Keeping out of the D

A disappointing day and then a day of relief - that just about sums up Saturday’s afternoon entertainment. The Glen seconds - woefully short - managed to play reasonably without completely capitulating and the top team were able to rescue a point when it mattered. What does it say about the rest of the season? Probably too much and at this stage it is not going to be said.

Glenurquhart 0 Kinlochshiel 2

This was always going to be a most tricky afternoon since ‘Shiel are more or less back to business with a full team while Glen were short. Short? Don’t mention it to Glen second team boss Iain Macleod because when the top side are down then his side, particularly in the circumstances of Saturday, struggles to exist. Doubtless it is not a situation which affects the Glen alone.

Enough of that. Glen played as well as the players on display could without really having a cutting edge. In the absence of Paul Mackintosh- off to Kirkton –the full back was youngster James Hurwood and he certainly put in a shift. He showed excellent touches that on another day could have been put to more effective use further forward. Also in the picture was new signing Connor Golabek, a former Glen under 17, and while he struggled a little at full forward against the experienced Kinlochshiel full back, he came into his own more when he was pulled back to the centreline and certainly showed good movement and positional awareness.

It was always going to be an uphill struggle though and a defensive mistake allowed Chris Townsend through to score the opener for Shiel in 37 minutes, a loss the excellent David MacFadyen in goals did not really deserve.

Glen brought on the experienced Donald Fraser at full forward for the second half but although he dug in and put in the challenges, his touch was off and the few chances that fell in the Glen’s direction, and there were several, were unable to be converted. It was even enough at this point but a nicely worked goal from Shiel’s Fergus Dobson just after halftime put the game out of Glen’s reach. Glen then came back into it for a period, pushing towards the traditional shop end but despite causing occasional panic in the visitors’ defence the goals would not come.

A highlight of the game was the performance of the Glen youngsters: Jamie Maclennan had a particularly good match and stuck to his task despite taking a knee knock in the first half. His second half performance and particularly his fitness were impressive.

Fergus Robertson on the wing also played well against an older opponent and of course David Macfadyen in goals was his own secure self. For the Wing Centre however the Glen man of the match was Cairn Urquhart. You can’t really go wrong with a boy whose name is the same as that of the team. Cairn worked, ran, chased, harried and never gave up: at the end of the match he was exhausted, with nothing to show for it but the respect of the old guys watching. He gave everything and now the Wing Centre is going to use Sheena’s photo of him as the screensaver on his phone, replacing that one of Billy with the Cup!!

Positive? Yes. This was as good a result as the Glen was ever going to get considering the inexperience of the team. Will we do better? Yes. Will we do worse? Depends on who we play, in every sense.
Memo to Dunc Achtuie: when you get a knock fall down on the field of play. That way Archie the ref will have to stop the game. Go off the field with your injury and your mates have to carry on a man short. It’s not really cheating!

Kinlochshiel 1 Glenurquhart 1

While the home game was going on there was a background mood of insecurity since the news had come down from the west that Shiel were leading. Goalscorer? Unsure but the guess was a Macrae. So in a sense the crowd was prepared for loss and considering the absence of the experienced players then truthfully folk were thankful it was not more. Then came the equaliser from Heathie, via twitter it would appear and a collective sigh which was as much a cheer as could be mustered, ran round the stand.
How did the game go?

Have a read of what the Skye website says:

Shiel were still without the injured Duncan “Ach” MacRae. Glen’s John Barr was free of suspension but work commitments ruled out Andrew Corrigan. Keith MacRae put Kinlochshiel ahead with a goal after 13 minutes. The goal came from a free-hit on the ‘Shiel left. John MacRae played the ball off to the right and Keith MacRae hammered it into the roof of the net from around 20 yards out.

However Fraser Heath rescued a point for the Glen with his third goal of the season just 8 minutes from time. Glen were awarded a free-hit when Heath was fouled. The Scotland U21 international initially looked to take it himself but left it for Ewan Brady. Heath ran wide before cutting in towards the centre of the edge of the D and he latched onto Brady’s ball into the D before tucking it past ‘Shiel keeper Scott Kennedy from close range to make it 1-1.

And that appears to be pretty good as far as it goes though there is no mention of the other three Glen absentees - Euan Lloyd, Billy Urquhart and Stuart Reid which is not a surprise as managers don’t usually broadcast their weaknesses.
Next week it’s the MacTavish v Beauly over at Braeview. Let’s just wait and see.

The pictures are from Sheena Lloyd and those atmospheric ones from Kirkton are from David Win who put them up on World of Shinty. Thanks to both.

