in favour of the Glen and Dave Smart struck to make the game reasonably secure in 47 minutes. The Glen were perhaps more focused in the second half or it may have been that the young Inverness side tired a little. Whatever the reason , the Glen added two further goals through Ross MacAulay and Andrew “Panda” Crichton though a close range strike in 72 minutes by Fraser Heath reduced the leeway for the town team and spoiled goalie Dave Emery’s hopes of a shut out.
Up at Kirkton in the Balliemore last year’s beaten finalists-as the Press is wont to call us-yes that is us, Glenurquhart produced the Balliemore Cup upset of the day with a fine 2-1 victory against current (that is more correctly former holders) Kinlochshiel-. It has not escaped the Wing Centre’s attention that the Glen have recently revamped their front line having moved defender Gregor McCormack to full forward where his experience and sharp stick work has added a new bite to a front four that last season struggled to score as often as the old gits on the sidelines thought they ought to have.
Glen took the lead in 16 minutes when a drive from wing centre Eddie Tembo put pressure on ‘Shiel keeper Graham Kennedy . As the ball broke from defence, last week’s hat-trick hero Andrew Corrigan was on hand to first time it high into the net for the opener.
For the rest of the first half ,Glen continued to create chances but good defending by Shiel particularly from halfback Finlay Macrae prevented the Drumnadrochit side from adding to their early lead. At the other end, the Glen’s former under 21 international goalkeeper Stuart Mackintosh had to look lively on several occasions to keep his goal intact.
The second half saw a gradual increase in Glen dominance (it has to be said that the WHFP has an entirely different take on this but Mr Reid , whose words the Wing Centre reports verbatim is a fearless and unbiased reporter) and as the Kinlochshiel midfield tired , long hitting by Glen full centre Arran Macdonald began to make a difference to the pattern of play. The second Glen score came in 75 minutes when after a spell of Glen pressure the Shiel defence once again failed to clear their lines and the ball fell to Gregor McCormack who tucked it in neatly through a ruck of players .
Kinlochshiel were however not quite finished. Desperate to retain their hold on a trophy which was fast slipping from their grasp they threw defender Finlay Macrae into attack and he it was who provided the cross for Neil Fraser to pull one back in 85 minutes.
“What was it like?” asked the Wing Centre to Mr Reid who appeared from the noise in the background to be partying much harder in the Dornie hotel than is wise for a man of his age.
“It is the sort of goal you go to watch shinty for” said the 77 Vet , thereby proving that he is an honest punter and can tell a gem when he sees it.
It is however with a little trepidation that the Wing Centre can write that young Neil’s goal was too little too late and as the final whistle blew the Glen were once more in the ascendancy.
Why the trepidation? Well ‘Shiel are down here in the League on Saturday and one would hate Mr Reid’s words to fire them up so that they raise their game and start thinking the unthinkable……..
What is even more worrying is that they might not have to raise their game. It is supposed to be wet on Saturday and the fear is that they will feel too much at home , what with Mairi down the road at the Blar and Stevie Callender apparently hoping to be naturalised as a citizen of the Glen.
Perhaps to avoid hassle from Keith and Johnston and especially Bert, the Wing centre should go off to Aberdour with the Heroes

* Many thanks to Tina of Inverness Shinty club for the above snap. have a look at their website at http://www.invernessshintyclub.com/. They have even more pictures of the Glen than the Keeper of the D has

Talking and Playing Rubbish in Beauly

2008-05-02T21:38:00.005+01:00

Division 3 (North)
Beauly 0 Glenurquhart 1

MacTavish quarter Final
Glenurquhart 3 Skye 0

A good weekend for the Glen in the realm of shinty - if only all weeks were such. Of course the top side made it past the men from the Inner Hebrides to reach the last four of the MacTavish Cup for the first time since 1987. Extraordinary isn’t it- that a generation of Glenners have come and gone and the team has never made it to a MacTavish semi in all that time, so the youngsters have a chance to move closer to immortality when they play Kilmallie in a week or so at a venue as yet to be decided.
However more of that later, because at the top of the page you may observe a picture of Matthew Clark. Why so ? Well, in the estimation of the Wing Centre , out of two games and despite the wonderful hat-trick awarded to Cork on Saturday, Matthew’s point winning long distance power drive against one of the three traditional enemy teams was goal of the day.
It came in two minutes -a long try from the wing centre position (where else are goals of the game scored from?) which flew, one hears, straight and true past the Beaulac in between the sticks.
Now the Wing Centre says “One hears” advisedly because even although he was present in Beauly for the game he had several chores to do and several distractions to fulfil and as a consequence did not actually see the goal. Beauly is always a place of pilgrimage for the Wing Centre and the shinty is only part of a rich and varied day.
The Wing Centre always starts with a walk around the square; he reads the names on the Lovat Scout memorial to see if any new ones have been added since he was last there; then there is a peek into Iain Marr’s window to see if there is anything, not too over the top, that might perhaps be usefully used as a bargaining chip with Mrs Wing Centre should he blot - as he inevitably will in the course of a normal shinty season - his copy book. This last was a tip he passed on to Big Ron but he appears not to have paid it any attention. But then if you’ve scored in a Camanachd Cup final you don’t need to pay any attention to mere advice .
Anyway, to lengthen a short story it is up to the field and over to the take away at the pavilion for a cup of tea and a blether with Innes’s Mam who is always cheerful and in no way appears to be hostile to the Glen. It is always best to see the nice side of Beauly before you go up to the touchline to receive stick from the diehards and the ladies in the pavilion make you feel that there is hope for Beauly after all.
This time the Wing Centre had brought some of the club rubbish to dump in Beauly, specifically at the bottle bank where he was charged with getting rid of the multitude of empty bottles of Chateauneuf du Pape that the managers consume with their Roquefort cheese at half time whilst the plebs in the stripes are eating their jaffa cakes. Truthfully, there were quite a few bottles…..
It was as he was holding an empty bottle up to the light to see if it was clear, brown or green that the Wing Centre was spotted by Davie Mackay . None of that rubbish in Drum - the Wing Centre just horses them in the one skip but over in Beauly you have to be careful. There they sift through the rubbish so you have to play by the rules.
“Dumping your empties in Beauly so your neighbours won’t see what your drinking?” said Davie with all the malice of a Lewis policeman who has just caught a Barra man parking his boat on a double yellow line at Stornoway harbour.
“No”, said the Wing Centre “ I am merely dumping my rubbish in Beauly since I am sure it will never be noticed here”
“Talking of rubbish,” said Davie smoothly switching gear, “Your team isn’t up to much-you’re one down already” and Davie laughed.
So the Wing Centre took Davie at his word and when he asked some Drum worthies what the score was they simply said 1-0- and so when Big Ron arrived and asked the same question the Wing Centre said “Drum are losing 1-0.”
So Davie had his sweet revenge - the Wing Centre and Big Ron spent the rest of the match in an unhappy losing frame of mind- and when you saw the game you wouldn’t wonder why. Glen spent the match in the same way Rangers spend UEFA Cup nights- giving ground , getting booked , always outnumbered but never quite outgunned.
The Manager even had to play and how well he did. Back and fore , up and down, fetch and carry : he was a lesson to us all and living proof of the health benefits of red wine.
It truly was a game won against the odds : Beauly were awarded a penalty-controversially because the claim was that they had not retreated 5 yards at a free hit but then it was missed. Then they had late in the second half a ball in the net which was ruled offside by young ref Daniel Macrae who made the brave decision and stood his ground.
Towards the end of the second half the Glen came on a little stronger but when Beauly threw “Toad “ Maclean up front for the last 10 minutes it was all hands to the pumps and credit to backs Malky Munro, Gary Smith and Calum Smith and full centre Iain Macdonald for keeping the ruffians at bay. Up front youngsters Bradley Dickson and Ewan Menzies put in a good shift against hard tackling Beauly backs.
Then “Panda” Crichton had to come on and he had a chance to equalise as the Wing Centre thought at the time , but the shot went past the post. Finally, the President himself had to take off his red boiler suit and don the garb of old Glen.
It was only when the final whistle went and Hendo and Russ were threatening to go home to dance in the streets of Pitkerrald that the Wing Centre tumbled to Davie’s wheeze. The Glen had been winning all along. The news was broken gently to Big Ron who had also spent a depressed 80 minutes convinced of defeat.
They ought to do something in Beauly about that Davie Mackay. Telling lies like that, he’s bound to be a worry to his mother.
Nothing to say about the game in Drum against the pride of Portree. The Glen were able to score : Skye were not able to get the better of an excellent Glen defence. Without David Girvan, Gregor McCormack and above all Arran Macdonald - out with the flu- the team played well enough especially in the opening period where the shinty was fluent and quick though apart from Cork, the finishing was not.
The Wing Centre can do no better that quote from the WHFP - nobody -not even the Wing Centre could say this better.
“It was Corrigan, the former Scotland under 21 international who took all the scoring plaudits last weekend.
His first goal came in the 14th minute. Receiving the ball fully 35 yards from goal Corrigan arrowed a shot high into the roof of the net to leave the stand in keeper beaten all ends up. A quarter of an hour later from a similar distance and position Graham was beaten again by Corrigan -with the ball cannoning off the top of the goal keepers stick and in off the inside of the post. The game ended as a contest with 17 minutes remaining. This time Corrigan peeled away at the back post to latch on to a corner before dispatching a crisp low drive into the corner to complete his treble”
With all that arrowing, latching and peeling, one would think that Cork would be worth a photo. Well confession time- a snap was taken of the Winestopper Kid in action but he was moving so fast that all that could be digitally developed was a blur!
However, let’s hope for tomorrow’s game - and it is a big ask- Cork repeats the same performance at Kirkton against Bertie’s Boys and then all the WHFP will have to do is cut and paste.

