The Nights are fair drawing in

As far as the Glen Year is concerned it’s almost a wrap- the Games are over and up at Corrimony & Buntait Farms, Barbara is once again selling tickets for the Pumpkins on the internet. To be fair it would be easier to get tickets for Oasis than for Barbara’s Pumpkins, the demand is so great – but when you’re old and a little bit off the digital pace you have to live with it and hope some younger relative can work the magic buttons. Apparently, they have.

The Games had their uses because Andy and his Fundraisers had a big push to raise some cash: Lovat has the Belladrum Bonanza to raise the shekels – as for the Glen the Games as always have been a useful addition to our sporran. On the day we had our stall with various “skills” on offer as well as the Shinty Bar in the Hall. There, of course, a whole other set of "skills" can come into play before the end of the night-not that one would want to dwell on these.

As well as that we had a tractor push at the Black Isle Show - this is where Rory comes into his own – 

and then again, a week after the Games, Laura Q and her Fundraisers organised a Caber Carry down the Glen. It was sponsored of course otherwise nobody is going to bother carrying a caber when they could put it in the back of Jed’s trailer and run it down to Drum.

On the actual field though things have not been so prosperous. The last game I can vaguely remember was a loss to Kinlochshiel at home by 5-1. A disappointing game for us in which we were outplayed by two guys with a Mum from Drum - the Nixon brothers scored three of the five goals. We did get a goal back - and thereby hangs a tale.

“Who got the goal for us?” the Wing Centre asked the loungers and loafers in front of the pavilion as the game proceeded.

“It was Alfie,” came the reply.

“You sure?” said yours truly. It didn’t look like Alfie but then you can never tell nowadays because they are all wearing these helmets. They all look the same.

So I asked Alfie’s Mam. She agreed it was Alfie - so far so good.

At the end of the match as the boys were leaving the changing rooms I saw Alfie.

“Nice goal today. Alfie “  I said.

“It wasn’t me - it was Charlie who got it.”

“But your Mum said it was you - so I’ll have to give the goal to you. When you read the Camanachd website, you’ll find out it was actually you who scored”

Alfie looked upset. “What a loyal brother he is” I thought to myself, reflecting that my own brother wouldn’t have thought twice about doing me out of a goal but at least my Mum would have known which of her sons was which – but then one was fair and one was dark. That is clearly not the case for Alfie and Charlie-see the pics - but then again helmets muck up the visibility. For those of you not certain who is who, it's Charlie at the top and then Alfie below- or is it? Not sure-over to you, Mum.

Back in the second team we’ve lost 5-1 to Beauly - not surprisingly because the men in Green fired a number of first team lads into their side. But then “they are allowed to play!” as DP says whenever the Wing Centre starts a whinge - and of course he is right and probably we should have done the same thing with our team selection too but we just seem to be in a perfect storm. We do seriously need to get a decent team out for the remaining two fixtures.

However, we do have a positive spin to put on things.

Last Saturday the youngsters went to Newtonmore - only Andrew “Corky “ Corrigan was of mature age - and while Jed Stoddart is in his early twenties all the rest were teenagers. Newtonmore might want to say that too but the presence of Norman Campbell and Glen Mackintosh on the team both with “hunners of winners medals” each made the gig a difficult one.

Despite the venue - and very likely despite what the Strathie will say-The Glen had the majority of the play in the first half. ‘More’s Norman Campbell was the sticking point at full back. Indeed , as they should be, the Glen youngsters were impressed by him. His play - not so much - but particularly in the way that he coaxed and coached his young players on the field. He is also a fair player - but tends to stay on his “D”. At his age that is no surprise.

After the first water break Glen front man Jed Stoddart tried to pull him out wide and this worked well enough to allow Jed to have a couple of shots at the target but unfortunately, he could not find the back of the net. Jed kept plugging away at all times unselfishly bringing into play the rest of the young Glen front line but Alfie Macleod, Charlie Macleod and Daniel Maclean while putting in an excellent shift just could not get strikes in that counted and so the teams went in 0-0 at half time. That this was the score at the break was in no small measure due to the efforts of the equally youthful Glen defence in particular Sam Burnett who handled Glen Mackintosh very effectively in the first half. Sam has not long returned to action following a broken collarbone - and for standing up to and often matching a player of Glen’s experience he deserves the highest praise.