The German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel would have written the following if he’d come from Drum. “What experience and history teach is this - that shinty teams have never learned anything from history, or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it." Though Hegel did not come from Drum - and he was merely talking about governments and nations and not about the real business of a well lived life which is shinty and how to fund it, he still called it right. How fortunate he was that he never had to flick on his computer and watch a Glen team run around aimlessly hitting the ball relentlessly up the middle just low enough to be stopped and at the same allowing loads of space to the only uninjured forward left in Badenoch. The arguing was a rerun of the obvious too. At the end of the day all Hegel would have had to say was “Thank goodness for John Barr.”
It was all such a pity after the Kyles game in the Premier where there was a real competitive spirit, allied albeit to some wayward shooting. One supposes that the clues were there in the Beauly game when a good goal from Billy Urquhart was all that the Glenners could muster to progress to the next round of the MacTavish. Things will have to get better, though facing up to Inverness without several key players is not the ideal scenario.
Still the game against Kyles in the Sutherland was a good one from a Glen point of view especially when like all Glen supporters “ Yours Truly” has had to learn to deal with disappointment over many decades.
“Kyles are the holders” said the Bodach.
“They certainly are,” said the Treasurer. “Indeed it sometimes feels as if they have been the holders ever since they won it off us back in 1987. Dear old innocent days in the Glen when the Lodge called itself merely a Visitor Centre and Campbell Matheson in the Benleva sponsored the team without needing his name on the jerseys. “

“We chucked that one away,” said the Bodach.” 7-5 to Kyles after extra time: you tell the story of that game to people nowadays and they won’t believe you. Yet there’s a lesson from history in the narrative of that game”
“And that is?”
“The Glen are good at chucking away finals, even when their opponents make it hard for them to do so.”

The Bodach said nothing more and turned on his heel to watch the game. The Treasurer shrugged but inside made a mental note of the fact that sometimes not everyone in the green Glen was quite up to speed with his ability to comfort himself with the despair of expected disaster- and the game which unfolded at Blairbeg turned out to be a very positive experience indeed which just shows you that there are no lessons to be drawn from history at all…ever.

The game started on an uneven note with Kyles managed by Peter Mobeck and John Blair taking the game to the Glen but with Davie MacFadyen in super form making the usual spectacular stops and also sweeping the wee sneaky ones away, Kyles were unable to score. Paul Mackintosh at fullback and James Hurwood at buckshee really had to work hard to keep the men in blue at bay.

Then came a gem of a Glen goal courtesy of Dave “Dixie” Maclennan.

Iain Macleod at full centre swept a long ball down forward and Dixie picked it up and fired a peach of a shot past the Kyles custodian for the opener (as the Dunoon Observer & Argyllshire Standard will no doubt fail to say).

That was it for the rest of the first half except that James Hurwood took a knock on his ankle and Liam Robertson also came off. Of those that were left on, there were many that did well but for the Wing Centre the most hardworking and whole-hearted was Cairn Urquhart.

He simply ran himself into the ground. Also effective were Jamie Maclennan, Ryan Porter and Brad Dickson but apart from a super save by MacFadyen there was no serious action until after the break.
Connor Golabek and Andrew Young came into action in the second period and both played well lifting the tempo of the match and helping the Glen look more menacing though had the holders scored - and big Roddy MacColl certainly put in the effort forcing a series of corners - then the result could well have been different.

In the end however it all turned out OK and young Ryan Porter repaid his manager’s faith in his ability when he dispatched with aplomb a ball which broke to him on the edge of the “D” as the Glen played towards their favourite shop end.
Cairn Urquhart finally got the reward for all his efforts when he fired home a cracking goal three minutes from the end and put the Glen through to a second round tie with Lovat who had just defeated Boleskine by a goal or two.

“Lovat again,” said the Treasurer. “You could get fed up with them entirely. To pot with sharing the gate with them. They should give us half the money they will have saved by not having to take a team bus to Tighnabruaich.”
“I doubt if that will happen, “said the Bodach who was back on form again and taking a sneaky delight in seeing the Treasurer in a state about money.
“Harrumph!” said the Treasurer and he slipped off up the road leaving George, Ron and the Billies to take down the nets and the advertising boards which seems only fair because he had to go home to count the collection.
For the game itself the pictures were taken by Sheena Lloyd. The old ones are by Anon and the big point of interest is that Young Chris really was young back then. If you look carefully beyond big Mike you can see Peter Mobeck peeping over from the Kyles side.
As the Cailleach said “What a bonnie wee boy he was.”