Could this side put the Great back in Glen?

2008-04-24T23:08:00.006+01:00

Inverness 0 Glenurquhart 5
If there is one thing to say about this game it is that the Glen forwards -all four of them - played with passion and for them to play with passion the midfield were on hand to provide the service. If the side continues to perform like this - and this is to take nothing away from Inverness who were down a couple of players - then the red and black faithful will have some pleasant afternoons to look forward to. Let’s put it no higher than that at this early stage.
Looking at the side overall, the balance seems right and the lads on the bench who came on are every bit as capable of a performance as those who were included in the starting line up.
The new ingredient this week was the presence of Gregor McCormack up as front man : it may have been tried before but Gregor’s experience and mobility on the inside Bught was the component that seemed to make the rest of the front men tick.
Inverness started off with a flourish- it is not for nothing that they won their two openers - and The Goalie had to be lively to push aside an early opportunity that fell to the City Slickers . It soon become clear however that Eddie Tembo -especially in the early stages -was not going to be baulked and he began to drive balls forward up the line , a feat matched on the other side by Dave Maclennan. It was a long ball from full centre Arran Macdonald -his hitting was immense throughout the afternoon -that was flicked on to Gregor McCormack in the full forward position. He knocked the ball back and Neale Reid -who gave wing back Daniel Polombo a torrid time throughout the afternoon -was on hand to fire it in to the net.
Sustained Glen pressure kept Inverness pinned back for the next period despite the efforts of Davie Glass and Drew Howie to stem the tide. However they could do nothing about Reid’s second goal which came in 15 minutes. The youngster picked up the ball and ran through the Inverness defence only to be blocked by home keeper Stuart Macrae ,who had a much more successful afternoon than the final score suggests. The ball broke wide but Reid was first to react. Sprinting back out he retrieved the loose ball and volleyed an unstoppable strike into the roof of the net.
The third Glen goal was a delight: Eddie Tembo broke on the right after running on to a lovely through ball from Lewis Maclennan. The big wing centre rode two heavy tackles on the side and fired the ball across the D where Maclennan , at full stretch caught the ball on his stick and guided it past the helpless keeper. It was as near to the perfect goal as the Glen usually gets .
Maclennan might have been given another goal a few minutes after that when he pounced on a ball across the D and dinked it in over the line just in time for referee Calum Duff to mark it down as offside. The decision from the stand looked marginal but by definition margins can lead either way. Sadly this time the decision went with the home side.
A few minutes later Maclennan again caused Inverness to feel the pressure when he won the ball about 15 yards out and fired a rocket shot on goal only to see his effort blocked by Inverness keeper Macrae.
The second half began with the Glen under more pressure than they had experienced in the first half because this time they were playing into the wind which turned out to be stronger than first realised. The result was the Inverness began to gain more possession and it was only the fact that the Glen defence is of top quality that kept out the home side. The main handful was David Neilson and but for the fact that the Slickers were missing Gordy Gray the suspicion is that they may have pulled something back. Steve Munro was up as front man and he never gives up and it was his persistence which saw him embroiled in a clash with full back John Barr that almost brought the home side back into the match. Barr won the ball but in the process Munro was knocked to the ground and the incident was judged by referee Duff to be a penalty.
Inverness’s new signing Neilson steeped up to take the strike but Stuart Mackintosh was up for it and pulled off a magnificent stop at his left hand side. Not for nothing does the Goalie hold the record for under 21 appearances in the national jersey and it is only a shame that the absence of the Glen from the top division means that the likelihood of senior international honours is liable to be denied to him.
Having lost that chance Inverness fell away and though the Glen had to replace the injured Dave Maclennan and Andrew Corrigan who had taken a nasty blow to the leg in the first half the side if anything grew stronger.
The fourth goal was another top drawer affair when Eddie Tembo worked a long ball forward to McCormack who sprinted wide on the right before cutting the ball back into the path of Lewis Maclennan who blasted it past Macrae ,who was fortunate enough not to have been struck by accident with Maclennan’s phenomenal strike.
The final Glen goal came right on the final whistle and was enough to grant Neale Reid a well deserved hat-trick. Having closed down keeper Macrae at pace Reid was struck on the back by the keeper’s clearance but still had the presence of mind in front of the sticks to steer the ball home through a ruck of defending bodies on the line. That act alone means that he merits the coveted headline pic of the week. Well done young man! Look who you are upstaging! Behind you-no not Peter.
Anyway, there we have it- a comprehensive win for the top side though the Wing Centre will not be counting chickens before they actually hatch. Saturday’s game against Skye will be a big test. The Islanders will be keen to do well and if rumour is to be believed they will have a full side out at Blairbeg to contest the quarter final MacTavish match. The forwards will have to be right on their game if a semi place is to be gained.
If euphoria was the order of the day at the Bught, the afternoon match against Boleskine was a disappointment. Suffice to say that the Glen should have won out of sight, despite the absence of a number of players and injuries to Dave Smart and latterly Calum Miller.
In the end Boleskine pinched the points in the last five minutes.
Glen took the lead early though a nice Bradley Dickson finish but ironically Glen native Raymond Robertson pulled one back for the boys from the bad side of the loch. Neat combination between Ali Mackintosh -who was called on to replace David Smart-and Calum Miller restored the Glen lead but a long hopeful drive by Ben Taylor-Macpherson (they don’t make names like that on this side of the loch) eluded Glen keeper Dave Emery and the sides were level. Lewis Smith put Boleskine in the lead for the first time in 70 minutes but Ross MacAulay who had moved up from the centreline equalised in 75 before things finally turned bad for the Glen.
For the second time in the afternoon, referee Duff awarded a penalty against the Glen ( the Wing Centre can feel a quiz question coming on) but this time his decision was judged by the spectators to be correct. The Wing Centre can hardly bring himself to admit it -since by nature he feels that all penalties given against the Glen are unjust - but CD was correct. Lewis Smith stepped up to take it and promptly had his shot saved by keeper Emery but the rebound fell to David Fraser and he made no mistake from severe close range.
All in all a disappointing result and made all the more so in the knowledge that the game should have been well and truly won before half time.

He-e-e-e-e-e-e-eere’s Benny !