While Andrew Corrigan carried the centreline he had fine support from John Cameron and Louis Montague on the wings - and following that when John Cameron went off Thomas Stebbings played an effective part. In defence Tom Edwards effectively prevented Newtonmore’s young striker James Coyle from hitting the target while remaining defenders Murphy Ross and Doug Brockie dug (sorry Doug) deep and refused to yield.

In the second half Newtonmore finally broke through and Glen Mackintosh picked up a goal but shortly afterwards  Daniel Maclean who'd moved up onto Norman Campbell , brought the match level with an excellent goal when he latched on to ball in from a corner taken by centreman Louis Montague. Maclean sprinted to the back post, giving Campbell the slip, and having gathered the ball took it past ‘More keeper Cammy Mitchell and flicked it into the bottom corner for an excellent finish

Unfortunately as often happens when a goal is scored ,a lack of concentration in the Glen defence allowed Newtonmore to reply almost immediately and unfortunately this was quickly followed by another strike from Glen Mackintosh.

 ‘More continued to press for a spell but Shalom Brown in the Glen goals pulled off some excellent stops to keep Glenurquhart in the game with a real chance of success and finally, in 81 minutes, Glenn Macdonald made the score 3-2 at the culmination of a real team effort. Louis Montague was again involved in the build up sending the ball down the wing to Charlie Macleod who dribbled forward then crossed it into the centre where Alfie Macleod let it roll through to Macdonald who took it away from his marker Rory Gilligan before firing it low into the net. Glenurquhart were then unfortunate not to net an equaliser late in the game when a snap shot from Daniel Maclean on the edge of the  D just failed to find the net.

A positive game then and lots of excellent performances – but sadly the points did not end up on the board.

The future is the way ahead however- and in that context its good to know that the Under-17s have made the semi of the London Shield while the other side-the under17 Development Squad is also through to a semi-in their case the the W.J Cameron. Good luck to them all.

Photos : Thanks to Hugh Montague for those taken on Games Day, to Charlene Macleod for those in the ‘Shiel game -the rest from the Camanachd Association &  GUSC Website and the Wing Centre himself.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

 As far as he can remember the Wing Centre thinks that the guys who first composed and sang this little ditty- see above- finished off the line with ten flat notes that were, after repetition, very annoying. Maybe that was the idea- or maybe that is just a false memory. Could do with some false memories at the moment but then again there is no point in being negative about things shinty wise.

Indeed, one good memory came up in the Wing Centre’s Google Photos the other day along with the guilty realisation that he had not prioritised it for appearance on either the website or social media- that was the annual charity donation to the Care Centre of monies raised at the Christmas Quiz and Swinndle. This has been a regular ritual for more years than one ought to remember and given the length of time it has continued then the club with the help of the various businesses in the village- in particular the Millers at the Clansman and the Gift shop have contributed a sum of over five figures to the Care Project.

This past year the annual Quiz Night and Swinndle draw was held on 29 ^th December. Eventually Club Treasurer Fraser Mackenzie handed over a cheque for £1,322 to one of the oldest users of the centre, 99-year-old Mrs Catherine Henderson, at the annual Strawberry Tea on June 8^th 2024. This picture was taken at the time- and took a little time to be cleared for publication- but here it is now so let us celebrate the Clubs outreach into the community. Not many people know that, unfortunately – and it’s certainly a better record than anything by Max Bygraves (google him if you must) as a man said to me this morning.

Another pleasant recent memory was Jimmac & Kate’s Ceilidh on the 20^th July up in Cannich. An excellent evening with Jim & Kate’s daughters Alison and Ellis at the door. Lots of good conversation and laughs to be had. The music from Jimmac’s nephew Stuart and his mate was good as was the food at the end of the evening and a fine crowd of all ages from tots to pensioners enjoyed the evening fully. The money from the event will be split between Strathglass and Glenurquhart for the good of Children’s shinty in the area which was Jimmac’s passion. The hope is that the evening will be repeated in Drum next year.

While there it was brought to the attention of the Wing Centre that even although he had heard no reports of the score at Cannich between the Strath and the Glen there was in fact a video of the action. Naively the Wing Centre having spoken with Eoghann the Bard and Roddie agreed that he should watch it on YouTube and find out the tenor of the game. Big mistake- everything ‘Glass hit went into the net- which seems unfair- and only Glenn’s penalty counted for us. 