By Monday morning though the victory against Kyles had been put into some perspective when the news came through that one of our former players Kenny Mackintosh had died at his home in Balmacaan Road. The Club website carries details of the funeral arrangements on Saturday morning and the fact that the times of this weekend’s fixtures have been adjusted to take account of this. It is worth while putting up the pic of the team of 1960. Kenny is third from the right in the back row.

Semis of the MacTavish or a win over Oban Camanachd? Go ahead - you choose. Well, the Wing Centre would have chosen the win over Camanachd because in all honesty at the time it seemed that it was worth more to the team - or maybe it just appeared that way when viewed through the half empty glass through which Yours Truly darkly peers at the world of shinty.
In the end no choice was required because the Glen got both results as well as a 1-1 draw with Kingussie seconds - and that was when the loss of a point at home to Kyles really hit home.

So here we are on the verge of crossing over the bridge to the former Isle of Mist to take on Skye - live on radio. It doesn’t get any better than this. Well it has to and perhaps will if we suddenly find some real goal scoring form or someone finds a way to clone Fraser Heath.

One or two things have annoyed this season though. The biggest one is the fact that a Glen player received a one match ban on the totting up system for a booking he should not have received. Yep - it’s out in the open. The ref booked a Glen player-rightly for a misdemeanour-but misidentified him.
Perhaps the ref forgot to note the number down at the time or simply thought he knew who the culprit was but didn’t really. First thing the club knows about it is when the paperwork comes through with the wrong player identified - and sadly that player was then banned for one game because he had done some stuff wrong last year.
Can the Glen appeal it?
No the Glen cannot- and now the player was not only out for a game but also has points on his record which in future may see him out for an even more important game. There might be a case for no appeal against a situation where the referee has interpreted an action as nefarious when in the opinion of others he was a little harsh in his judgement-but a simple case of mistaken identity which appears to be a genuine mistake? Come on.

Let’s just hope the Glen kids turn out alright-though to be fair with a 3-0 win over ‘Shiel under-17s and a 5-0 victory over Lochaber they seem to be OK so far. As ever of course the proof will be when the kids play against the Badenoch youngsters. We have been here so many times it isn’t true; every Glen generation has a story about the great lost hope-the lad who could keep to Ronald Ross in the juveniles. What happens to them? What happens is that they do not translate their talent into the seniors- and that is true for every other side-and maybe it’s even true about Kingussie now though there remains a sneaking feeling that Badenoch always bounces back.

Enough of girning already.
But before then just one last thing-in all the talk of sports facilities being revamped in the exciting new Inverness not a word has been heard about a wee revamp of the Bught. Given that shinty is the one sport which has its national HQ in Inverness it might have been though that some cash ought to have been put into facilities for the old game. Is there even an Astro which can take full size shinty? Not at all and is there likely to be? No- but doubtless there will be a velodrome before long. A shintydrome? Not even in Oban which has four shinty teams is there a full size astro for the shinty-indeed the chance to have one was blocked off recently because the rugby lads would not share. Maybe the CA ought to be pushing Candidate Hendry about how he is going to further the cause.

The Wing Centre really have to stop this: he’s been reading Daniel’s BBC Blog and has been carried away by revolutionary fervour.

Daniel played for Oban Camanachd of course and last weekend the Glen edged to a 1-0 win over Camanachd as mentioned above. Though why Oban would want to annoy the Glen by turning up in Lovat strips eludes this writer. Anyway, for a few days the Wing Centre was feeling a little flat because the side had not played that well, though Fraser Heath’s goal was well taken. Oban will feel that they switched off for that one certainly. Then again Oban appeared to be a fit and competent side with young Connor Howe up front doing well but needing a bit of back up from Lorn Dickie and Andrew MacCuish-though the Glen defence were pretty solid.

In the end Oban missed chances they should have at least put on target while the Glen could easily have won it 2-0 when Paul Mackintosh fired a rasper just past the post which Oban keeper Robert Dunnings would have struggled to handle if it had been on target. Such are the narrow margins by which Premier shinty sides thrive or fail. Not that you need to tell the Glen that: that much was clear in the Kyles match.
The seconds now move on to play Lovat in some cup or other- and these are difficult games to predict. As always, it depends on who is in the side - or rather both sides. The last time the youngsters were playing they picked up a 1-1 draw with Kingussie in an excellent competitive match in which Kings, to be fair to them ,didn’t walk it by simply sticking Ronald up on the dust.
In that context it was very sad to hear of the sudden loss to Kingussie and to its club of ‘Andy’ Anderson. He was with the Kingussie side in the Glen two Saturdays ago and had a blether with the Wing Centre, Alan Bell and a pile of the older Glenners who’ve known him over the years. Of course he was a shinty great and all the rest of it- but above all he was cheery and enjoyed the crack with everyone- and for that he will be greatly missed. The sympathy of the “D” and all at the Glen club go out to the Anderson family at this sad time.