2008-04-20T23:03:00.003+01:00

Sutherland Cup
Glenurquhart 8 Lochaber 1
While the top side were over on the Misty Isle and in answer to the Wing Centre’s fervent prayer were actually scoring, Hendo’s youngsters were doing likewise at Blairbeg. To be fair they faced up to a very young Lochaber side which will mature in time but though the descendants of the West Highland cattle thieves put up a good display in the first half to keep the scores at 1-1 (despite several blows to the post from Glen camans) they were never going to cause such havoc as their ancestors did at Coire Buidhe.
The game opened on a rather risky note from the Glen when Dave Smart was booked in 2 minutes as a result of a mistimed tackle but made amends not long afterwards when after excellent work on the right by young Ben Hosie he fired a shot off the Lochaber post. Within a minute another youngster Bradley Dickson had a shot well saved by the Lochaber keeper.
The Glen were fully on the attack at this point and soon it was full forward Calum Fraser who broke through only to see his drive whiz narrowly past the post. If there was a feature of the match at this period it was the right wing forward display by Ben Hosie. Always willing to taken on his opponent and with an excellent touch on the stick he made life difficult for the Lochaber wing back who commendably was never tempted to strong arm the Glen winger off the ball.
In 20 minutes Hosie burst through the defence to get on to a Calum Fraser cut back but his shot flew narrowly past the left hand post. The Glen began to force a series of corners at the Druimlon end and twice more Hosie had his attempts blocked by the Lochaber keeper.
When the breakthrough came however in 30 minutes ,it was Bradley Dickson who was the supplier. Winning the ball on the left he squirmed it back to Calum Fraser who hit it briskly past the helpless Lochaber keeper.
The Glen continued to press and a snap shot from Smart came back off the post with the keeper stranded while a Fraser cut back again found Hosie who once more saw his shot pushed past for yet another corner.
Then just before half time , disaster struck . Some slack marking in the Glen midfield allowed the Cattle Lifters to get a rare ball forward and being the shady bunch they are they pinched a goal courtesy of a nice finish from Kenny Forsyth. The time of the theft was an irritating 44 minutes.
The second half however saw a different scenario played out . Within five minutes of the restart David Smart had restored the Glen lead with a neat finish and shortly afterwards Ben Hosie made it 3-1 thanks to an excellent finish from the edge of the D. Next it was the turn of Bradley Dickson to add to the Glen total with a magnificent strike from distance which the Lochaber keeper could do nothing about.
Ben Hosie was next on hand to score when he grabbed his second to make the Glen total 5. It was a fitting reward for the youngster because he continued his excellent display right throughout the second half . Not only did he place the corners he took from the right perfectly on to his onrushing forwards , he always looked to be creative whenever he got the ball and in the circumstances, being directly in front of young Neil Porter he received plenty of through ball. On several occasions he outwitted his opponent by flicking the ball back between his own legs to leave himself free to run on to goal and as the pitches dry out and if the grass is kept short he ought to find things should be more in his favour. As he returned to the wing after the strike the Club snapper captured the picture at the head of the report and because it contrasts so greatly with last week’s post Balliemore illustration
At this point Manager Henderson rang some changes and introduced wily veteran Stuart Morrison to the fray and he promptly rewarded the manager with two goals of his own -one which the Wing Centre did not see because he was busy taking a collection from the gaggle of interested observers who had assembled to spectate.
The second Morrison goal ,which made it 8 for the Glen, came interestingly enough in 88 minutes and is described as a “well struck shot” in the Wing Centre’s reporter’s notebook and so it probably was though it cannot bear comparison with the glorious 30 yard drive from David Smart which gave the Glen their 7th goal . It flew perfectly straight and true into the shop end goal and was along with Bradley’s earlier goal and Ben’s overall performance the reason why the Wing Centre has wasted so much of his adult life following the indigenous sport when he could have been digging his garden or completing DIY tasks around the house.
Just as the game ended word came through from the Inner Hebrides that the top side had won 3-1 and that Neale Reid and Lewis Maclennan had scored.
“Who got the third?” was the question asked.
It was Cork. There was delight all round the ground- and the joy continued unabated even when Astie at Alton Towers spoiled the celebration by reporting that Ally Mor had phoned to say the ball had come off a Skyeman called Alan Macleod. The Wing Centre wonders whether the fellow exists and that Ally Mor was trying to upset the Glen and produced off the top of his head for Astie’s benefit one of the two traditional generic names for Skyemen, the second being Angus Macdonald. Whatever - Ally Mor’s version stood and Alan Macleod got official credit for the goal - which is surprising because he plays for Strathglass..
It might be worth noting that the Glen minutes will undoubtedly grant the goal to Cork.

When the cat’s away it seems the mice are reluctant to score.

2008-04-12T14:01:00.001+01:00

Glenurquhart 2 Lochcarron 1
Glenurquhart 0 Caberfeidh 0

After the slowest of starts to the season, the Wing Centre has managed to be firth of the Glen long enough to miss two games in a row-one a fine win at home to Lochcarron in the MacTavish Cup and a not so fine draw with Caberfeidh also at home . So what can you make of the Glen? At least as far as this season goes so far they have not been beaten .
However the real verdict must be that the Wing Centre is unsure really at this stage and somewhat concerned about this weekend’s trip to Skye which is why this piece has not been posted in time for the youngsters to read it and feel that the Wing Centre is suffering from a crisis of confidence..
Still it was nice to defeat the Caranachs in the Cup and this weekend should be a bonus in that it will tell us a little about the nature of the Sgiathanachs. The hope is that with their football season started the few of them that see a future playing pub football in the North reserve league, will be playing the round ball game to try to impress coaches who have come over to see the natives disport themselves on the reservation.
The Wing Centre has an instinctive distaste for the imperialist tendencies of football, especially now that it seems to have been given the approval of the Almighty in the Glen but sometimes it is an ill wind. The hope lingers that half the Skye squad will choose the round ball this weekend -though most probably Davie MacVicar has converted the whole top end of the island to the true faith with his evangelical fervour for the stick game.
Back to the Caranachs. The Wing Centre was in the car driving through the snow and speaking to Mr Reid about the game. Mr Reid had just paid the referee an inordinate amount of the Lotto money for coming north from Argyll to officiate- whatever happened to Donnie Fraser from Inverness- and was clearly in no mood to go into fine detail on the match.
“Two goals from Lewis Maclennan “
“That it”
“Yeah”
“When did he get them?”
“During the game- when do you think?”
“Astie will want the times.”
There was a great deal of sighing . The Wing Centre had to remind Mr Reid that he possessed a photograph of Mr Reid as a young nipper in the 1958 school Macpherson Cup team ,which ,if published would cause his two sons and most probably his good lady to laugh and laugh and laugh.
“35 minutes and 82 minutes”
“Their goal?”
More huffing and puffing
“Darren Coyle 44”
“So it was a close game and we nicked it at the end . What were Lewis’s goals like?”
The phone went dead. Mr Reid was obviously in no mood to elaborate.
Hendo wasn’t much better.
“What were Lewis ‘s goals like?”
“Good goals. That’s all Lewis scores”
So that was it-no more to say or describe.
As for Lochcarron , for all the heroes were concerned they might have spent the day rounding up sheep or painting the boats on the loch for all the attention their efforts attracted.
On return to Drum the question was asked about the Caranachs.
“How did Alan Mackenzie play at full back?”
“OK but Neale Reid gave him a hard game ”
“But it’s the great Alan Mackenzie. The best full back in the whole world apart from the eight in the Premier League that is”
“He was OK”
“What about Kenny Ross?”
“Ok -but he’s not as hard to play against as his father”
The Wing Centre was taken aback by this because he did not think the speaker had ever played against Kenny though he had clashed camans with Ronnie often enough.
Asking about the Cabers game caused more problems. A wall of silence descended.
“What happened?” seemed a reasonable request at the time.
It obviously wasn’t.
“Typical Cabers game. A wet day. Freezing cold. The park was heavy-just couldn’t score. You know Cabers-hard at the back. Denzil and the rest of them. Macgregor as well.” said Mr Reid
“What’s wrong with that?” asked the Wing Centre
“Nothing, “ said Mr Reid.
“So how many saves did Archie the Goalie have to make”
“None”
The Wing Centre paused for dramatic effect.
“But they never threatened us either” concluded Mr Reid.
The picture was becoming clearer : in the end the press release from the politburo stated that the Glen had 70% of the play but the other relevant fact was that Archie the Goalie made no saves. Then again neither did Stuart the Goalie
The Wing Centre was about to phone Davie MacMaster to get the other side of the story but in the end decided not to bother. If Stuart the Goalie had no saves to make then what was the point of having Davie MacMaster trying to beat down the Glen figure of possession claimed from 70% to perhaps 69%. Waste of time.
It was Astie at Alton Towers on Tuesday who really forced the Wing Centre to think on his feet.
“No one phoned in the result last week“, he said accusingly “but I got it in the end”
“Glad you did but that would have been Mr Reid and from his perspective it would have been right not to phone.”
“What do you mean ?“ said Astie.
“Well there were no goals , so Mr Reid would have thought there was no point in phoning in because the default position on your computer would have been a 0-0 draw. What was the point of contacting you when you already knew the result.?”
Astie put the phone down - and the Wing Centre notes that the Glen were not awarded the prize for Team of the Month.
As for the snap at the top, the Wing Centre thought it might be a good idea to remind the lads what it feels like when you don’t score. No? Perhaps not such a good idea after all. Then score!!

