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.)

Extra ! Extra! Read All About It

The Wing Centre likes to read the West Highland Free Press on a Friday if not for the politics at least for the shinty which is regularly carried-though to be fair, given the paper is, as would be expected, always focused on the Island or the Western seaboard, it perhaps does not really fit the Great Glen. Can’t blame them for that though when a copy was bought to read about the Glen Under 17s magnificent win over Skye, there wasn’t a word to be seen in print. Then the Glen Women’s 2nds defeated Kinlochshiel 3-2 this Saturday past at Blairbeg in the WCA Mowi North Division 2 and only the barest minimum appeared in the pages of the press. So, what to do? Nothing for it but to actually write the report oneself.

A short investigation soon revealed that Kinlochshiel were actually putting out quite a strong side with both Poppy and Lexie Mackenzie playing in the starting squad. The Glen by way of contrast put out a younger team with a backbone of some more experienced older players like Alison Van Loon, Amanda MacLennan and Lyndsey Fleming also in the side to guide the youngsters. The ploy worked well and after a strong opening spell the Glen went ahead with an early strike from Amanda Maclennan which was quickly doubled when a Hayley Ross strike from close in made the score 2-0 in favour of the home side.

 Unfortunately, an injury to the scorer took away some of the Glen’s momentum and this allowed ‘Shiel to fight back with two goals from Poppy Mackenzie to level the tie at the halfway mark.

From this point the game became extremely competitive but goalkeeper Alison Van Loon as well the rest of her defence including daughters Rebecca and Emily held firm limiting the ‘Shiel forwards to a few meagre chances which they could not convert. Meanwhile the Glen centreline of Tara Maclelland, Hayley Ross and Grace Montague continued to graft in the midfield and a number of opportunities were created for both Glen front players Lyndsay Fleming and Amanda Maclennan.

Glen made good use of all four substitutes with Connie Maclennan coming on up front and Jessica Crichton, Lucy Burnett and Daisy Ross all bringing their fresh legs to the contest. Eventually just when it looked like stalemate was on the cards Amanda Maclennan, who had been struck in the face by a ‘Shiel hit out and played on through the pain, found herself in just the right place to pick up a cross ball from Fleming and thus was able to snatch the winner with a fine back hand strike which found the net despite a valiant effort by the ‘Shiel keeper to prevent the ball crossing the line. The only unfortunate aspect to the game was its ending when Glen youngster Daisy Ross picked up a painful hand injury just before the full-time whistle.

So, there we have it.

If the Glen win and nobody reports it - did it even happen?

It certainly did- and what is more the Glen Under 17s  also won over Shiel (7- 4) in the London Shield. Scorers were Seonaidh MacLeod (2) David Hart (1) Alfie MacLeod (1) Daniel MacLean (3)

With both those games being

against West Highland opposition a quick check of the WHFP proved to be a disappointment. Again, there was an absence of coverage in the printed media. 

We could however do with an absence of coverage in the printed media with regard to how the Glen’s Premier League side lost to Kingussie. The WHFP certainly mentioned the result but fortunately did not carry a report. I say “fortunately”- but perhaps one should say unfortunately. Certainly the score made it seem that the match was somewhat one sided but then you cannot always go by the score . A report would have explained how Kingussie hung on for all of the 90 minutes under severe pressure and were fortunate to get away with the result they did. Indeed, if Dylan and Savio had not been playing the game would have ended in a 1-1 draw. Perhaps -but then again …….

Glen Young Team Flying Skye-High…….

 

Another shinty weekend- and more time spent that one will not get back. No that is probably too harsh. The shinty weekend started on Tuesday when the under-17s finally decided to start actually trying to win and pulled off a 2-1 against Skye that would not have been expected either in the wooded Glen of Urquhart or the Island of Mist.

Why would the result not have been expected? Kilmallie under-17s that’s why- but lost games are for learning from- and the lessons from a difficult evening down at Canalside were well and truly learned- and the result was an excellent performance and a tight competitive game. Skye are an impressive side in their own right.

With the very early action going slightly in favour of Skye, it soon became apparent that the young Glen defence were up to the mark with Murphy Ross, Tom Edwards, and James Keating in command of their brief. Especially heartening was the performance of youngster Max Garrison at wingback who has come on by leaps and bounds to put in a solid performance.
Up front the young Glen forwards give fresh hope to this tired old scribe- Alfie Macleod is lightning quick and he along with Seonaidh Macleod set the tone. They consistently tried and often succeeded in getting to the ball first and spreading it. Balls up the middle were latched on to and held up appropriately by Glenn Macdonald and Skye defenders Nicholson and Tuncay were kept on their toes constantly.