The pictures from the three games are from Sheena Lloyd. Thanks to her for these.

Look at this pic of the two keepers - are they laughing because they cannot believe the quality of the penalties they are facing ? Mebbies aye-mebbies naw but what was certainly true was the fact that the excitement engendered during Saturday’s epic MacTavish semi-final was so great that your correspondent decided to let the dust settle before committing his twisted version of the event to a semi-permanent existence in cyber space. Well no - actually he missed the game - not that that has ever stopped him before. This time it has. Why?

For a start the excitement was so great on the day that nobody took notes; all the Glen eye witnesses were looking at their feet, looking up at the sky or hiding behind their hands - then after the result they all piled into to the Loch Ness Inn and there they stayed until it was time to go to church next day. By that time nobody could even remember the score which was why, if Astie had not been informed of the result by one of the many Camanachd Assessors of Assessors present at the game, then would the win even have been counted?

Things looked a bit tight for the Glen on the morning of the match: Andrew Corrigan was unavailable, Ali Mackintosh was injured and Mike Brady suspended. That just happens to be three of the four first choice defence. However as fortune would have it the second team had been playing at home earlier that morning which meant that at least there were some other bodies available to fill in the gaps. But then you can’t win anything with kids can you? Apparently you can.

Drafted in to the squad were Calum Smith and Jack Hosie while two other youngsters in the persons of James Hurwood and Euan Lloyd have settled into first team berths over the last few matches. The first half passed without Newtonmore conceding a goal which was good for them because they did not have Norman Campbell at full back and if the Glen score it is usually early in the match.
“What were the first half stats like?” The Wing Centre asked Steve “Statto” Henderson at training on the Wednesday .
“Don’t know. I didn’t bother with any this week.”
The one time that hard facts and figures are important and Statto is too busy peering through his fingers to jot them down.
“I suppose we had a pile of shots on target in the second half then. How many? 9 or 10?”
Statto stopped for ten seconds to ponder.
“Probably, if you count the penalties.”
“’More?”
“They had a few chances right enough.”
“Must have been more than a few, Statto. Paul John said in the P&J they had the lion’s share”
“What do you expect him to say? And it also depends on how much you think a lion will eat.”

Reflecting on the fact that Statto of all people ought to know about putting feed to beasts since that is his day job, the Wing Centre left it at that and sought out other witnesses and in the course of that quest came to the conclusion that there is no such thing as truth, only the muddied and indeed muddled account of witnesses. Given the confusion revealed it’s a wonder that the justice system bothers with the testimony of eyewitnesses at all.
Two things occurred in the first half that delighted and depressed those Glenners who were present in the large crowd. First Danny Macrae went over his ankle and not that anyone wishes him ill, but his departure removed a huge threat from the Newtonmore front line. Indeed if Danny had been there to take a penalty …………. Best not to dwell on that.

Depressing was the fact that the only remaining regular defender, John Barr picked up a first half injury too and he had to leave the field. That caused a bit of juggling around in the Glen back line with Calum Smith having to move deeper. At the break, John clearly received a bionic implant at the hands of physio David MacFadyen and was fortunately able to return to the fray in the second half.
This makes it all the more mysterious that Calum Stewart was allowed to run through and fire home a first time volley direct from a corner to put Newtonmore ahead in 63 minutes.

For the next 17 minutes the Glen were gallant runners up but still they kept plugging away until in 80 minutes David Smart fired home the equaliser. Nobody can recall how it happened except it was rumoured to be after some neat interplay so one can assume that James Macpherson, Jack Hosie or Neale Reid was involved but unless the Camanachd come up with some TV pictures then who can say?

Glen were the stronger side latterly and Newtonmore keeper Michael Ritchie had to make a quality save or two to keep his side in the game. Then came a last minute penalty which Glen keeper Stuart “Smack” Mackintosh stepped up to strike. His drive hit keeper Ritchie and the rebound was knocked home by Neale Reid only to be judged off-side.
That meant extra time and penalties.
Glen’s Lewis MacLennan and ‘More’s Norman Campbell were the only two players to convert from the first ten spot-hits. Michael Ritchie denied James MacPherson, Stuart Mackintosh, John Barr and Neale Reid with three of his saves being outstanding. Glen keeper Stuart “Smack” Mackintosh saved from Glen Mackintosh, Michael Ritchie and Steven Macdonald while youngster Calum Stewart missed his attempt.
Norman Campbell who had come on as an extra-time sub took his sudden death effort and joined the ranks of Glen immortals by blazing it over the bar and hitting the shop. Not an easy task and he joins a select “able to hit the shop” company which includes big Ron Fraser, Andrew Iain Macdonald, and of course the unrivalled Donald Paul Mackintosh who holds the record for hitting the shop more than anyone. Mind you Norman’s punt would have gone into John Tom’s former field on the other side of the A82 if the shop hadn’t stopped it.