However, we always have the girls who have been putting forward a streak of wins not least being their most recent 5-3 win away at Badenoch. Now let us not get too carried away – we are talking not about the top division but at present we head WCA Mowi North Division 2 and with a following wind and some good fortune, we might pick up a trophy which would certainly be good for club morale.

The Badenoch game is worth a comment or two because the team played an excellent game of shinty. The pitch on the Dell is very much like our own in that it suits their game and is conducive to single touch passing. Beyond that the side displayed determination and while never ever giving up they played with no little skill.
The game was an end-to-end affair with both sides playing ten aside. This was at the request of Badenoch as they had had no first team game as well as a number of   extra first team players wanting to play.
After twenty minutes Rowan Brockie opened the scoring for the Glen when she found the back of the net with a tidy half swing from the edge of the box. Badenoch quickly responded with a neat equaliser.
The Glen held firm however with Roisa Brown a commanding presence in the midfield and Lyndsey Fleming using her pace and skill at half forward to frustrate the  Badenoch girls and forcing them to work hard.
Emily Van Loon  at half back put in an excellent performance with very little getting past her while her sister Becca at full back combined with wing back Amanda Maclennan to shut down Badenoch at every opportunity.
After a short  water break  and bringing on fresh players to help police the mid-field the Glen seemed rejuvenated and this period was rounded off with Freya Gault smashing home an excellent goal to put the Glen 2-1 ahead at  half time.
Glen again refreshed the mid field after half time but despite that. Badenoch equalised to make it 2-2 but once again Gault turned up the pressure on the home side then smashing home her second to restore the Glen lead.  Rowan Brockie followed it up with another strong strike to take the Glen to a 4-2 advantage
Some tense end to end play concluded the match with Badenoch making it 4-3 with Lexi Farquhar completing her hat-trick. However, Glenurquhart held firm and finally Tara McClelland sealed the game with a superb shot from a tight angle from on the wing to make the final score a well-deserved 5-3.

On the men’s side as there have been some good performances if not necessarily results since the Lochaber game.

However, last Saturday’s Premier defeat to Oban Camanachd was a disappointment – but more so, despite a good first half performance was the 3-0 loss to Skye by the second side. Jordan Murchison did the damage later in the game but it would be good if we picked up some points in our remaining matches to stay up in the League. However, whether we do or not depends many factors not least among them how we prioritise the next game against Beauly-though lack of players through injury, holidays and work can play havoc with the best laid plans. The youngsters are playing well – and in the top team its not that far away at times as the Lochaber game showed.

We’ll just have to wait and see how things go against Beauly and ‘Shiel this week- and whatever happens on the field, keep looking on the bright side – and there is no excuse for not looking on the bright side when you consider that all five of our youngsters- Doug Brockie, Tom Edwards Daniel Maclean Alfie Macleod, Seonaidh Macleod have been selected for the Inverness Area U17  team at Spean Bridge on Sunday Ist September. You cant say fairer than that.

Especially not when Finn Cooper, Kaleb Power and Glenn Macdonald have all been selected for the Inverness Area U14 team to play at Spean Bridge on Sunday 8th September. It looks as though we'll all just have to be patient.

 

Glenn scores for the Glen

See how misleading a headline can be. Not that Scots who have gone through a propaganda driven election campaign taking about “change” will be fooled by a mere headline. As the French say “Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose” (the more things change, the more they remain the same)- so you’ll have to skip to the end to find out about Glenn.

In the meantime, lets focus on Ally Ferguson and Angus Morrison and the rest of the Lochaber guys who came up to Blairbeg last weekend.

Indeed, Lochaber-men have been coming into Glen Urquhart for hundreds of years : in the distant past, when they arrived their intention was to burn and steal cattle before clearing off home back down the Great Glen with their ill-gotten gains. In more recent time the clashes have been confined to the shinty field – and truth to tell honours have generally been even over the years. However, earlier this season when the Glen travelled down to Spean things did not turn out quite so well for the men of Urquhart. It was therefore particularly gratifying that in the return fixture – on Saturday 13^th 2024 - at Blairbeg the Glen put in a proper performance and ran out convincing winners by three goals to nil.  

How did that happen?     