The Wanderer Returns

2008-03-22T22:07:00.005Z

Glenurquhart 8 Ardnamurchan 0
It is the best start the Glen has had to a shinty season for years: four weeks in and neither team has lost a point or even a goal. If only it could always be like this! What is more - quick glace at the shintyshop.com results page reveals a familiar name up near the top of the scoring charts. Who other than J Bell (4)? He is scoring freely for Aberdeen University as he has done since last century. He is certainly the lost Messiah of Glen shinty, the wunderkind who moved away to grace the shinty scene in Aberdeen fifteen or more years ago. He kept his talent and passion for the game and retained the true faith, never giving up, never glory hunting. He should be recognised by the Camanachd Association for services to the indigenous sport. The bottom line is -the Glen have never replaced him.
Aah -the period 1982-1987 was truly a golden age in the annals of Glen Camanachd.
Enough levity -it is a serious business when four weeks into the season the Glen have yet , in the words of Beauly’s own Caldermeister “to lift a caman in anger”. Not that anger ever enters the minds of Glenners on the field of dreams -that we leave to other Glens and Straths. However for the sake of some reading matter a brief report of the Glen’s only competitive match this season is worth putting down. The result is of course given at the head of the column but what is more worthy of note is the pic taken by the Wing Centre’s favourite snapper, Mr Denoon of Fort Augustus and Inverness.
Yes your eyes-and the Wing Centres -do not deceive . Himself is back from somewhere and better than that -back in the Glen colours. If the side could only get a game under its belt and the force stays with us until we get up to competitive speed-the Wing Centre’s only worry is that the side has overtrained -then the omens are good. The same side as last season with Himself added to the pool. The cup game against Lochcarron will be the tester-and on that subject it is sad to note the retirement from the stick sport of the west coast sides’ peerless Iain Mackenzie through injury. He was a superb stick player and it is to be hoped he will be able to put something back to the youngsters of his home club through coaching or the like.
Back to the matter in hand which is the Ardnamurchan report. It has to be said that this match was never a classic though the youngsters who turned out acquitted themselves well. Indeed the Glen got off to a rapid start when Davie Stewart opened the scoring with a fine strike in 6 minutes. The ball was worked forward by young centreline maestro Neil Porter - his fine performance was a feature of the game -and Davie S fired the chance into the roof of the net.
And that was it for the rest of the first half. Ardnamurchan put up the shutters, the Glen failed to get any coherent pattern of play and despite some nice pushes forward and skilful touches from Dave Smart , the net refused to bulge. Mr S had some scope for killing off the match but scorned to take it. At the back Calum Smith and in particular Drew Maclennan were quick to snuff out any thrusts forward by what was a young if indirect Ardnamurchan team.
The second half was different- not least because a three goal Glen burst inside 7 minutes of the restart changed the complexion of the match entirely. The first of these came in 48 minutes when Calum Fraser latched on to a ball from Dave Smart. His initial shot was well saved but the ball came back out to Fraser who finished off well. The same player hit the target with a fine finish after some nice shinty in 50 minutes and before long the ever lively Bradley Dickson had drilled home yet another goal and the game was well beyond the Lighthouse Boys.
This comfortable cushion of goals was enough to allow Manager Henderson some scope for experimentation and also permitted him to give Himself a run out on the hallowed turf. With Dave Smart withdrawn because of a slight injury , the Boss also replaced the injured Donald Fraser and centre man Matthew Clark to give a run to Malkie Munro and youngster Ben Hosie.
It was EJ Tembo (Himself ) who bagged the next goal with a massive strike from the centreline which left his fans gasping with wonder. It was the sort of goal he will not get in the Division above because the keepers are more clued up but the young Ardnamurchan keeper had come off his line and EJ’s drive off the tee simply deceived him.
In the 75th minute Ben Hosie worked a dead ball out to Calum (Jock) Fraser and the big striker won the match ball when he completed his hatrick. In 80 minutes Bradley Dickson helped himself to a second goal before the scoring was completed in favour of the Glen through an unfortunate own goal from defender John Nudds . It was an undeserved piece of bad luck for Nudds who had had an excellent second half in very trying circumstances. He is a good player and Ardnamurchan are by no means a bad team as their most recent result -a 4-4 draw with the Caranachs proves.
Next week the Glen are involved in a sudden death encounter in Old MacTavish’s fine cup competition and given that the opposition is Lochcarron , then the form will have to be good. Goals one expects will be required.

At least the Glen have a home draw.

Without You ,What Would Shinty Do Ron Ron ?

2008-03-08T19:16:00.004Z

Premier League.
Lovat 1 Kingussie 4
It was a lucky chance (what other kind of chance is there worth writing about?) but the Wing Centre found himself over at Kiltarlity watching Kingussie play Lovat on the opening day of the season. There were quite a few other chancers over at Balgate too and all there because poor weather had forced the cancellation of their home fixtures. Had it not been for the incessant rain then the Wing Centre would have been at Blairbeg watching the Glen playing Inverness and an enjoyable experience it would have been too. The other chancers who arrived at Balgate composed a Beauly contingent-Dave Calder, Davie Mackay , Simon Jack and Martin Maclean, the Glen’s own Hendo plus Strath’s elder statesman George Fraser. The group was later joined by former Scotland on Sunday Shinty Correspondent Brian Denoon who provided the snap at the head of this column. As with all pics in the “D” Blog it can be read on many levels : so do the work yourself. The least likely is that Dellboy Dawson is bowing down in homage to the resurgence of the indigenous sport at Balgate.

