Shinty

[Waspie]

Heard from a couple of Lochaber fans that there was a bit of trouble in their Balliemore Cup game down in Oban, with players of the home team attacking the referee!!! Wonder if the Oban Times will report it!

They did! Suggestion that a Camanachd player tried to headbutt the ref and was held back by teammates. CA quoted as saying they are investigating.

[Waspie]

Anybody heading to the MacTavish Cup Final at the Bught tomorrow? Should be a good match, I think. Lochaber are obviously going really well in North 1 and earned their place in the final with a win over Kingussie (a week after running them close in the MacAulay). Newtonmore - although they will still be clear favourites as reigning Camanachd Cup winners and league champions - are not going so well without Danny MacRae and were humped 3-0 by Lovat last week. I see they have named MacRae in their squad for tomorrow but I don't think he is anywhere near fit to play.

Should be a good day and with Lochaber not being used to these occasions there should be a excellent support up from Spean Bridge. Live on BBC Alba (1605 throw up, I think) for those who cannot make it to the Bught.

[Desert Nomad]

Will be watching on TV later Waspie. Hope for a Lochaber victory.

Meant to ask if you heard of the carry on at the Kinlochshiel v Kingussie Camanachd cup game two weeks back? Kings turned up without their kit & wanted the game called off, the ref told them if they didn't play in Shiels away kit they'd forfeit the tie!

I heard an interview with the Shiel manager and he said had the tables been turned Kings would probably have refused to let them have alternative strips and they'd get booted. He wasn't mincing his words & said in no uncertain terms the two Badenoch clubs are treated favourably.

That interview was on Cuillin FM after the Skye v Glenurquhart game. Skye looked great first half & did well to hold on against their Premier opponents. That's two games I've made this year!

Edited June 16, 2012 by Desert Nomad

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

I don't know much about Shinty, but I'm quite enjoying this. I was going to go to the Bught, but you can see it isn't the nicest day in Inverness!

It will be interesting to see how pished the folk behind the goals are by the time the game is over.

*edit*

I just spotted the Black Isle Brewery beer tent. I wish I went now!

Edited June 16, 2012 by Sherrif John Bunnell

[Le Tout P'ti FC]

I was behind the goal for a bit, hope i've not disgraced myself! Shame newtonmore scored two early goals, killed the game. Wet and cold journey home now!

[Waspie]

Will be watching on TV later Waspie. Hope for a Lochaber victory.

Meant to ask if you heard of the carry on at the Kinlochshiel v Kingussie Camanachd cup game two weeks back? Kings turned up without their kit & wanted the game called off, the ref told them if they didn't play in Shiels away kit they'd forfeit the tie!

I heard an interview with the Shiel manager and he said had the tables been turned Kings would probably have refused to let them have alternative strips and they'd get booted. He wasn't mincing his words & said in no uncertain terms the two Badenoch clubs are treated favourably.

That interview was on Cuillin FM after the Skye v Glenurquhart game. Skye looked great first half & did well to hold on against their Premier opponents. That's two games I've made this year!

I did hear about it Desert Nomad, it featured in the youtube highlights of the game. Hadn't heard that Kinlochshiel felt hard done by over it though. I'm not convinced they had much alternative but to lend Kingussie the second team strips, it would have looked bad had Shiel deliberately not sorted out Kingssue with the tops to ensure they progressed to the next round. They were a little unlucky not to win the match on the field of play going by the highlights.

I just spotted the Black Isle Brewery beer tent. I wish I went now!

With the rain and the early goals making the whole event a bit of a damp squib the beer tent ended up being my vantage point for a fair portion of the match .

I was behind the goal for a bit, hope i've not disgraced myself! Shame newtonmore scored two early goals, killed the game. Wet and cold journey home now!

Agree with that, Le Tout. Lochaber looked a little overawed in the opening stages and going down 2-0 within 15 mins was a bit of a disaster for them. They certainly had chances at 2-0 and at 3-1 but unfortunately they didn't take them and were never really back in the game. Have to feel that they will look back on this as a missed opportunity, they didn't give a proper account of themselves. Unfortunate after doing so well to reach this stage and with a big support behind them. All that said, I think 5-1 was quite a harsh scoreline.

Probably a very good chance of an ever bigger winning margin in the south final next week. Hope there is a better day for that one.

