KILMALLIE upset the form book at the weekend, winning 3-2 away against pre-match favourites Kinlochshiel to book themselves a place in next month’s MacTavish Cup final.
Kilmallie, struggling so far this season in the Marine Harvest Premiership, got off to a flying start with Duncan Rodger putting them ahead within the first five minutes when he evaded full-back Paul Macrae and fired his shot high into the net for the opener.
With heavy rain making the surface tricky, Kilmallie adapted better to the conditions and created the better first half chances. However, they were unable to add to their goal tally and when Shiel’s full-centre Finlay Macrae equalised after 66 minutes, the stage seemed set for a home comeback.
Kinlochshiel always looked vulnerable to the counter-attack, however, and when a quick ball upfield fell to wing forward Michael Rodger, he was able to round Shiel keeper Scott Kennedy and finish from close range, putting his side into a 2-1 lead.
Four minutes later a similar situation saw Kilmallie youngster Callum MacDougall rattle home his side’s third of the afternoon and though Finlay Macrae was able to force home a second goal for Shiel just on the final whistle, Kilmallie survived to carry the flag for the West Highlands in the MacTavish final at Inverness’s Bught Park on June 10.
The rest of the senior shinty action took place in the Marine Harvest Premier League. In particular, Glasgow Mid Argyll in their first Premiership season giving a good account of themselves despite losing out 2-0 away to Lovat.
This was a very tight affair which in the end hinged on the fact that the Lovat midfield, marshalled by full-centre Danny Kelly, was marginally the more effective at providing forward ball for the frontmen to work with. Although Lewis Tawse put Lovat into an early lead when he profited from a slip on the wet turf by defender Ryan Harrison, steering the ball past keeper Robert Dunnings, Glasgow still had plenty of the play, though with both Daniel Grieve and Drew Howie in excellent form at the back for Lovat, the visiting forwards were unable to add an effective cutting edge to complement their excellent stick-work.
An injury to Grieve which saw him replaced at the back by Scott Mackenzie with Callum MacAulay moving to the centreline put Lovat on the back foot for a spell, but they still survived to the break without conceding.
After the restart a tremendous penalty save by Dunnings kept Glasgow in the match, until Tawse notched his second of the afternoon netting a rebound off the Glasgow keeper, following the initial shot by Ryan Ferguson.
Glasgow tried hard to come back but found themselves thwarted by some excellent saves from Lovat keeper Stuart Macdonald, including a particularly fine save from a drive from Gary Luke.
The win places Lovat firmly mid-table in the Premiership and keeps them ahead of next weekend’s Camanachd Cup second round opponents Glenurquhart, who lost 3-2 at home to bottom club Lochaber.
Glen had streaked into a 2-0 first half lead with goals from Neale Reid and James Macpherson before Brennan Macdonald got one back via the penalty spot.
Second-half strikes from Shaun Nicholson and Kevin Ferguson then saw Lochaber take command and put their first Premiership points of the season on the board.
In the two other Marine Harvest Premier League fixtures of the day, two goals from veteran Glen Mackintosh saw Newtonmore come out on top in their Badenoch derby with Kingussie, while Kyles Athletic held on to pole position but dropped a valuable point in their 1-1 draw with Oban Camanachd at Tighnabruaich.
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