About 15 minutes in the red and blacks opened the scoring -a ball played forward by Seonaidh Macleod was picked up by David Hart whose first attempt was initially blocked by the visiting keeper Archie Buchan only for Hart to persuade the ball over the line for the opener.

Skye weren’t for lying down however and before half time Jamie Ross had equalised via a nice finish.

The teams went in 1-1 at half time and when it came, the second half certainly lived up to its promise. It was an even contest. Excellent competitive shinty was served up to the enthusiastic crowd. Indeed, it might be tempting fate but one can probably say it without fear of future contradiction that Referee Jamie Macpherson will not have a more enjoyable game to adjudicate all season.

 In the end Glen got the win- the forwards got the glory but the result was built on solid defensive work and some hard graft in the mid-field which is traditionally the strongest part of youth teams. Immense amounts of energy and no little skill exercised by Daniel Maclean, Doug Brockie and Daniel Van Loon in the centreline were the foundation of the victory. One further feature of the match was super-cool goal keeping from Rory McWhirr- all he needed were shades to complete the picture. The match was so tight that managers Donjee Macleod and Siobhann Thomson were unable to find an opportunity to use any subs so Chris Edwards, Tyler Wilson, and Rowan Brockie had to sit matters out but with further U-17 games on the horizon there was an opportunity for competition relatively quickly.

Late in the second half Glen got the goal that eventually mattered: it followed a corner which was half defended by the Islanders who pushed it back out only for Alfie Macleod to knock it back towards goal in a high looping arc which just evaded Skye keeper Buchan. No matter-it made it over the line and the victory went to the Glen.

 Afterwards the above pic was taken of the winning side, with the exception that Rowan was overlooked. Obviously she was in the separate changing room when the team pic was called for but  she was snapped at training later in the week. She was also among the scorers along with Sophie, Finn and Glenn when the Under-17 Development side had a fine 4-2 away win against Glengarry

So what else happened?

The Mowi North Div 1 team defeated Kilmallie 12-0 in the opening round of the Strathdearn at home. This is a team that lost to Kinlochshiel badly a week before – and the main difference was Mike Fraser was in the colours this past weekend. It is difficult to write a report (other than list the scorers) on what was one way traffic as the Kilmallie youngsters were overwhelmed but fair play to them they kept competing to the end. For the record the goals came from Jed Stoddart 4, Charlie Macleod 3, Doug Brockie 3 and Josh Macdonald-Haig 2-so all the forwards were on target- and some of the strikes were superb. The important thing is to keep it going for there will undoubtedly be sterner tests ahead.

The Premier League continues to be problematic-a home defeat to Newtonmore- and to be honest we have beaten better Newtonmore sides. Finishing is the point however-in the first half Newtonmore had only three clear strikes on target and two of them went in. Daniel Maclean’s early strike kept the Glen in it up till half time. The second half saw Newtonmore eventually score two more and though the Glen continued to compete-despite lashing rain and hail at one point there was never any way the young forwards were going to get past international defenders Steven Macdonald and Rory Kennedy. Add that to the sight of former Scotland Captain Kenny Ross sprinting out of goal to clear his lines at the advanced age of 50 + and you realise what a real role model is.

Next up- Kingussie. It never rains but it pours. Och well…..

(Picture Credits-Siobhann, Judi & Glen Shinty Facebook)

Out of the mouths of babes…….

The Wing Centre had a little chat with Henry Corrigan at the close of the match against Lovat on Saturday past. Henry does not really share very much but he did say “Who’s that?”

“That” was Iain Kennedy the fellow from Fort William who was trying to get the lads from Kiltarlity and the boys from Drum to obey the rules ……. which they didn’t really do.

 Henry moved on. “Who’s that?” he said. It looked to the Wing Centre like Rory Maclean, the plumber from Torr Darrach who, if he is not reading a book, is always blethering. Like most up the Glenners, he likes a ceilidh and he was passing the afternoon in the company of some young ladies who may or may not have been intent in learning about Rory’s specialist subject of plumbing.

 “It’s Rory,” the Wing Centre said- at which point Henry lost interest (who can blame him? ) and he started crying. Which is really what the Wing Centre felt like doing after the Lovat game. In fact he actually did, just like Henry, start crying when he found out about the result of the second team game over at Kinlochshiel. 