Edited June 16, 2012 by Waspie

[Mackie The Staggie]

Shame that the rain put a dampener (bad pun alert) on the whole afternoon but Newtonmore where a class above Lochaber. Took the camera along as always but due to the weather only took a few pics before deciding to put it away before the rain decided to work it's way into the inner workings of the electrical system.

[tina bonar]

Anit

[tina bonar]

Another impressive win for lochaber,great forward line and a miserly defence,looking good....

[Desert Nomad]

Kinlochshiel with a great ET victory over Kingussie in the Camanachd Cup. They really are up & down. When they hit form, they are a match for anybody, seem to have some shocking off days as well though.

Big victory for Newtonmore in Fort William in the league. My feeling only Kyles can stop them.

Kyles game postponed yesterday, they`ll be hoping this is not a sign of things to come, as it blighted the second half of the season for them in 2011.

[Waspie]

Big victory for Newtonmore in Fort William in the league. My feeling only Kyles can stop them.

Kyles game postponed yesterday, they`ll be hoping this is not a sign of things to come, as it blighted the second half of the season for them in 2011.

Excellent win for Kyles yesterday at Lovat. I was reading their manager the other day saying they aren't playing anywhere near as well as last season but have found themselves in contention in the league so they are going to have a real crack at it.

Inveraray won the Celtic Society Cup but with an even bigger margin than I expected, 14-0 against Taynuilt. They will be aiming to win at least one more cup before the season is out.

[Desert Nomad]

Got a huge chance of making the MacCauly final with Oban to play in the semi this weekend. Fort William should take care of Glenurquhart in the other.

Kyles should also take care of Glasgow in the Camanachd Cup if it beats the weather.

Kyles will also hope Kinlochshiel beat Newtonmore in the league, they lost last week, so that means they should win this week!

[Le Tout P'ti FC]

Went to Kilmallie v Inveraray today, on way down from trip to Knoydart. Have been impressed with Inveraray so far this season, feeling as though their league standing doesn't do them justice. They took a two goal lead today, after a fairly pedestrian first half, and I was considering making an early start for home at half-time as I expected them to steam through Kilmallie in the second half.

Glad I did stay though, as Kilmallie fought back strongly and might consider themselves unlucky to lose 3-2, with the winning goal coming from an avoidable penalty (keeper held onto ball under little-pressure). Overall an excellent second half turned this into a memorable cup tie, in front of a decent and boisterous home support.

A bit of bite to the game today - one stoppage due to a split head which I imagine will take a stitch or two to mend, and a few flailing elbows at times. It can be a pretty uncompromising sport at times...

Usual appearance of the rescue helicopter over the Ben and boats cruising by on the Loch and Canal above and below the pitch lent this a pretty surreal atmosphere at times.

A word about the home bench - constant hectoring of the referee for some fairly marginal decisions at the outset seemed truly counter-productive to me, as the referee then seemed to favour Inveraray almost because of the abuse he was taking. I often see this in junior football, where the 50/50 decisions start to go against the whiny team to the extent it becomes self-propulgating. Haven't seen this kind of thing in shinty yet until today. Maybe if they'd kept their gobs shut they might have got a better rub on those marginal calls? Just a thought...

And a wee word about the collection bucket - usual pass round pitch at start of second half. Never sure what the going rate for these things is, so usually chuck in the equivalent of a junior game. Saw the box today was full of small change having passed most of the home support - what a tight bunch!! Just got me wondering how the game is funded, as clearly the travel costs for the teams alone isn't cheap, the gate can be sparse indeed, and there is no overt local sponsorship. Any thoughts on this?

Was greatly amused to see the "tired and emotional" guy in the denims take a tumble over some kids bike today. Hope he navigated himself home over the lock gates ok as he looked pretty unsteady on his feet! And a wee word for the lovely dog who was sleeping and took a shinty ball in full flight on his ribs, hope he's ok as he had a lovely temperament.

So we're down to the semis of the Camanachd now, With Inveraray, Kyles and Kinlochshiel through, and Newtonmore favourites to join them. I'm edging towards Inveraray v Newtonmore final in Oban in September, and I fancy Inveraray may just upset the favourites. We'll see how things pan out soon enough!

The league is looking tight as well - Kyles v Newtonmore next week could be pretty decisive, and a draw could bring Lovat right back into it. Pretty interesting run-in now - six games to go and one point between the three. Do fancy Newtonmore to win through again his year - they looked pretty formidable both times I've seen them recently.