Well, you’ve kind of got to be close to the club and actually see the team lines before the match to come away with a reasonable explanation. Either that or simply settle for saying “it’s a funny old game” in the chuckling tones of that late lamented football analyst Jimmy Greaves - incidentally a better striker and a wittier pundit than either Alan Shearer or Ally McCoist - but that’s another matter.  

Did the Wing Centre think that would happen? No. In fact the Treasurer was going to settle for the fact that the modern Lochaber folk like the Fort William folk are generous and that the collection would run into an acceptable three figures – and leave it at that. However, the opening minutes showed the game was going to go with the Glen if the early pattern held out: for a start Lachie Smith was totally dominating in defence and blotted out Mr Delaney who is let it be said a fair player. 

Sean Nicholson did not look to be at it- and Billy Urquhart carried on with his fine form of the season. Both Sean Brown and Fergus Robertson brought their “A” game as did  the centreline with Ally Mackintosh and John Barr rolling back the years.

The real issue however was the forward line-playing a south 2-2 formation at times or a 2-1-1- they all showed a level of pace and movement that we haven’t seen from a Glen forward line since we had Cameron, Maclennan, Heath and Reid all at the top of their game. Of course, that only happened on one day twelve years ago but it was marvellous while it lasted.

To be honest the Wing Centre’s favoured forward line up is the old-fashioned buckshee plus two wingers and the fat guy on the dust. That usually means that you are hitting balls from such a close range at the goalie that he does not generally save them- and any loose stuff coming out is immediately fired back past him. However, Kingussie burst that concept years ago when they replaced the fat guy with Ronald - and say what you like about him, whatever else he did in the game Ronald removed all fat guys from shinty’s equation. On the other hand, perhaps playing in the summer also did that.

So, what were the goals like? 

The first came in the tenth minute when Daniel Maclean picked up the ball out on the right wing and played it over to Charlie Macleod on the other side. He laid it back to Doug Brockie. With the Lochaber defence struggling to react Brockie pushed the ball in to Maclean and when his sharp shot was blocked by Lochaber keeper Macdonald, youngster Alfie Macleod knocked it home for the opener. The pace of the movement was a revelation but was quickly matched by the Glen’s second which came in 15 minutes from Charlie Macleod after further good work from Daniel Maclean had set him up with an opportunity to finish from just beyond the penalty spot.

Lochaber came back into the game for a spell after that and had some excellent and accurate distance shots which Glen keeper Stuart Mackintosh dealt with without fuss. 

One in particular was a collectors’ item when a fizzer of a shot angled in from the left looked to be net-bound only for “Smack” to block the dipping shot by pushing it up into the air and volleying it up-field with the heel of his club as it dropped. He did it all so quickly that there was no point at which the inrushing Lochaber front men could get a touch on either him or the ball.

Alfie Macleod then took a knock on the back of his hand which caused him to leave the field. Fortunately, there was no serious damage- but given the fact that he is going to Ireland with the Scotland under-17 squad next weekend he very sensibly stayed off for the rest of the match.

Daniel Maclean is also Ireland bound- and he had a further contribution to make to the match. This came in 35 minutes when he flicked the ball beyond his man into the path of Ryan Porter who smashed the ball high into the Lochaber net to make it 3-0 for the Glen. 

That effectively was that. The second half was a fast competitive affair and the Glen might easily have had a fourth late in the match but they failed to convert. Big Finlay Robertson came on towards the end to help seal up the centreline and that worked well though he did not have much time to shine.

As for Lochaber they had their chances but resolute defending, effective goal keeping and it has to be said inaccurate shooting meant that they could not get back into the game. The only disappointment was that Lachie Smith was booked: that means that after the Skye game on Saturday he will be out of action for the rest of the season. He has been hard done by over the season- that’s all that the Wing Centre will say. He is a dominating presence at the back and can hit the ball miles out of defence. What’s more- shinty is in his soul. He will be a great miss to the end of the season.

We are off to Skye on Saturday- the youngsters who are due to play in Ireland will surely not go for fear of injury and they have an early start on Sunday. There is a strong case for saying this game should have been called off given that two players will be missing and that it is important for our League position. Truthfully Doug Brockie should also have been in the squad as well- but it’s not before time that the Glen were represented at that level again.

Never mind, at least the girls also won. A 6-2 victory over Strathglass with Rowan Brockie, Roisa Brown, Emily Van Loon, Freya Gault and Amanda Maclennan (2) on the target.

