Cork Scores a "Worldie" at ‘Shiel

At least that’s what Cork himself told the Wing Centre. The Wing Centre of course was not actually at the game. Word to the wise-it’s far easier to write about a game if you weren’t there at all- that way you don’t let the facts get in the way of the prose. How does the Wing Centre know that?  He learned that from the best in the business. If Alasdair Bruce were here, he would tell you himself.

Back in the day, when shinty was a thing in the papers and the Camanachd Cup was a big occasion with genuine doubt about who might win it, Alasdair, the Wing Centre, Dave Calder, Kenny Stephen, Charles Bannerman and Bill MacAllister would sit in the stand and carefully note every move that happened on the field. Halfway through the first half at the Bught, Mossfield ,Old Anniesland or wherever, a gentleman would arrive in the stand. He dressed like a gentleman, spoke like a gentleman, and remained unflustered despite having missed a goodly part of the action. This was Richard Bath now re-incarnated as Editor of the Scottish Field: then he was a freelancer of some merit with the Sunday Herald and presumably because of his patrician interest in field sports and general aspects of Highland culture, he was occasionally sent north or west to cover Teuch-Fest or Shinty’s Big Day Out as some liked to call it. 

At half time he would disappear for a period, reappearing later in the second half to take up where he had left off- dispensing bon-mots and affable charm to the rest of us. Next day, his copy would appear. It was always perfect-he had crafted a narrative with all the right scorers in all the right order. Basically, that ,along with an anecdote or two - “colour” to those in the know-is all that is required to cut whatever mustard requires a touch of the sgian-dubh,

So now to Cork- the player whom we older citizens still dare to call “Young Cork”- and, of course,  his “worldie.”  Well, it wasn’t the first goal of the afternoon. The honour of scoring the first goal for the Glen in the 2025 MOWI North 1 Season went to  Seonaidh Macleod. The youngster grabbed his goal on the 10-minute mark when, like any natural striker, he followed in on a goal-bound shot which was blocked by the defence leaving the loose ball close enough to be flicked over the line for the opener. Later on in the match the young man could have doubled his tally when he was offered a penalty after a ‘Shiel defender dropped his club inside the D. However, Seonaidh just failed to convert this with his well hit shot whizzing just wide of the post.

‘Shiel managed to keep in the game with a quick reply though Rory Barclay before Mr Corrigan found the net. The formal title hints at respect-the venerable veteran has of course scored a few times before- and, though the youngsters don’t know it, he has pulled on the blue international jersey of his country on more than one previous occasion.

This time, Jamie Maclennan, returning for his first outing of the season, played a long ball up over the top to the wing forward position. Mr C ran on to it, got the ball under control, turned tightly on to his back hand and with his direct opponent languishing on the ground, fired the ball across the keeper in to the top of the net. A worldie? Defo. Is Cork the G.O.A.T.? Probably not. Probably not even the best player that has come out of Balnain School.

But still he put us on the way - though Shiel youngster Jay Macrae hit two second half goals, Glen toughed it out for the victory in what was a tight game on a heavy pitch. They rode their luck at times but superb stick work by keeper Shalom Brown made the difference on at least two second half occasions when he kept out accurate, powerful shots from the home attackers.

Daniel Van Loon got Glen’s third goal after a nice move where he finished from the edge of the D after the ball had been switched across the field by Seonaidh Macleod.

The winner came courtesy of a last minute penalty awarded for a kick on the ball by a ‘Shiel defender. It was a tough call for referee Andrew Mackenzie to make against a home team but whatever the pressure young forward Glenn Macdonald felt, he did not let it get to him. He stepped forward and smashed it into the top corner. No-one could have hit it better.

An excellent start for the seconds then and let’s hope there is more of this to come. Further worldies would be welcome.