Good trip today as ever, enjoying getting round these grounds. Not sure when and where I can get to next game - one eye on the final in Oban already though.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Le Tout P'ti FC

[Waspie]

Went to Kilmallie v Inveraray today, on way down from trip to Knoydart. Have been impressed with Inveraray so far this season, feeling as though their league standing doesn't do them justice. They took a two goal lead today, after a fairly pedestrian first half, and I was considering making an early start for home at half-time as I expected them to steam through Kilmallie in the second half.

I think for a few years now Inveraray have very much focused on the cups rather than the league. They haven't got a big squad and a number of them don't live locally so they struggle for collective training and for getting their best team out every week. I don't think it's a co-incidence that often the strongest teams in shinty have most of their players based in their area. It's not realistic for Inveraray to win the league and I think they are happy enough just to maintain their premier league place. For the cups they only need to win 4 matches to get a trophy so they aim for that and they have done well in the cups down the years, albeit I think this team should have won at least one more Camanachd Cup. Let their standards drop a bit in the MacAulay last week though! I would like to see an all south final this year between Inveraray and Kyles as it's been so long since it was two south teams, but time will tell. Perhaps the draw tomorrow will kill off that idea anyway.

Regarding financing of teams I think a fair bit does come from friendly local sponsors. Players themselves have to chip in as well. At least it means that one team dropping out wouldn't cause armageddon in the shinty world .

Kyles - Newtonmore is going to be a cracker this weekend. Big game at the bottom too and Kilmallie will really need to beat Inveraray to maintain any genuine hope of staying up.

[Raidernation]

New here.

Used to play a bit, only sport I was never injured playing (broken ankle at school hockey, several dislocated fingers and a torn ankle ligament playing golf!)

One of the most sporting games around, luck enough to meet some really great folks.

Best memory: Scoring a goal after a 50 yard run through their defence, only to throw-up immediately afterwards behind the goal. Balotelli doesna celebrate like that eh?

[Waspie]

Best memory: Scoring a goal after a 50 yard run through their defence, only to throw-up immediately afterwards behind the goal. Balotelli doesna celebrate like that eh?

:lol:

Just listened to the Camanachd draw live on Radio Scotland.

Kyles v Newtonmore/Lochaber

Kinlochshiel v Inveraray

The south final is on then, but could quite easily be an all north effort. Should be good semi-finals regardless.

[Desert Nomad]

Congratulations to Lochaber who won the Balliemore Cup on Saturday at Strathpeffer. They`ve had a terrific season so far & have every chance of getting promoted as well.

[Mackie The Staggie]

Congratulations to Lochaber who won the Balliemore Cup on Saturday at Strathpeffer. They`ve had a terrific season so far & have every chance of getting promoted as well.

Lochabe are on another level in that league at the moment, although not currently top are level on points with a few games in hand due to cup runs in the McTavish and Balliemore cups. Was up with the camera as per usual and it was a decent first half, Beauly took an early lead and Lochaber responded with 2 in quick succession about 10 mins before half time. They then hit with another double salvo just mins into the second half and controlled the game from then on out. Great weather but was the first time I had to move away from some fans just due to the state the 2 gentlemen where in....completely and utterly trashed.

Anyway some photos I took of the game

[Waspie]

Lochabe are on another level in that league at the moment, although not currently top are level on points with a few games in hand due to cup runs in the McTavish and Balliemore cups.

Good enough to take out Newtonmore this Saturday? I think they will be very fired up after letting themselves down a little against the same opponents in the MacTavish Cup final.

Great pics again Mackie.

Any good Shinty forums lads?

Not really. There used to be a good one on the MnE website but it died a death and the CA then took it the forum in house for association members only. Don't think there is much debate there. The CA Facebook is quite good sometimes though.

[Mackie The Staggie]

Good enough to take out Newtonmore this Saturday? I think they will be very fired up after letting themselves down a little against the same opponents in the MacTavish Cup final.

Great pics again Mackie.

Cheers Waspie.

The question is which Newtonmore side are they playing as Newtonmore are down to play the Sutherland Cup Final and the Camanachd Cup on the same day. Not kept up to date with the situation to know which side is which and who is playing. Put simply, if its a full strength Newtonmore vs Locaber then it's the More all the time just now, but a few main lpayers missing and Lochaber have a chance.