One point worth making however was that from the snap it can be seen that Lovat seem to have a fair amount of local sponsorship and good luck to them.
Now the chancers did not mix with either the Crofters or the Dellboys : the intention was to have a cold analytical look at both Kingussie and Lovat and fraternising might have deflected the trusty companions from their task.. However a good part of the early part of the first half was filled with unfocused shinty related blethering before the group became aware that Lovat , who were attacking towards Brockie’s corner, were more greatly in the ascendancy than one would have thought before the game. At the other end though , Kingussie seemed intermittently dangerous in the sense that Ronald Ross and Russell Dallas put their shots on target.
Lovat were fortunate that keeper Stuart Macdonald was in form and in the early stages he pulled off in particular one superb stop from someone -whoever it was, it was too far away for the chancers to see.
Up at the Brockie’s end Lovat made good progress from defence to centreline but when the ball came up to the front there was a distinct lack of coherent interplay amongst the forwards and there might have been more progress made if more shots were played, however weakly, into the D. Perhaps then Ackie Dempster in goal might have had to do some work. On the few occasions Lovat did get shots on target Ackie handled things Ok but had an uncomfortable moment or two in the mud.
Too often , however, Raymond Rennie had a strike from an impossible angle- as far as the Wing Centre knows the only one who can score from these positions is Robert Geddes-and the ball whistled harmlessly off into the fields behind the goal. At some point Russell Dallas opened the scoring and the chancers exchanged glances-now would come the deluge. The second half was set up to be a scene of slaughter.
That of course is precisely not what happened.
There were however three Ronald Ross goals. They were each individually excellent- and they are proof that even on a muddy , wet and bumpy pitch, in a run of the mill League match on a dull March Saturday and with no other Kingussie forward to help him, Ronald Ross is a national treasure. Anyone who pretends to have an interest in sport in Scotland ought to make a vow to see him play once before Ross is gone from the game with the march of time. He totally dominates the sport and has done for years but it is only when you see at close quarters what he can do away from the big stage that you realise the magnitude of the talent that you have witnessed. Take nothing away from James Grieve, Lovat’s teenage fullback. He played Ross well and got his fair share from him for at least 70 minutes . Grieve would also have found Ross to be a hard opponent but a fair one. Never once did Ross attempt to physically bully or smash his way past the youngster. Perhaps one day James Grieve will realise the significance of what that game meant in his own development: he played one on one with Ronald Ross and held his own. Yet Ross scored three.
For his first goal Ross managed to burst past Grieve, who had gone forward to cut out a ball but did not manage to anticipate its bounce. Grieve had a split second to take Ross down but, credit to him, he did not consider the foul though big George and the Wing Centre thought the window of opportunity was there for a non -malicious trip. Ross then ran at pace down the wing with the ball under right hand control and cut into the D from the right. As Macdonald made to approach him he flick-fired the ball halfway up the net between stanchion and post. There was no back swing so the chasing pack were outmanoeuvred and the flick was not only accurate but too powerful and pacey for Macdonald to react to. That alone would have won him the accolade of man of the match but there was better to come.
Ross’s second goal was another testament to class. The ball came over from the left wing into the D : it was bouncing ;Ross was falling and surrounded by swinging defenders yet he punched it with the blade of his caman into the roof of the net via the only available clear route to goal. Not only was the strike precise but he had the courage to do it at personal risk in a game that was already won. It is doubtful if his mind bothered to weigh up the risk.
For his third goal, Ross pressed further up on Grieve, got on the wrong side of him and picking up a through ball dribbled past another defender and the keeper and slipped the final ball into the net- and all this on the muddy bumpy surface and under pressure from harassing defenders.
Ross of course had a number of other attempts at goal in the shape of full drives at the target from distance. Some whistled narrowly past while three others - rocket shots all- were very well dealt with and cleared by keeper Macdonald. The other Kingussie attackers? Ross did not seem to bother with them . He shot himself every time. Despite the presence of Russell Dallas, Paul Gow and a young Borthwick who all ran and made angles Ronald did not seem to want to play team shinty. Perhaps he made a fine judgement on the basis of the condition of the pitch that interpassing was pointless. Perhaps he also thought it pointless because he does not rate his present playing companions to be on the level of old frontline comrades such Fraser Inglis, Kevin Thain and Ally Borthwick. The observation may mean nothing - or it may be a pointer to Kingussie’s prospects of Camanachd glory this year. If you took away the contribution of Ross you might have been watching any other village shinty team in the kingdom.
“Have you ever seen anyone better?” asked Strath’s George of the other chancers.
They ran the names through in their heads-Johnny Campbell, John Fraser, Tommy Nicholson, Davie Anderson, Willie Cowie.
“No”
“Do you think there was anyone better?”
No one could make a judgement on Johnny Cattenach. He died in 1915.
“No”
And that was their last word on the matter.

Clearly, the Wing Centre can hardly wait for the new shinty season to start

2008-02-28T22:27:00.002Z

Since looking on the bright side of Glen shinty is the only purpose for the existence of this column, the point must immediately be made that one of the important things that came out of the recent series of pre-season fixtures was the fact that we did the double over Lovat. Hendo’s Heroes won against the Wee Crofters on the first Saturday and then a week later two goals from Neale Reid and a strike from Lewis Maclennan allowed the Glen to record a victory against the side that undermined our season last year. Not that any of that counts in real life.
However- the pic at the top of the page taken by an old snapper friend, Brian Denoon, is one that speaks volumes and can be read on many levels . Indeed if this were a real blog with prizes to be won surely a caption competition would be in order.
What do we see? Certainly the dug out is neat, clean and tidy and looked after in a Glen -like manner in stark contrast to the photo some months earlier in the blog of the Lovat dugout (scroll down if you must). Thus do well kept farms of the Glen contrast with the messy hill crofts of Kiltarlity. More importantly - and young Ewen Weatherspoon , who has an exhibition of his shinty pictures on display at Inverness Museum ,should take note- here we have in the background two shinty legends having a conversation while young masters Corrigan and Barr burst through the middle to launch yet another attack. The old have handed on the caman of glory to the young.
In any exhibition of shinty photos perhaps there should be included a photo of greats of the past like the Glen’s Jimmac Mackintosh and Lovat’s Jackie Henton. Maybe these two old boys are there on display-the Wing Centre hasn’t gone in to see yet- but the snaps of the old boys like Ali Mac and Tarzan which he saw reproduced in a recent Courier article look as if they would come in handy to put up on a string to frighten roe deer out of the garden.
Back over at Blairbeg however, the heroes did not do so well. The WHFP gave a proper account of the game which the Wing Centre is too distressed to give here. Sufficient to say that the Sgiathanachs won by 4 goals to 1 and played quite well but would probably not have achieved such a margin if full back Donald Fraser had not gone over his ankle. Though he did not manage to come out for the second half-no point in pushing your luck in a friendly-the injury did not turn out to be as serious as was first thought and DF, agriculture permitting, will be OK for the start of the season.
The absence of full back Fraser left the Glen rather light and with seven schoolboys on the park at various times-Neil Porter, Calum Smith, Drew Maclennan, Ryan Brady, Bradley Dickson, Ben Hosie and Ewen Menzies for the list makers amongst us-it was no surprise that the Skyemen came out ahead.
Skye took a first half lead with a neat finish from Angie Macdonald (Borve) before Calum Fraser pulled one back as the cliché goes. Still it is worthwhile for Calum’s sake to describe the goal because it was either a brilliant piece of shinty artistry or the result of a divine judgement on the Skye keeper for having been bad in primary school. Calum got on to the ball some 25 yards out-he was having a good effective game by the way- and on his left hand with little backlift (this supports the artistry argument ) drove the ball hard and low past the goalkeeper (sheer pace involved-more artistry detected). It was precisely 2.25 on the Wing Centre’s watch (this is where the divine intervention may be involved) and at the end of the match the watch still showed 2.25. Why so? Because the Wing Centre , thinking that the shot was a direct goal pulled out the winder of his old fashioned watch thus stopping the movement of the hands. He was then distracted by the fact that Calum’s shot , having passed the goalie smashed into the post , rebounded back , struck the goalie on the heel and returned net wards ,crossed the line and counted in the Glen’s favour by a mere two inches (the case in favour of divine intervention now rests, as Davie Bell would say) .
The Wing Centre forgot to push in the winder and so was able to precisely record the time of Calum’s goal but since he had not taken a note of when the game actually started the GMT measurement is useless as a guide to the precise minute of the strike.
None of this matters because when the Wing Centre usually times goals in a real game and then compares his figures with the times recorded by the former President, the two sets of data might well have been gathered on different sides of the globe, if you get the drift.
Anyway Danny Morrison got two nice goals for Skye before Neil MacVicar finished off the match with a sharp shot into the corner for number 4.
Of the Skye team there is more than a little to be said but by now the WHFP will have said it better . However to give credit (reluctantly) where it is due, Skye did look to be a compact team- in places a little older than the Glen and thus more wily in the ways of shinty. Of course leading them was that old Glen warhorse himself Davie MacVicar and a fine job he’s doing.
As he watched “MacVic“ organise his squad of youngsters, a memory of his youth came back to the Wing Centre. His grandfather , being a crofter (though emphatically not from Kiltarlity) used to release a bunch of stots out of a shed on to new grass and they would charge about daft just like the Skye youngsters let off the island onto fresh Glenurquhart sward. Then the Wing Centre’s ancestor would lead his ancient grey half Clydesdale horse out of the other half of the shed. He had been too sentimental to get rid of the beast when he procured -admittedly late in life- a tractor-and this old horse would plod wearily behind him out of the yard when , scenting the grass or seeing the stots charging around, he would neigh loudly and start to buck and pull on his rope, anxious to get into the action.
Now if the Wing centre was of a Buddhist persuasion- a persuasion not unknown in the Glen let it be said- he would be tempted to say that old Jackie had come back in human form.
Enough of this nonsense- if the weather manages to stay semi decent- there will be a proper match to write about. Otherwise the next entry will be a detailed account of the Glen First Aid kit. The Wing Centre watched the Managerial duo sorting through it the other night and truthfully more than one item had the appearance of being taken directly out of a World War 1 Lovat Scout Medical Kitbag . It will probably have to be updated. .

What on earth are the Glasaich up to now - and why don’t we care?