An equally exciting game took place at Blairbeg to herald the new women’s premier league. After a little early Skye pressure was seen off by the Glen backline, Rowan Brockie opened the scoring for the home side in the first ten minutes but Skye equalised shortly afterwards. Glen once again took the lead shortly afterwards, this time thanks to a low driving finish in 26 minutes from Hazel Hunter but once again Skye fought back hard to level the score shortly before half time.

 A tense second half followed with both sides having lots of pressure with Skye edging ahead with 10 minutes to go. Glen fought back but luck was against them when the visitors were awarded a penalty minutes from the end when Rebecca Van Loon to the amazement of the spectators was judged to have kicked the ball inside the D.

Glen keeper Freddi Gilbert got her body to the strike but the ball managed to slip past her to see Skye claim the victory. An unfortunate result in the end despite a fine performance from all the players. Still, this was a Skye team that a year or so ago would have been more convincing victors- so all is progress.

The second women’s team meanwhile made a strong start to the Women's North Div. 2 season with a good away win against Lochaber. Truthfully it was Lochaber who made the early running in this fixture and as a result were 2-1 up at half-time.

Glen came back strongly after the break and in the end ran out victors by five goals to three. Rowan Brockie was the goal star of the show and was top scorer of the day with four goals with youngster Sophie Power grabbing the other Glen strike.

Meanwhile, talking of a game of two halves the National League clash at Blairbeg against Kilmallie was very much just such a Jekyll and Hyde clash. 

Glen started well taking an early lead through an Alfie Macleod strike from close range and then they seemed to do the “Hyde” bit which saw them finish the half behind to two excellent strikes. The first came from Calum MacDougall who brought down the ball a bit out from the D, shook off his marker Fergus Robertson and smashed the ball home to bring ‘Mallie level.

Glen were up against it at this point and had to work hard to hold on. They were helped in some measure when MacDougall missed a chance from close range but matters did not look good when a fine strike from Ben Mackinnon let the visitors take a deserved lead.

The second half saw Glenurquhart make a couple of changes with Ali Mackintosh going off with a muscle strain and Liam Robertson coming on along with Oliver Black.

Glenurquhart appeared to have found some self-belief with excellent centreline displays from Ally Maclean and in particular Sean Brown who began to have the edge on his experienced opponent in the excellent Lewis Birrell.

Alfie Macleod got the Glen level in 61 minutes with a fine strike but though young frontmen Daniel Maclean, Doug Brockie and Charlie Macleod pushed hard for the winner they were thwarted by a determined Kilmallie backline with young keeper Alexander MacNiven playing his part with at least two superb saves in the latter stages.

In the end it was not to be but it’s been a while since we’ve seen such a tightly contested game of shinty IMHO- and they were without Innes Blackhall too.  Never mind, it’s early days yet but let’s hope that it’s a sign of what’s to come.

 

Pictures- they are scarce. Some old ones -one or two taken after the Kilmallie  game after Saturday. We’ll have to sort this out sometime. Thanks to Mark Macpherson, and Peter Jackson at Kilmallie for additional analysis.

 

 

 

Strathglass and the MacDonald Cup: The Art of the Steal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our reasons to be cheerful are numerous.

When you write a headline like this on the blog, some folk in the shinty world will shake their head and think that you are whistling in the dark. But no - and that can be said despite the fact that the first team lost heart somewhere in the later part of the season. The loss to Oban Camanachd was disappointing in its magnitude but in the end, it was only two points. Much more worthy of comment was the fact that the Glen second team picked up two invaluable points against Newtonmore in a 5-2 victory. Again, though that was worth nothing more than two points, in this instance, the two points meant more to the club than the lost points against Oban. It edged us towards league safety. Hardly had that happened when a 7-1 victory over Kinlochshiel finally ensured that after a tricky spell we remained in Mowi North Division 1. 

But here is the thing- the key players in those last two games were our Under 17s and that paved the way for the best that was yet to come because September and October turned out to provide an uplifting end to the season.