Then Stuart Mackintosh stepped up hammered the ball at goal; it hit Mike Ritchie on the shoulder and flew up into the roof of the net for the winner.
What sort of a game was it?

The old Glenner put it thus: “You had two teams which were short of their full squads but all teams need to get used to that for that seems to be the way it is. It wasn’t a great game but it was full of excitement and tension. It was a hard physical game and both sides were pretty even. Newtonmore were on top in the first half but the Glen came back into it and by the end of normal time they were on top and should have won it. Things even themselves out. Two years ago Newtonmore went through on penalties; last year the Glen lost on penalties; this year they won. Best for the Glen? Lewis Maclennan and Euan Lloyd-so what if they were both defenders.”

Earlier in the day the Glen seconds defeated Col Glen 6-0 in the Sutherland Cup. The Skye website (recommended reading for anyone who really wants to know what happened on a Saturday) tells the story in its weekly round-up:“Ruaraidh Cameron was back in the Glenurquhart side and he gave them an 8 minute lead. Jack Hosie made it 2-0 on 21 minutes and the same player added a third on 32 minutes. Ruaraidh Cameron also got a second a minutes before the break to make it 4-0. Late goals from Cairn Urquhart on 74 minutes and player / manager Iain MacLeod just 5 minutes from time rounded off a 6-0 win and gave Glenurquhart a place in the next round.”

The pictures are from Neil Paterson (1,2 & 3) Tina Marshall (4,6 & 10) and Sheena Lloyd (5,7,8,9,11 & 12) Thanks to them all.

First things first- after yesterday’s defeat to Inveraray in the Camanachd, Glen know where we stand and where we must focus for the rest of the season. There is first the MacTavish final which has been reached for the third year in a row and then, beyond that there is the business of consolidation in both leagues for both teams.

After the heady experiences of the last few years it is disappointing to be back down to earth with a bump especially when with a little bit of bite up front another day in the sun or at least in partial sunlight was beckoning.

What happened to the cheery note that used to run through the “D”? Life intruded perhaps but for “life” in this instance read Inveraray. After leading the first half by a goal which sneaked through the Inveraray’s goalie’s legs-he’ll be glad the TV cameras were absent-Glen lost out in the second to a fine strike from Davie Macpherson and another from Ewan McMurdo after the red and blacks had wasted a pile of chances in front of goal. And that result came about despite the fact one of their top front men Grant Griffin found himself side-lined with an injury. How come their old guys can score better than our young guys?

“Oh dear, how sad! Never mind” as the late Windsor Davies was prone to say to the moaners in his troupe of entertainers in “It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum”. Mr Google will help with the reference if you’re baffled. There are much bigger things to be concerned about.

One of these for instance is the subtle change in the spelling of this Glen. A while back Roy the Glasaich asked about the appropriate spelling of this particular geographical location.
“How do you spell the name of the Club?” he said.
“Why do you want to know? “said the Wing Centre suspiciously because you know that when one of the Glasaich asks a question of a Glenner there is definitely an ulterior motive. Roy came out with some flannel about a sports editor at one of the Inverness weeklies wondering in a spirit of genuine enquiry what the definitive spelling was.
The Wing Centre was unwilling to commit. After all the sports editor guy only had to go onto the Camanachd website to find out that it was spelt/spelled “Glenurquhart.”

That set the Wing Centre to wondering though what was the correct way to spell what required to be spelt/spelled.

Have to say that was a fine way to waste a weekend. The first point of reference was MacKay’s “Urquhart & Glenmoriston” (pub 1893). Interestingly while running Glenmoriston together he spells Glen-Urquhart thus. The late Prof. Peter English in his book on the Glen (pub 1985) refers to both Club and Glen as Glen Urquhart while a programme for the Glen Highland Games (1985) says “Glenurquhart”. “Glen Urquhart High School” appears on a sign adjacent to “Glenurquhart Primary School”.
Hugh Dan in “Shinty” (pub 1993) says “Glenurquhart”. A host of programmes (not really a host- for how many cup final programmes do the Glen really feature in?) switches back and fore between GlenUrquhart, Glenurquhart and Glen Urquhart-MacKay’s hyphen having dropped out of the running completely it would appear.
The earliest to hand is one for the Frew’s Trophy, Saturday 30^th June 1973 and it says “Glenurquhart”

But here’s a thing- the Wing Centre was of a mind to claim that Glenurquhart had become the settled, definitive spelling of the people as the 70s, 80s and 90s moved into the noughties. Gradually he became aware that the website had taken on a “GlenUrquhart” flavour though the www. bit still retained the “glenurquhartshintyclub.com”. Then he checked up on the MacTavish posters: in 2008 we were Glenurquhart; in 2013 we were Glenurquhart but by 2014 we see to have defaulted back to Glen Urquhart.