2008-02-13T22:12:00.000Z

The news when it did come, arrived like a bolt from the back of Beinn na Sparra - but was it true ? Seems it was but the whole story left the Wing Centre wondering what was what. The season is about on us and after a winter speculating as to whether there would be anyone left at the Camanachd Association by the end of February who knew what a Prolam was or could agree that Tanera wasn’t an island or was aware that Heron had nothing to do with ornithology, the prospect of beating Strathglass was the only thing keeping the Wing Centre going.
All of a sudden the news was broken that the Strath had pulled out of the Macdonald Cup. Indeed they had actually pulled out of what was going to be a double header which included ,in the winner’s haul, the Highland Year of Culture Sculpture. How could they do this to us?
As may be seen from the snap at the head of this entry the two Stuarts are all dressed up in the folk costume of the Glasaich and were hoping to welcome them with a Glenurquhart “haka” and all for the sake of a little gentle mirth and then they duck out of the match. To the initiated of the inner world ,it is clear that they do not wish to relinquish their grasp on Old Macdonald’s silver cup by any means.
It is not as if- being brutally honest- we scared them off with a superb display against Fort William in our practise match although their Ally Ban squad have every right to fear Hendo’s Heroes who defeated the Crofters Kids by 2 goals to 1 over at Balgate. Glen put in a good performance in the first half, meaning that James Clark and Gordy Mackinnon came up against stiff resistance in the Glen defence where John Barr, Stuart Reid Andrew Macdonald and Davie Girvan played right out on the edge of their abilities and did well . It has to be said also that the goalie did very well too : he was quick off the mark- his greater application in training has been noted- and he has superb anticipation.
On the other hand while the centreline held firm the forwards posed little threat to the Fort defence-but given that few Premier sides posed them any problems last season either perhaps one can expect too much.
Tiny Macleod, Big Robertson ,Rodgers and wee Robertson are quite good - at least in the Wing Centre’s opinion - and on the day they proved good enough to stop the Glen scoring ,though Andrew Corrigan had some nice bursts through the line and looked extremely pacey.
The second half was where Fort’s experience told of course : Mackinnon opened the scoring with a shot that he was lucky to get over the line -off the keeper’s foot or something ,and into the net by way of Balnain.
“A goal and half that” said the Wing Centre to young Master Mackinnon after the match was done.
“It went in like a Gaelic song” he said and laughed. The Wing Centre was disconcerted by the simile and wondered if Gordy had divined a blas of the west in his accent and was in fact “at it” but he seemed genuine enough and so it would appear that the Fort have a poet in tune with his Highland roots. Gary Innes is obviously not alone at the post match ceilidhs.
James Clark notched the next two- rasper A and neat finish B -although for B he was abandoned to take his time- and then Bryan Simpson finished matters with a well taken goal. The Glen came on stronger in the last quarter but sadly, it did not come to pass.
After the nets were taken down - the Wing Centre likes to watch Geordie and Peter working as a well drilled team at this most irritating of tasks -your correspondent went down to the Blar for a conversation about the game and to await the triumphant return of Hendo and the Heroes.
In the course of the afternoon the “S” word came up again.
“What are they up to?” asked the Wing Centre of the Manager-which Manager it is now hard to remember with any certainty - but the reply was clear.
“They are off to Hampden for a training session” said he (or perhaps it was the other fellow who said it)
Given that Strathglass are one of the most ancient of clubs and cling to the purest most evangelical of shinty faiths- indeed they are much like the Glen in this - it was too much for the Wing Centre to take in.
“Never” he said “They would never be seen to train on a football pitch far less the very home of football .”
In the Wing Centre’s mindset - and it must be confessed in the mind set of all true Glenners- shinty is in a state of permanent war with football - and so all who collaborate with it should be cast into outer darkness for ever.
“Tell us it’s not true , Manager . Tell us they are off to play golf or even that they have gone shopping with their wives. Tell us that it is part of Geddes’s cunning plan to disrupt our pre-season training schedule” The Glen Greek chorus were aghast and disbelieving. How could the Glasaich be so untrue to their Highland roots?
“I don’t blame them for being scared to play us,” said Big Ron “That’s only natural. But you’d think they would come up with a more believable story”
“Oh it’s true enough “ said the manager. “Seemingly Lovat were offered to go down but they refused to go and said they would rather play shinty against Lochcarron”
The Blar went silent at the thought of Lovat having higher principles than those of Strathglass. After all Lovat are nearly in Ross-shire.
“ I cannot imagine the Carrie being in favour of it”
“ I believe he was the man behind the whole thing. He thought it up - him and Gordon Smith at the SFA”
The Blar was unanimous in agreeing that there must be some devious benefit in this action to Strathglass even if it was hard to work out exactly what that might be.
“The Glasaich eh? You’ll never be up to them” said the Vice President.
“Of course its all a Clan thing” said the Goalie.
“How do you mean?” queried the clientele of the Blar
“Well its obvious. Their Frasers just want to annoy our Frasers. It all goes back to a boll of meal or something”
And that’s about as close as the Blar came to making sense of Strathglass’s day trip to Hampden.

Every Picture Tells A Story

2008-01-24T22:16:00.000Z

On the 10th of this month a large and sorrowful crowd from the Glen and beyond gathered at William Fraser’s Funeral Home at Culduthel to bid farewell to Jocky Macdonald . Jocky, who died after a long illness bravely borne, was of course a loving husband , father and grandfather before anything else but in his youth he was also an intelligent and skilful shinty player for the Glen . He was an important member of that squad of players whom the Wing Centre has earlier featured as being perhaps “The Greatest Glenners of Them All”, the team of the late 50s and early 60s.
This was of course the team which started at the bottom in 1956 and in the course of the next 7 years progressed to be the top team of the old Junior divisions. In these 7 years-the years of plenty-the Glen reached 10 junior finals. They lost the first three but then won 5 out of the following 7. Their wins included two in the MacGillivary Junior League, two in the Strathdearn Cup and of course the Sutherland Cup.
During this period many of the players -including Jocky- were serving their time whilst living in “digs” in Inverness and so training sessions at the Inverness High School Gym and “knockabouts” on the Bught Park were an essential feature of preparation for the matches. On these occasions Jocky used to confound the Inverness players who turned up to take part in the hit around for his skills were such that it was very difficult to steal the ball off him . He would often run with the ball on the end of his stick , show it to his opponent pull back the caman and ball and dodge away. These skills used to amaze and frustrate “Beelac” Kennedy in equal measure.
Latterly , Jocky and his old team-mate and best buddy John Alec Mackenzie became Vice-Presidents of Glenurquhart Shinty Club and were regularly to be seen in their seats of honour at the Pavilion . More or less right up until the end of this past season ,Jocky was present at games week after week and it is a great pity the present Glen side could not have rewarded his loyalty-and that of all their fans- with a cup win.
There is delight as well as sadness in the picture of the Glen team of veterans which was taken at the Bught Park in 1987 where they played the veterans of Inverness Shinty Club to mark the Centenary of the “Town” club. One can say “Town “ rather than “City” of course because back in 1987 Inverness still had to achieve city status while the Glen had yet to reach a Camanachd Cup Final. The Wing Centre was present at the game and while the score has slipped from his memory he can remember the silky skills of Bob Macdonald on one wing and Jocky Macdonald on the other. Both Macs were on target that day, Bob’s strike being a first time drive from a ball slipped across from Jocky. Of course supplying the midfield power were Peter English and a tireless Jimmy Burnett who was guesting for the day. Jimmy was the player with pedigree on the park having captained Kilmallie to Camanachd Cup glory in 1964. Sadly including Jocky, four of these Bught veterans are no longer with us .
Don Cumming, Bob Macdonald and of course Jimmy Burnett himself have all passed away and shinty in the Glen is the poorer for their passing.
On the other hand, as was his wont the Wing Centre -who has been asking far and wide for an action snap of the glorious goal scoring Chrissie Surtees taken at Zandra’s sixes-took a trip down to the Astroturf the other night and was astounded to see two full 12 a side teams playing against each other in a practice match. He also observed at hit-ins on the park some fantastically powerful shooting from particularly the youngsters -hard , accurate and unstoppable. Funnily enough, these are the very qualities one wants to hear when describing a Glen team.
Incidentally the picture was provided by Glen secretary Hazel Stewart .
For those who are curious the players are as follows:
(Back) : Andrew Ian Macdonald, Peter Macdonald, Geordie Stewart, Jocky Macdonald, Tommy McKenna , Peter English, John Alec Mackenzie, Bob English
(Front) Don Cumming ,Jimmy Burnett ,Alan Bell, Iain Macdonald, Bob Macdonald, Calum Fraser.
Five Macdonalds in a Glen team - now these were the days !!