Matters at team level started with the Women’s team because the seconds secured the Mowi North Division 2 Title after a convincing season. Their 4-0 triumph over Glengarry in the final home game was the one that actually delivered the title, marking an excellent campaign from a side who have who have proved themselves the top team in the division.

Key to the side’s success has been the form of Rowan Brockie, who has been in exceptional goal-scoring form, netting a total of 37 goals in her debut season. Her impact has been undeniable, offering Glenurquhart a sharp cutting edge in attack.

Glenurquhart’s march to the title included memorable victories such as a 9-0 win against Skye and a 9-6 win over Lovat. Despite suffering a few setbacks, including losses to Strathglass and Strathspey, both of whom looked like they might win the title at different stages, the Glen showed resilience, bouncing back each time to maintain their grip on the league.

The final match, a 4-0 win against Glengarry, was well deserved and showed the determination of the side. With their defensive line standing firm, a hat-trick from Brockie and a single from Amanda Maclennan was enough to take the title.

The next item of note was the fact that Glen’s Development team- which contained a number of the Women’s Development side- went on to pick up the W.J. Cameron Trophy on Sunday the 27^th of October at Mossfield Park in Oban. This trophy is the pinnacle for under-17 Development squads and such were the numbers in Glenurquhart this season that we had scope to play two under 17 squads - the main side and the second squad.

Glenurquhart, Lovat and Kyles Athletic all participated in the finals: games were 17 minutes each way in a round robin format with the team which accumulated the most points taking home the trophy.

The first game saw Kyles Athletic taking on Glen Urquhart. The game was end to end with both teams creating chances. Eventually it was Glen Urquhart who opened the scoring midway through the first half when a lovely take down allowed Glenn Macdonald to turn his marker and take the ball into space just outside the D where he slotted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner giving the keeper no chance.

The second half continued in the same fashion and 5 minutes after the restart Daniel Van Loon found space around 25 yards from goal where he sent a blistering drive from the right-hand side into the top left-hand corner of the net.

A couple of minutes later Van Loon again found space from around 15 yards out and his low strike found the bottom corner to give Glen Urquhart a 3-0 lead with around ten minutes to play.

However, Glenurquhart did not have it all their own way and with 6 minutes remaining in the game Ethan Kerr found the net after a nice turn to bring the score back to 3-1.

Two minutes later Kyles reduced the deficit to a single goal when Roan McVicar slammed home into the roof of the net from the edge of the D giving the keeper no chance.

Kyles completed the comeback with 2 minutes to go when another neat finish from Kerr from 15 yards completed the remarkable come back and ending the game 3-3.

A Lovat victory over Kyles in the second match meant that Glenurquhart would require a win going into the last game to lift the trophy. If the Kiltarlity side secured a draw that would be enough for them to win the trophy.

The first half of the final game final game saw Lovat ahead 1-0 at the break thanks to a strike from Brodie Campbell-West.

Early in the 2^nd half Glen Urquhart’s danger man Glenn Macdonald found himself some space to levelled the scores with nine minutes left to play.

However, Craig Dingwall soon restored Lovat’s lead with a strike from around 10 yards finding the roof of the net from an angle. Minutes after they had gone behind Glenurquhart’s Macdonald again equalised bringing the game back to 2-2 with less than five minutes to play.

Lovat pushed for a late goal and looked the more likely of the teams to get the winner but a swift move from Glenurquhart resulted in Macdonald once again managing to turn his marker and slip the ball past the keeper to find the back of the net for the winning goal.  

This result meant that Glenurquhart won on the day with 3 points, Lovat finished as runners up with 2 points and Kyles were third finishing with 1 point on what proved to be a very competitive day of shinty.

 

The final piece of the Glen’s happiness jigsaw fell into place on the 2^nd November at Blairbeg. That was the venue for the final of the 2024 Mowi London Shield. Why so?