The Men’s 2nds also played at Strathglass - the only thing reported to the Wing Centre about it was the fact that youngster Glen Macdonald scored a penalty-his first goal in a Glen shirt. This is the first time the headline “Glenn scores for the Glen” will have been used in print; you can be assured it won’t be the last.

(Thanks to Hazel Stewart for all the photographs)

 

Remembering the Chief-Chris Surtees 1959-2024

Of course, like everyone else in Balmacaan and Lewiston, the Wing Centre was aware that Chris was not well. He’d been in hospital and the outlook wasn’t good - but he was due back home where he would get some time among his own people. But it was not to be - and what makes his passing more of a shock is the fact that we had seen him down at Blairbeg not that long ago. He was on crutches and told us he had a sore back and was due to go in to hospital to have it checked out but he was the same old Chris - the wee smile, the joke, shaking his head about the team struggling- we all can relate to that.

Whatever happened, the Wing Centre was over at Lovat watching the Glen in the MOWI North division when at the start of the second half there was a minute’s silence.

 “Who is that for?” he heard a spectator ask. That was when the Wing Centre first learned that Chris Surtees had passed away - and it was a shock. Later that afternoon in Drum at the Cabers match there was another minute’s silence and inevitably the mind went back over Chris’s links to shinty and football and since this blog leans towards shinty it is appropriate to note Chris as a player from his schooldays. He played in the Glen team as a keeper and also in the claret of Strathglass for a season or two in the 80s.

Chris played for the Glen in the Sutherland Final of 1987 and later had a spell in management with Glenurquhart when in September 2016, he took us to the final of the Strathdearn against Lochcarron at Castle Leod.  

More recently a couple of seasons back he stepped forward in a supporting role to help his old friend Allan Macleod in managing Strathglass. Back in the old Blarmor days he had worked with Al as well as pub owner and former Glen player  Graham Young- and of course the ubiquitous Dave the Chip .

Chrissie’s funeral on Monday June 17^th  2024 at Kilmore was a large one. He had requested that those attending the funeral wear their sporting club colours and shinty and football tops made the church a brighter place on such a solemn occasion. The presence of a guard of honour was touching. Players representing Strathglass and Glenurquhart in their club colours and holding camans lined both sides of the path leading from the front door of Kilmore to the new graveyard as Kinlochshiel’s Donald Nixon played a lament on the pipes at the head of the procession.

In fact, the crowd was so big that the cortege had reached the graveside before many of the mourners following it had even reached the entrance of the cemetery. Such was the nature of the high regard in which he was held by both communities that the collection taken in his memory at the service amounted to £2141-a sum which will go to the Highland Hospice Sunflower Home Care Team.

The photos above of Chris just capture him as he was- full of craic and joy- its a good way to remember him

It was such an unexpected passing that it took the village by surprise with Chris just 65 years of age – and now the thoughts of everyone in the club and in the wider community are with his wife Trish and his daughter Debbie and the wider family.

(Thanks go to the Surtees family, Neil Paterson and Allan Macleod for the use of the photographs) 

Banishing the Blues and Browsing on the Green Shoots of Recovery.......or something

 

It’s possible that some good times are on the way in what could be thought of as the beleaguered world of Glen Shinty. The under-17s and the Ladies sides-barring the odd hiccup- seem to be going from strength to strength and meanwhile the second team have popped up with two wins in a row which is most welcome.

The most recent of these results- and indeed probably the most decent - was a 5-0 home win over Beauly. Now it's hard to draw comparisons but the Beauly seconds have defeated us for the past two years- and everyone knows that Beauly must have had a tricky time getting a side together given that it was the day of the Highland Cross and that Astie in his wisdom had sent their top team many miles away to the Isle of Bute-though I see from the results that worked out OK for them. I guess it might have been that Bute had more guys away in Germany - certainly the Glen had a few and one guesses Beauly might have had a few absentees as well.

Before the Beauly game we had a  3-1win over Lochcarron . They seem to be having an equally tricky time - but their play in general is good enough so that they do not lose by very much at all. Glen on the other hand being the second side in a two-club set up are very dependent on playing our youngsters at this level - and that puts immense pressure on them.