Sixes of the Best

2008-01-04T22:00:00.000Z

The Wing Centre has detected a distinct lack of impetus in the shinty environment of the Glen over the past few weeks and even although much might appear to have been happening in the world of the caman in general, it just happens to be unworthy of comment. For those playing catch-up it is worth noting that Mr Duncan Cameron has been voted into office as Camanachd President (he is due to take over after the AGM). More exciting than that, Allan Macleod has resigned as Competitions Manager and Richard Gall has also stepped down from the Camanachd. Much has been written about these departures to which the Wing Centre will add nothing except to say that in a sport with as precarious a hold on existence as shinty has, personnel losses of this kind are not especially sustainable. It is to be hoped that both parties continue to take an active part in the organisation of the sport. For what they have done up to this point the Wing Centre would like to thank them sincerely and also welcomes Davie MacMaster of Cabers to his new post on the Executive.
With these few words the time has come to move on to a more considered piece about the recent successful Sixes in memory of Zandra Mackintosh . The Club has run these Sixes as part of the Hogmanay celebrations which have done much to make a New Year stay in the Glen a more meaningful experience for the visiting tourist as well as undoubtedly a lucrative week in the dead season for local B & B’s. Thanks are here due to the sponsors and the ladies who organise the events.
Whilst a cloud was cast on the opening of the event by the announcement of the death after a long illness of Mrs Cathy Barr , mother of Club President Jim Barr and grandmother of John, as a showcase for the indigenous sport in the Glen, the day was an undoubted success.
As usual the various districts organised themselves to raise sides to contest Zandra’s trophy and this year eight sides mustered appropriate pools of players - each team must include a veteran, a juvenile and a female-and in the end the winning side came via a penalty shoot out between the “Up the Glenners” and Lewiston.
For the record the teams were as follows :
Group A : Balmacaan ; Up the Glen: Blarmor ; Druimlon.
Group B : Townies ; Lewiston; Smiddy; Hillside.
The top two teams in each group made it thought to the semi final stage and thence on to the big game to see who would have custody of the prized trophy for the ensuing twelve months.
There was a total of at least 64 players on the Astroturf throughout the afternoon and it was a most absorbing contest but for the connoisseur of the ancient game the interest was in seeing how the veterans had hung on to their skills. Sandy Macdonald back from New Zealand for a festive break showed the neat touches which we all missed when he decided to emigrate in 1976. Chris Surtees showed good skill in front of goal and impressed the Wing Centre with his speed on the park. The Wing Centre observed Mrs S take a snap of her hubby but at the pace he was moving it is doubtful whether she managed to capture him in the frame. If she did it would be nice if she were to send it to the Wing Centre and we can run a caption competition.

It was good to see Dave MacVicar getting off the Island and mixing with normal people again. Himself and his son Neil both played well but and from their performance on the pitch it was hard to tell who was the juvenile. Neil certainly displayed a maturity with the stick that makes one hope that in future he would consider playing for the Glen with whom his heart will undoubtedly lie. As for Dave-you can take the boy out of Kyles-you can even take him across the bridge to Kyle- but when someone goes past him-and this is happening more often nowadays- he will still take them down-man ,boy or girl. We could do with more of that in the game!
Ron Fraser still has the touches though in the game the Wing Centre actually watched, schoolboy Calum Smith didn’t give him a hit of the ball. Big Mike Cameron still has his amazing skill allied to an acute awareness of position on the field -he knows where he ought to be without having to look : the only pity is that Old Father Time now inhabits his body and makes it hard for him to get to where he is never mind where he ought to be, if you catch the drift. That apart, his control and the little flicks wide were as always fabulous. Geordie and Ken , released from their duties on the Shinty results panel, played their parts - in goal for George and as Ref for Ken. Indeed Ken was so good at the decisions and so clear with his toot of the whistle that if you closed your eyes and concentrated on the taste of your hog roast bun, you would swear it was Coke Macdonald who was the ref- not that you would EVER say that to Ken.
For Ken however ,after reffing ,the best was yet to come. In the end he got a game in the final as a veteran after Ali Mac (sen) did in his Achilles tendon-ruptured is the technical term -and he had to be replaced as the geriatric in the “Up the Glen” Team. It was a role Ken filled to perfection.
In the end , the final concluded in a 2-2 draw. An opening goal from Paul Mackintosh saw Lewiston take the lead- Scott Douglas pulled one back for the “Up the Glenners” who then went behind to a superb Chris Surtees strike before Andrew Corrigan squared matters once more.
Penalties were then taken which went in favour of the “Up the Glenners” though Neale Reid’s ferocious penalty( Stuart Mac showed how sharp he was by diving OUT of the way) was undoubtedly strike of the day.
The trophy was presented to the winning captain Ali Mackintosh (Jun) by Mrs Josie Mackenzie (pic of presentation above) whose only claim to fame is that she was Ladies Player of the Tournament at the Aberdeen Shinty Sixes back in 1977. Google it if you like. The winning team is also included above.

Lochcarron 1 Glenurquhart 1-but the Glen are better on paper so why didn’t they get both points?

2007-12-05T22:15:00.000Z

A typical end of season affair on paper. A 1-1 draw and the Glen losing a point to a side they were capable of playing off the park , provided they can ever get them on the park that is.
“No way would I ever have let in a goal like that” was the comment by Glen keeper Dave Emery (pictured on his toes above) when Mr Reid broke the news to him at the recent shinty meeting that Lochcarron had sued for peace and asked for the Glen to share the points with them in a paper exercise to tidy up the fixtures backlog. Was the pitch unplayable? Probably but if the Glen actually ever finish a playing season-they have not done so for the past three years-then we’ll know that the Camanachd Association is earning its fees.
The treasurer had another request.
“What about the referees fee that we pay the Camanachd? Are we not due some cash back for the unplayed fixture?” he asked Mr Reid
“Where do you think you are, Treasurer? Tescos?” said Mr Reid who was obviously pleased to be finally clear for the season of having to phone up non responding secretaries and refs .
He was also looking forward to having some time alone with his Strathdearn medal.
“Don’t you think,” said Hendo “that there should be a sort of shinty group like the Pools panel to judge the results of games that have not been played and give a little credibility to the fixtures”
“Good idea,” said the Chairman “It would also be a good move especially since we now seem to be building an unfinished element into all our seasons. It would be a sign of good governance if the Camanachd brought just such a body into being.”
“I would be against having to pay an extra fee just for that,” stated the Treasurer , emphatically.
“Maybe after the AGM on Saturday that won’t be within your power to do anything about” said Mary with a hint of menace. “Not that it is of any interest to me any more” she added as an afterthought.
The Treasurer frowned and withdrew from the conversation : he pretended to have no more interest in matters and concentrated on an old bank statement. It was however upside down.
“The only problem is who would sit on such a panel” stated Alan , ever the pragmatist.
“Well for a start” said Mr Reid “there’s Geordie and Ken”
“Don’t you think the other sides might think that they would be a little too Glen biased? “ said Dave the Keeper.
“I don’t see the problem, “ said the Chairman. “They would be fine as long as there were some others there to give the panel some balance.”
“There couldn’t be anyone from Strathglass” stated Mary “Not that it is of any interest to me any more”
“Well no-that stands to reason. Strathglass don’t have anyone who knows anything about shinty anywhere in the whole Strath except Jimmac- and he is really from the Glen”
The Treasurer perked up.
“What about Coke? He’d be OK”
There was a silence in the Committee Room which seemed to last an eternity.
“Are you trying to be deliberately offensive?” said the Chairman.
“No. I just though that seeing he’s a top referee and he knows the game and he’s from the South his name should be in the frame” replied the Treasurer his glasses steaming up with embarrassment at having to defend a comment.
The Chairman and Mary exchanged looks.
Alan took out some lotto tickets and jingled the money bag about but the tension remained unbroken. Finally he said “Look. The Treasurer is a west coaster. You know what they’re like”
“So is Coke,” said the Chairman “but we don’t accept it as an excuse from him”
“Who else from other places could be on the panel?” said Hendo trying to move matters on.
“Jamie Bell for a start- he could represent Aberdeen- and his brother Davie. He could keep us right on legal matters. Burton Morrison would be another good one and young Raymond Robertson from Boleskine to represent the youth.”
“Sounds a good panel” said the Chairman “Geordie, Ken, Jamie Burton , Davie and Raymond”
“That is six”, said the Treasurer “You’ll need a casting vote if they tie 3-3”
“And who would you like to suggest?” said Mary. “not that it is of any further interest to me”
“What about Ian Macleod or Jamie Macpherson? “ said the Treasurer.
The silence which ensued was as silent a silence as the human imagination could comprehend. Not a sound was heard : not a leaf stirred.
“Look “ said Mr Reid “We have to have someone who will speak up for the Glen. I propose that the Shinty Panel should always contain a Glen player from the 1977 Strathdearn Cup winning team”
“Fine compromise” said the Chairman, “That proposal seems sound to me. All agreed. Right we’ll submit it to the Camanachd AGM”