What will this year’s MacTavish poster be like? Glenurquhart? Surely not GlenUrquhart! A word with a capital in the middle seems bizarre. Much better to give us back our hyphen and revert to MacKay’s original Glen-Urquhart. Who is behind all this shape shifting anyway? No doubt the Camanachd President will have a view – at times like this the temptation is to move to Fort Augustus, a place named by two words and totally without any controversy. Or should that be Kilcumein?

The other big thing of a controversial nature is why should the bowlers drive over the pitch to get to their green? You cannot imagine bowlers being allowed to drive over the Eilean or the Dell to get to the rink, though the surface at An Aird might well be improved if bowlers were actually to be allowed to drive over it. That last is perhaps a little unfair though because the word on the street is that Fort have taken over the maintenance of the park for themselves and no doubt it will come on in leaps and bounds.

In GlenUrquhart, Glenurquhart or Glen-Urquhart though, bowlers seemingly are able to exercise some ancient “droit de seigneur” and take their vehicles across the grass at the A82 corner while they would appear to have a perfectly good parking place at the Druimlon side.

Enough already-the Wing Centre is getting roused over trivialities when the real thing that is annoying him is the defeat by Inveraray. Grrr!
Donald Cameron's pic of Neale Reid accurately sums up just about how all Glenners felt after the game.

The other illustrations are chosen from amongst Sheena Lloyd’s snaps of the Skye match and the programmes are from the Wing Centre’s heap of rubbish in his “room” which his good lady keeps threatening to throw out unless he can prove he has a genuine research based reason for keeping them. This piece should prove his case-for the time being.
Q.E.D.

Newtonmore 1 Glenurquhart 3

The scenes of revelry by night had moved on seamlessly into the morning when the Wing Centre came across the Chairman in his tartan finery and still to the fore on the field of battle.

“What will you remember particularly about today?” asked this reporter ever anxious for a quote.

Mr Chairman paused for a moment then said “It has to be the way Newtonmore Shinty Club handled their defeat. It must have been a sickener to lose after beating us twice this year already - and yet they all came over and congratulated us generously and they really meant it. That is real class - you have to hand it to them”

The Wing Centre had to agree - and adds his own congratulations to the representatives of a great Club.

And so finally after years of trying and huge disappointments on the way, you get a euphoric day like Saturday when if you are truthful you started out hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. You can be confident that you have done all you could to make sure all the players are ready and they know what to do but you just never know. The unforeseen can---will--- always happen.

Remember the Camanachd final when Cork broke a bone in his foot inside ten minutes and before we could get over that psychological blow we found ourselves a goal behind. On Saturday other things happened and the Glen got their name on a cup which had eluded the Club ever since old Duncan MacTavish put it up for grabs back in 1898.
Tradition is important in every shinty club and while the world knows that the Glen have been on the go for a while - the clue is in the date on the badge - not so many know that they first contested a MacTavish final against Newtonmore back in 1902. That game was drawn but the replay lost and since then though they have made the MacTavish final on several occasions, the Glen have never won it till now.
It is hard to explain to people not in tune with shinty what a win like Saturday’s MacTavish victory actually means. Perhaps even folk in Badenoch don’t appreciate what a shinty cup victory means to other clubs since over the years they have won so many - though the players certainly would - but Neale Reid spoke nicely and summed matters up perfectly in his half-time interview. It was for the village and for the old boys and for everybody in the community. It’s tricky to get that through to the non shinty folks but it is vitally important that we do so especially at a time when the Glen is changing, growing and perhaps turning into everywhere else. Never mind - Neale spoke well and then went on to perform well and the picture taken of him this week contrasts with the one that concludes the previous post.

Saturday afternoon was dull and cold and when the Glenners arrived it was dampish as well- and the game? From the outset it was clear that Glenurquhart had learned the lessons of two earlier defeats to Newtonmore and they set out to deny the Newtonmore midfield space and possession. This cut down the supply of balls up to the usually deadly ‘More forwards and the Premier League’s top scorer Glen Mackintosh and his sidekick Evan Menzies never quite managed to get going. They certainly had chances to shoot but the sense was that they were not only having a go from too far out but they also were not accurate enough.