Now they happen to be good most of the time but physically they can not really stand up to the full-grown adult Silverbacks that strut their stuff in some other teams. However, we had some Silverbacks of our own for the Lochcarron game Andrew Corrigan in particular and he along with Mike Fraser made a huge difference and of course since we only had the one game we had four youngsters who normally play in the top side- John Cameron, Alfie Macleod, Daniel Maclean and Sean Brown.

The Glen dominated the game but as always there was a fly in the ointment and that was Peter Mackenzie, the Lochcarron keeper. He put in a fantastic performance in the first half in particular, stopping a series of shots that really should have seen us several goals ahead by half time. In fact although we took the lead in the 17^th minute through Alfie Macleod we were pegged back to 1-1 when Lochcarron evergreen Gregor Cushnie, in one of their rare attacks, bagged an opportunistic goal in 42 minutes.

The second half was more of the same with Mackenzie refusing to be beaten, keeping out another barrage, before an excellent double from under -17  player Daniel Maclean towards the later stages of the half saw the Glen coast home comfortably .

The Beauly match looked at first sight more problematic with the four youngsters drafted for the previous game heading to the Dell. What they had done to deserve that fate is a mystery to the Wing Centre but with the return from injury of Eddie Tembo and Neale Reid – and with Tommy Ellis on the bench as a striker confidence returned to the spectators in the West Stand. If only we would get a sound system and a fake Highlander to wind us up at the start of a game with the Bught Park cry of “Let’s play Shuntee!!” the whole aesthetic experience would be much better.

It was however good enough though Beauly’s Kyle Macdonald obviously had not read the script. How the spectators wished that Kyle had gone with Storkie and Beaver and got lost in the Affric Hills. (I know-but sometimes I wonder if Beauly have more wildlife in their teams than Sir John has on his whole Aigas Estate- and I don’t just mean the ones with nicknames) 

However, he did not and proceeded to keep out a range of shots including a rocket from Jed Stoddart that had the Glen forwards wondering aloud as to how Beauly have such a good keeper and don’t play him every week in the firsts-but there you go. Then,just when you though things were going to change, young Cork who had been bobbing about in the shinty shallows did what he does best and fired the ball high over the bar. Of course, it turned out that he was just getting his eye in and eventually just before the interval he rasped the ball low past Kyle to put the Glen one up. To prove it was true Astie even put it up on the results page.

Look : Andrew Corrigan 1 (39')

So that was the start – and throughout the course of the second half the Glen stretched their lead.   First Neale Reid notched a nice goal and then Angus MacCallum finished smartly to make it three in 66 minutes. 

It took that length of time to make a real breakthrough as Sandy Tulloch had marshalled his young team excellently with one of his stars being the young wingback Liam Maclean who took the honours as top Beauly player on the day. How they missed Sean Stewart though-he made the difference in the last game. Thankfully he wasn’t present this time.

What changed the balance of play however was when Sandy came off for Beauly- he’d had a big influence on the game. Then Tommy Ellis came on up front for the Glen...and boy did he start on the front foot in the final third. In fact he actually had the ball in the net three times in the last quarter - only two of which were allowed to stand. All followed the same pattern - a hard shot in on Kyles and Big Tommy following up quickly to connect with the rebound and fire it home. It was simple but effective finishing.

Tommy’s build probably helps - he’s a serious size and as indestructible as an …an Abrams Tank (the endless search for metaphor and simile is tiring but ultimately worthwhile) 

If Tommy runs in on goalkeepers, they stay run in on.  It’s certainly difficult for them to keep their nerve-though to be fair Kyle managed it. However,  he was undone by the pace of the initial close range shots which he couldn’t direct wide. The fact that Tommy was closing him down made him rush- a point that EJ made to the guys at the end of the match. We don’t do enough of that.

There we have it.

Anyway, next game up is Strathglass.

Once upon a time, the Wing Centre used to tease Strathglass and put out stuff like this:

He wouldn’t dare do it now. For one thing, some of the more "woke" Glassaich would complain and secondly, up until today at least, Penry has scored more goals than the whole Glen Team. No point in antagonising and incentivising him. That would be really stupid.

That’s the whole point of the game

So it wasn’t a pointless afternoon at all. That’s a good thing though it would have been better with both points but there did not seem anyway that the Glen were going to get that. Given that opponents Kyles had lost heavily the week before to Lochaber there was every fear that the Glen would catch as they say “the backlash.”