Glittering Turn out For Glen Social Event of the Year *

2007-12-03T22:47:00.000Z

On Friday 23rd November 2007, a party of over 90 players ,friends, sponsors and supporters of Glen Urquhart Shinty Club gathered together to enjoy a splendid social evening in the Clansman Hotel . Nourished by a splendid repast provided by Cobb’s master chef Mr. Dave West, waited on diligently by Rory and his staff and enticed to dance by the Ness Duo the company enjoyed an evening of friendship and reflection. It was certainly an evening to look back with perhaps a tinge of regret at a season which saw the Balliemore Cup and the League trophy come close but remain just out of reach.
On the other hand ,it was also an evening to look back on what was achieved- the under 14 side made it through to the final of the Development League and shows that we have taken some steps forward in our youth policy; on the pitch the top side played some marvellous games and -though the Kyles victory remains high on the Wing Centre’s personal list of favourites-holding Fort William to a 1-1 draw at An Aird in the Camanachd Cup must be the true highlight.
And aren’t the gods of shinty cruel : neither Lovat or Kinlochshiel -and they won the trophies which mattered -produced a performance like that this season. Still it is memories like these which give hope and focus for seasons yet to come.
Social evenings are also an occasion for giving out prizes and saying thank you to those who have served the Club throughout the years and this year Chairman Jim had at the head of his list our long serving secretary Mrs Mary Macdonald who was stepping down from the post after many years of loyal service. Obviously it would be ungallant to be precise about just how numerous were Mary’s years of work on behalf of the Club but suffice to say that they are considerable and much appreciated by all.
Also stepping down from the task of regulating the weekly Lotto is Mrs Ann Fraser and many thanks are due to her for all her efforts.
As a token of gratitude from the Club Mary received a piece of jewellery and was presented with a bouquet of flowers.
Mrs Helen Maclennan was recognised for the sterling work which she does with the young players and she in turn paid tribute to Stuart Reid who did so much in his placement in the school during the summer term to raise the profile of shinty amongst youngsters in the Glen. Thanks in this instance too are also due to Stuart Morrison who deals with the younger players and of course to Jan and Alan Bell who do much work with the Primary pupils. Alistair Mackintosh (Jun) and Neale Reid who have also done much to help were also thanked for their efforts.
The main award of the evening -that of Glen Urquhart player of the year-went to Lewis Maclennan (pictured above). Lewis had an excellent season and finished with 29 goals (30 if you count one scored in the North area trials) it would have crowned his season if he had been able to be selected for the North Squad but unfortunately he missed out on that. To be fair on him with James Clark, John MacDonald, Ronald Ross and John Stewart ahead of him in the picking order it was hard to see that dream coming true. However, young Maclennan has laid down a fine marker for the future and it is to be hoped that he will get the opportunity
After the eating and the awards the rest of the evening passed in a blur of conversation and dancing . Old games were replayed and old acquaintances renewed : it was ever thus.

For those with a culinary interest in these things the menu was as follows:

Scotch Broth
Crayfish salad masked with Marie Rose Sauce
------------------------------------------------
Prime Roast of Scottish Beef
served with Yorkshire puddings, seasonal vegetables and a rich gravy
Breast of corn-fed chicken laced with a white wine & cream sauce
served with seasonal vegetables
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Coffee & shortbread

As the party waited at the end of the evening to be conveyed up and down the Glen in the fine autobus provided by Mr Bill Ross of Struie, the verdict was unanimous. A good night was had by one and all.

*written mostly in the style of the Inverness Courier circa 1907

Don't You Just Lovat?

2007-11-26T22:35:00.000Z

Well no not really-don’t really love it at all , especially when the Wing Centre has spent a number of his columns trying in turns to irritate and amuse the good crofters of Kiltarlity, they turn round and give him the only answer that matters. They win the League. And as is always true, he who laughs last , laughs….and laughs…and laughs, though from the look of this snap John and James are still fired up for battles yet to come. Still , their Mams will like the picture, even if it will put every hen in the Glen off the lay for months.
So it’s a humble Wing Centre who prints this picture and wishes the Lovat boys all the very best for their journey up to the Premier League. Here they are for posterity, John and James with the Division 1 (North) Trophy which they well deserved : they beat the Glen twice and if you beat the Glen twice you are probably better than the Glen, hard though that is to say.
“Anything worse than Lovat winning the League?” the Wing Centre asked a young Glen player who shall remain nameless.
“Yes” he said
“What?”
“Strathglass staying in the Premier ”
And when you look at it like that , Lovat winning North Division One was not the worst that could happen this season.
Truth to tell, Lovat seemed to come late to self-belief and perhaps the experience of coming from behind to beat the Glen in Drum brought on their confidence. So we can take credit for that then.
When the Wing Centre went over to see them last, he had to travel to Castle Leod where they were up against a determined Caber’s outfit and despite sharing an even first half the black and whites ran out clear winners in the end scoring six goals. Steven Cameron was the player that most intrigued on that day and on others too- he can hit a ball with excellent accuracy and without any obvious back-swing. He is strong physically and can make himself space by throwing off the defenders : the nearest player one can compare him to is former Skye full forward Calum Murchison . The only doubt is whether Cameron will have the mental toughness to prosper at the highest level and whether he will add some serious fitness to help him make the most of his talents. Murchison did that when Skye were at the top and he has a Camanachd Winners medal to prove it. Time will tell for Lovat. Whatever he does in the Premier, he was certainly too good for the Glen in the North Division.
Watching them demolish Cabers that day, it was clear they had too much of a never say die attitude to let ‘Shiel simply run away with the title however much their final fixture against Inverness helped them. They did take 6 off Cabers , a feat ‘Shiel never looked like matching but because -some honourable exceptions aside-their side was packed with kids the Wing Centre did not really think they were on for the League until it was too late to do anything other than be jealous of them.
At Castle Leod, they had a royal defence-(four Jameses-geddit!) but their real ace was between the posts . That boy is going to be a great asset in the Premier- and this respect comes from a club which has a top goalie itself.
The Premier will be a big ask - though Strath have stayed up for two seasons or so now- but at least three of the Jameses are not getting any younger and will have to dig deep to hold out Premier forward lines.
They will take points at Balgate if they can keep their self-belief .Raymond Rennie and Martin Bell are long overdue a run at the top level and the kids will grow into the job-they always do. The talismanic figure in the side however ,to the Wing Centre anyway, is Ewan Ferguson : he never gives up and never stops running. In any sport at any level, that has to be inspiring. If they get Fraser Gallagher back- and he decides he wants to be part of something then who knows?
On Saturday past, James and John picked up the award as Coaches of the year and well deserved too - to the victors go the spoils - and it was nice to see a Lovat table in the Camanachd tent to greet the victory. Mary Ann, Ally Macrae , Graham and Linda Bell have waited a long time to see their side on the up- and the Wing Centre hopes the young guys realise they didn’t just do it for themselves. Theirs was also a victory for Jackie , Big Finlay, Don Neil, the two senior Jimmies G & J and the two Ronnies - yes and for the memory of Hughac and wee Ali as well.

*The Wing Centre would like to thank John MacR for the photo which was taken by Phil Downie