NEWTONMORE moved into the last four of the Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup with a powerful display beating old rivals Kyles Athletic 4-1 at the Eilan.
Last season’s strike partners Evan Menzies and Glen MacKintosh were reunited for the first time in 2017 and produced the cutting edge that has been missing so far this season. Menzies opened the scoring in the 30th minute with MacKintosh adding a second four minutes after the restart. Kyles were competing better in the second half but fell further behind when Iain Robinson struck in the 58th minute. A Grant Irvine goal in the 72nd minute came too late and MacKintosh rounded off the scoring four minutes into injury time.
The holders are now firm favourites to retain the trophy and are joined in the semi-finals by Lovat, Oban Camanachd and Skye.
Looking ahead to semi-final draw which takes place this morning at BBC Scotland’s Pacific Quay, Oban Camanachd manager Iain Hay rejected the idea that the three Premiership clubs left in the competition each wanted to be paired with National Division side Skye Camanachd in the draw. “Skye are through on merit and don’t forget they have already knocked Kingussie, who are third in the Premiership, out of the competition. All four clubs will be going flat-out to get to the final so talk of easy games is wrong,” he said.
Reflecting on his side’s 5-0 win over Inveraray at the Winterton, Hay was pleased with his side’s performance and was confident the players had put the poor performance against Kyles in the GCC Glasgow Celtic Society Cup final behind them. “Gary MacErracher and Daniel MacVicar have come back in and they have made a difference. At full-centre Lorne Dickie was terrific and all in all I could not be more pleased,” he said.
Oban struck in the second minute when Malcolm Clark swept home from an Aidan MacIntyre corner and doubled their advantage in the 15th minute when Dickie’s speculative 40-yard shot deceived Aray keeper Scott MacLachlan.
Ten minutes before the break Willie Nelson scored the goal of the game with an overhead volley from another MacIntyre corner.
Inveraray enjoyed their best spell at the start of the second half but a Matt Rippon strike in the 60th minute ended their resistance. Nelson completed the scoring in the 70th minute with a low, angled drive.
At Cannich, Skye eased through to the last four with a 5-3 victory over fellow National Division side Strathglass.
The teams occupy opposite ends of the table but the Cannich side put up a real battle before eventually capitulating. Strathglass got off to a disastrous start as Skye struck twice in the opening five minutes. They then found themselves trailing 4-1 before battling back to within a goal at 4-3. But a head knock to striker Scott Douglas stalled their fightback with Skye sealing the tie with a late goal. The goals for the home side came from Douglas, Josh Fraser and Darren Reid while for the islanders, doubles from Danny Morrison and Will Cowie and a strike form Iain MacLellan clinched their place in the last four.
In the all-Premiership clash at Canal Parks Lovat eased through with a 3-1 win over Kilmallie.
Lovat, winners of the trophy in 2015, had the game won by half-time with goals from Lewis Tawse, Scott MacKenzie and Calum MacAulay. Lewis Burrell countered for the home side in the 72nd minute.
In the only two matches in the Marine Harvest Premiership, two goals apiece from the MacRae brothers Finlay and Keith clinched a 4-0 win over Lochaber at Kirkton. The victory moves Shiel on to the 17 point mark, level with leaders Kyles Athletic but with a game more played. At Drumnadrochit, Glenurquhart slipped to their third league defeat in a row as Kingussie took the honours in a 3-2 win.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here