Whatever that backlash might or might not have been the Glen certainly did not catch any of it though one cannot blame Kyles for not trying. They opened strongly and for the first 15 minutes or so pressed heavily on the Glenurquhart defence- and fired off a string of mainly accurate shots which were dealt with by Glen keeper Stuart Mackintosh. “Smack” was not a long-term Scotland international keeper for no reason- and for the first time this season he was wearing shorts so that might have made a difference. It certainly taught the south shinty world that you can fire as many hard high accurate shots on the Glen goal as you like but Smack will “do his job”

However, on the 15-minute mark Kyles neat forward play resulted in their opening goal when former Sgiathanach front man James Pringle fired a powerful shot past the Glen keeper from relatively close in. Another quarter of an hour passed and Kyles Connor Kennedy doubled their advantage with a very similar strike beating the Smackster from about the penalty spot with another hard low drive. So far -so bad. The goal prompted the Wing Centre to get a move on and urge the Treasurer to uplift the collection because there was a fair chance that if this on-field behaviour carried on there would not be a collection to take because everyone would have gone home.

The collections at Drum are always interesting because what you pick up in the container is literally a mixed bag- regularly some foreign coins, euros from French, German & Dutch tourists, Canadian and US nickels or dimes or whatever, nuts, nails the occasional screw and most memorably recently-a fishing fly. A very pretty fly indeed but that was not what the Treasurer said when he got it slightly impaled on his finger as he counted the cash.

However, before the collection could take place the Glen suddenly turned things around with Ryan Porter netting from close range to make the score 2-1 at half time. The Glen faithful exchanged glances – “Could this really be happening?”

Apparently, it could – and from looking at the pattern of play it actually did. Youngsters Alfie Macleod and Daniel Maclean began to put Kyles defenders under pressure while the OAPs like John Barr and Billy Urquhart not to mention Mr Corrigan (Henry’s dad) began to get a new lease of life and actually believe that something could be done. You could not say that they suddenly started skipping over Billy’s field like they were stots let out of the winter shed to enjoy the spring grass-but you get the picture. In the end youngster Doug Brockie brought the sides level when he ignored all the nonsense and popped the ball over the line after a kerfuffle that was going to end in a penalty. Wisely referee Dessie McNulty ignored the pleas from the Kyles defence to award the penalty for the foul on Dixie Maclennan. He let the goal stand and young Doug was able to command an article in Tuesday’s Inverness Courier as he had actually scored his first senior goal.

The rest of the game was pretty tight- and it has to be said that Des did Kyles a favour though from the way some of them reacted you would never believe that. Big Calum Miller the full back probably should have received a red card for losing his discipline late in the second half.

He stayed on - and Kyles stayed in the match - indeed in the last ten minutes or so they woke up and pushed again for a winning goal. They didn’t make it - though to read the comments of their Skye-born front men in some publication or other you would think they were worth the win. That’s the trouble with Skye men - the further from Kyleakin they originate the less logical they become. One thing is true about shinty is that you sometimes get what you deserve: the Glen deserved a point; Kyles deserved a red card - but there you go - they also got a point and I guess a point is more valuable to them than it is to us.

In other news the under-17s and the girls’ teams continue to overperform. The U-17 Development side defeated Strathglass 5-1 with four goals from Glenn Macdonald and 1 from Rowan Brockie. Later in the week they went on to defeat Glengarry 10-2, this time with goals from Glenn Macdonald (6) Daniel van Loon (2) Tyler Wilson (1) and Kaleb Power (1).

Meanwhile in the top U-17 squad in the London Shield the Glen beat Kilmallie 9-3 with goals from David Hart (4) Daniel Maclean (3) Seonaidh Macleod (1) Alfie Macleod(1)

As for the ladies a 9-0 away to Ardnamurchan - Hazel Hunter (4) Lyndsay  Fleming (3) and Zoe Smith (2) was matched by the second string side who won 3-2 away to Lochaber thanks to a hat-trick from Rowan Brockie. 

Above and beyond that Glen Urquhart High School girls’ side had a triumphant trip down the road to Uddingston where they picked up the Tunnock’s Cup beating Kingussie in the final. You could say that takes the biscuit- but then again perhaps that’s the whole point.

(Action shots from Neil Paterson-Many thanks, Neil. Nice to see you. Team shots from Glen Facebook)

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

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

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

“Thank goodness” said the Wing Centre.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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