Well, as a result of a fortuitous toss of the coin the Glen won the right to host the final. Newtonmore were the visitors but any thought that they might be favourites had been undermined by the recent second team contest between the teams. Both sides contained numerous under-17s in which the Glen were comfortable winners.

Certainly it didn’t take long for the final to spring into life with Glenurquhart opening the scoring inside 60 seconds, when a drilled pass from Glenn MacDonald allowed Daniel MacLean to use his body well to turn his man before firing the ball hard into the roof of the net from close range. Fears that the Glen would run away with the game having taken such an early lead were unfounded though and it wasn’t too long before Newtonmore levelled the score through James Coyle who fired a great drive in at the near post.

The game continued at a frantic pace with the action being end-to-end, and it seemed inevitable that another goal was coming and that it did. Glen’s under 17 cap Alfie MacLeod started the move from 25 yards inside his own half receiving the ball and beating three men before laying the ball off.  The ball then broke to Daniel Van Loon whose sweeping pass found MacLean on the left wing, and he was able to make sufficient space for himself to fire his shot in off the inside of the post. 

The final 18 minutes of the half saw Glenurquhart continue to have the majority of the territory, but Newtonmore always looked dangerous on the break.

Twelve minutes in the second half, the scores were level once again, this time through Joe Coyle who worked hard to drive into the centre of the park and drill a shot into the bottom left corner.

 Perhaps understandably given the closeness of the game, the match began to become more tense and chances went untaken for the next 20 minutes or so. Finally, the Glen broke the deadlock ten minutes from time when the tireless Daniel MacLean came short to pick up a pass in the half-forward position. Thereupon, he forced his way past two ‘More defenders before spinning in behind and slotting the ball home to complete his hat-trick.  The Scotland U17 cap then went on to complete the scoring two minutes from time, meeting a Van Loon pass a split second before Newtonmore keeper Cammie Mitchell could make his clearance finishing his afternoon by pushing it into an empty net.      

With that the game was won and Glenurquhart were crowned Mowi London Shield winners after what was a competitive and skilful exhibition of shinty from both sides. Though it is probably little consolation to him, Newtonmore’s Jacob Bain was awarded the Douglas MacKintosh Memorial Medal as Man of the Match for a fine defensive display.

With these opportunities came chances too for representative honours and the result was that Glen youngsters all levels were rewarded with district or international honours. It was no surprise that both Alfie Macleod and Daniel Maclean were worthy caps for the international trip to Ireland in July.

Both lads plus Doug Brockie were selected for the North Under 17 squad which faced the South at An Aird while Glenn Macdonald and Finn Cooper were picked for the under 14 north side after the trials. Euan Cooper and Caleb Power were unlucky to miss out but their time will come.  

The girls were equally successful in being selected for Under 16 District honours with Jessica Crichton, Sophie Power, Rowan Brockie and Emily Van Loon being selected after the trials. The first two girls played for the West/Reds while the second two played for the East/Blues. (in the middle of the pic with the trophy is coach and player Lindsay Fleming)

The senior women too were equally successful in the trials with Hazel Hunter, Kirsty Smith, Ishbel Barr and Ruby Fraser making it through to play for the East of Scotland select to play the West at Mossfield. The Club’s top scorer Zoe Smith would have made a fine addition to one of these pools as would Becca Van Loon.

It was a disappointment that no trials for the Under-21s were held: Fergus Robertson was certainly one player who played a full premier season and at least merited the chance of a trial. There were others but it seems to me the system needs a tweak. We also had no-one in the full international squad but then I am not sure if trials were held for that. Although to be fair I guess opportunities should be made for clubs to put names forward.

Anyway, that is the season over for another year- but in reality, we are back in prep once again- first the AGM on the 22^nd November then the Dinner Dance. Not be long after that for the Swinndle perhaps.

 

 

Thanks To Neil G Paterson for his pictures of the London Shield - and to Glen Facebook for the rest

 

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.