The girls of course-typical of them-only went and won their game against Aberdour so at least the feminine side of Glenurquhart could celebrate somewhat -except there is nowhere left for us to celebrate in- unless it is at the chippie with a haddock supper.

Anyway, let’s start with the positives. It was good to see ref Stevie MacLachlan looking good after his close call a fortnight or so back. He was speaking with Mr Kennedy about what one can only imagine was referee’s stuff when the Wing Centre met up with him. Stevie was upbeat and with care and time he will be back. If Christian Eriksen can come back from similar problems to play in the Premier League then……you fill in the blanks.

As for the game v Lovat, at least the weather was dry and the crowd was eventually good-though we need to see as many new faces coming along as possible given that the village is growing. However, we will have to improve somewhat if we are to encourage them to come by providing them with something to cheer about.  Indeed, the first half did provide us with some hope although it did not look great in the first quarter when Lovat’s Greg Matheson did what he does best by smashing an unstoppable shot from an acute angle. In fact, Greg was so far out on the left that he was in danger of being run down on the A82 before he fired in the opener. The match was closely contested at this stage with Lovat getting a little more possession in the midfield and they might have made more use of their dominance though when Calum Cruden fired a shot from distance over the bar without testing the keeper. Other close work by Bailey Mackay looked promising but was thwarted by fine defensive work from Finlay Robertson.

Glen equalised in 19 minutes with an exceptionally well worked goal. For some time winger Alfie Macleod looked to have the edge on his opponent and having got the ball on the right he passed it neatly inside where Andrew Corrigan managed to fire it on to Lovat keeper Stuart Macdonald who was able to keep the ball out. Unfortunately, he was not able to kill the ball and Glen winger Daniel Maclean was on hand to slip the rebound neatly past the Lovat keeper to make it 1-1.

For the rest of the half the game was competitive and reasonably even – though the visitors from over the hill always looked likely to score. They even managed to get some shots on target but Stuart Mackintosh was always on hand to block and clear- and good centreline work from in particular Liam Robertson pushed some pressure on the Lovat backline. However the solid Howie along with Mainland and Dan Grieve- before he came off – were always too strong and sure in their hitting to be really troubled.

Then it all kicked off. Glen defender Fergus Robertson who was playing well had a rush of blood and swung through Greg Matheson not once but twice. The first swing was fair enough- the ball was there and Greg had his foot in front of it- it might have merited a yellow-but the second raised the tariff to red. Then there was a stramash at the end of which Lovat wing forward Lorne Mackay was also red-carded along with Fergus. Meanwhile Greg was left with a sore foot. Mr Kennedy dealt with the furore sensibly - he could have ended the match at that moment by dishing out a blizzard of yellow cards but he resisted that temptation - and the match carried on at 10 a side until the half-time break. To be fair also there were a couple of times later in the match when players went down with head knocks when he could have stopped the game before it went on to turn “ragged” -but that was in the second half and, in one of these ragged spells, the Glen conceded a penalty

However to stick with the plot, the second half followed a similar pattern to the first until a defensive slip by a Glen defender allowed Matheson another angled drive – and at 2-1 the game looked set to finish like that though the Glen youngsters - by that time John Cameron had come on - had their work cut out against tough tackling Lovat defenders who to be fair to them pushed the rules up to the very edge because they could.

Another clash in the Glen backline resulted in a penalty  which was saved by Stuart Mackintosh before Lewis Tawse eventually converted a chance late on to seal the match for Lovat. There was also a  fourth goal in the 95^th minute - how did the match last that long- which Graham Macmillan squeezed home to give a somewhat flattering gloss on the result but by that time the Glen defenders were taking down the advertising boards and getting ready to go home.

Despite all that the match was compelling stuff, competitive and compulsively enjoyable despite the result. The best thing about it though is that we have no pictures of the game to show how it went which is just as well-it will not be featuring in shinty memories in 40 years’ time.

The pictures we do have - from our special photographer on assignment come from Balmacara. They mark the only thing of note from a Glen perspective-the injury to big Calum Smith who had to leave the match in 15 minutes with a hand injury. He ended up in Broadford and was stitched - it would have been quicker than Raigmore.

Oh – and the girls won twice in the past week. The first team defeated Aberdour 7-1 with hat-tricks from Rebecca Van Loon and Zoe Smith and a single from Hazel Hunter while the seconds beat Lovat 9-6 with five goals from Freya Gault and four from Rowan Brockie. Pictures - just one of Hazel with grateful thanks to Neil Paterson.