At the other end, Glenurquhart forced several corners and almost took the lead when a strike from wing centre Conor Golabek was pushed on to the post by ‘More keeper Mike Ritchie.

On the 20 minute mark, Newtonmore lost full centre Jamie Robinson. Frustrated by the close attentions of opposite number Ally Mackintosh he lashed out with his caman and received an immediate red card from referee Evan Macrae. It was the pivotal point in the game and it left the Glen a man ahead and in a gruelling physical contest played on the wide green spaces of the Bught that imbalance in numbers could only help the Glen.
Before Newtonmore had time to adjust Glenurquhart took the lead when a corner from Iain Macleod was knocked back by full forward Fraser Heath. The ball fell to Andrew Corrigan who tried a shot at goal but his shot was intercepted and pushed wide by Neale Reid to Heath who found himself free at the back post and smashed the ball high into the net for the opener.

Glenurquhart should have added further goals before the break but excellent covering by international full back Norman Campbell and some frantic work by his fellow defenders kept the Glen out and the sides went in at halftime with the Glen holding a slender 1-0 lead.
Every Glenner in the stand was left rueing the misses and doubting if the lead was enough given the fact that the wind was now going to be blowing in Newtonmore’s favour.
As expected Newtonmore upped the tempo after the break but with their centreline blocked out, much of their penetration came from long balls fired up from defender Stevie Macdonald which were dealt with reasonably comfortably by a Glen defence in which full back Lewis Maclennan was outstanding.
At the other end Glenurquhart were playing neat interpassing shinty but after a series of missed chances and a goal by Heath ruled offside it was beginning to look like they would have to settle for a single goal victory. That all changed in the 69^th minute when a snap shot by Glen captain Andy Corrigan came back off ‘More keeper Ritchie and Ewan Brady was quickly on hand to push it home from close range.

Newtonmore midfielder Paul MacArthur immediately got one back when he fired home from 25 yards to throw his side a lifeline but the Glen had their tails up and when Neale Reid worked himself free and smashed home a third for Glenurquhart in the 72^nd minute there was no doubt that the cup was finally bound for Lochness-side rather than its more fancied Badenoch destination.

Glenurquhart finally turned up for a final and in parts up front they played nice little patches of shinty in which they created chances and they really should have scored more than they did.

As for Newtonmore despite being a man down they kept in the game and both Norman Campbell and Steven Macdonald drove themselves on relentlessly and displayed excellent hitting for distance.

As for the Glen players, they all looked as if they wanted to play for each other while it’s quite hard to pick out players.

Ewan Lloyd and Mike Brady both performed well on what could have been for both of them a very difficult afternoon. But then so did Iain Macleod and Conor Golabek - as for Ally Mackintosh - he won the Tommy Mackenzie medal for man of the match and given how hard Ally has had to work to get over a long term injury then no one deserved it more.

Anyway, the final whistle blew: everyone went crazy with delight,

then Cork accepted the cup and the silver caman from Martin Girvan, RBS North of Scotland Manager and Glen Committee member while Glen’s own Jim Barr looked on as Camanachd President. It could not have been more perfect. Then we all went back to Drum, had a party after Hazel took the cup off us for safe-keeping, then some of us were sick and then we all went home. Guess that the ducks that survived last week’s Shinty Gala day race down the Coilty into the Loch were finally, at long last, all lined up all in a row.

Enjoy the photos - the ones you think came off the Wing Centre’s phone probably did. The rest are from Sheena Lloyd, Neil Paterson and Donald Cameron.

It has to really, though the MacTavish still resonates from Corriemony to St Ninians which is why the “D” has had a break from the tyranny of the deadline in order to wallow in the glory of the win - something that guys everywhere else outside Badenoch and the Kyles will clearly understand.

That being the case a little self-indulgence will allow some other pics to be uploaded onto the blog for the sake of.............. well... self-indulgence!

They come from amateur photographers – and show that the cup has gone the rounds of the local primary schools (Glenurquhart Primary and Balnain),

Smack was chosen to give out the prizes at Glen Urquhart High School at its closing ceremony which certainly beats a politician any day- and various locals have been posing with the cup- and no doubt at the local Horticultural Show in a few weeks’ time it will come out from under the thatch so it can be put to its original use as a rose-bowl.

Then it will have to go round the Highland Games… then it will go out to be filled with grog at birthday dos and weddings - there is even talk of it being pressed into service as a baptismal font for some bairn who has already been sitting in it anyway. Torquil shouldn’t worry though because the wee one was wearing a nappy. At any rate the list of possibilities goes on and on and on……...
However the Wing Centre became a little upset when he read a post in World of Shinty that someone in authority had the bright idea for a shinty exhibition at Hampden. The idea was that artefacts and trophies go on display there to inform the world at large about shinty. The WOS actually asked what trophies shinty folk would like to see on display there - certainly not the MacTavish is the Glen plea because having taken 130 years to win it and having filled up its diary for the next 12 months with community-building activities the last place Mr MacTavish’s fine bowl should go to is Hampden - and that is saying nothing about the deep ideological divisions which exist between the followers of shinty and the followers of the other sport.

Anyway it’s getting to near time for the Glen Bulletin to come out and to help the editor remember what has been happening it’s as well to note that the Glen have been on a winning streak, which now that the holidays and festival season are upon us, is bound to come to a halt. Well, it was good when it lasted.

Since Day Zero, the Glen seconds have gone 5-1 Fort William (H) 3-1 Lochcarron (H) and 5-3 Strathglass away) : the top team have gone 5-1 Shiel (H) 2-1 Kingussie (away) and 3-1 Kingussie (H). What is not to like?

Well perhaps the fact that the Kingussie fixtures were back to back which just doesn’t seem right and does not give a balance to the League structure. Of course the procedure affects other teams - obviously Kingussie but this year already Lochaber have gone back to back with Kingussie and will go back to back with the Glen too.

The games? Fort William 2nds were short of players with Victor having to call up Duncan Rodger for first team duty and Glen were exceptionally strong though the absence of David MacFadyen meant that under 14 keeper Finlay Ralston had a game between the sticks. Michael Fraser also made a return in the red and black jersey and the goals were scored by James Macpherson (3) and Calum Miller (2). Scott Knox scored a late counter for Fort.

Against Lochcarron Glen also played well enough and Michael Fraser the former Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Motherwell and Ross County goalkeeper opened the scoring on 13 minutes. This was the only goal of the first half but Lochcarron’s Daniel MacRae levelled on 49 minutes. Michael Fraser scored again to make it 2-1 in 62 minutes while David “Dixie” MacLennan rounded off the win with a goal 10 minutes from time to make it 3-1

Last week Strathglass were the opposition and the Glenurquhart made it five league wins in a row when they beat Strathglass 5-3 at Cannich. Darren Reid scored two goals for the Glasaich with Donald Fraser getting the other. Daniel Mackintosh, who made a welcome return the previous weekend, bagged a brace for the Glen with Michael Fraser also on target – his third goal in two outings. Cairn Urquhart also scored twice.
This week’s match is an away trip to Fort William and they, despite the earlier result, are liable to be stronger that the Glen because their Camanachd Cup match is on hold and Duncan Rodger plus assorted others will be available. The Glen will have lost one or two to various festivals and Raymond Robertson picked up a nasty injury last weekend v Strath. Given the holes in the first team, the side is not likely to be stronger.
A far as the first team games are concerned the Wing Centre watched the Kinlochshiel match and does not know what to make of ‘Shiel. They were a good side with competent players who went to sleep for a three minute spell just before half time.

The Wing Centre cannot do better than quote the report which appeared on the Skye website describing that crazy spell:
“We then saw a 3 minute lapse in concentration from Kinlochshiel which cost them the match. First, the visitors missed chances to clear their lines and Neale Reid waltzed through the Red’s defence and he poked the ball through Scott Kennedy`s legs to make it 2-1 with 39 minutes played. Then, just 2 minutes later, a Ewan Brady shot from distance took a wicked bounce to beat keeper Kennedy to make it 3-1. The home side went 4-1 up from the throw up when Ewan Brady won possession and he played the ball to Fraser Heath who lost his marker and fired a great shot into the roof of the net with 42 minutes played.

‘Shiel rallied but

“Glenurquhart signed off in style though when substitute Eddie Tembo broke through the visiting defence and put the ball high into the net to make it 5-1 and round off a good team display. The final winning margin was tough on Kinlochshiel and their 3 minutes of madness at the end of the first half cost them dearly.”

That just about sums matters up- and ‘Shiel, though the Wing Centre does not know the true facts about the individual games - have gone on to play erratically ever since. One week good - one week bad.

Then came the two Kingussie games - they were without Lee Bain and Savio Genini for both -need one say more. Yes the Glen played well enough. In the first match the Kingussie keeper Craig Dawson had a brilliant early spell that kept the Glen out but two goals –Ewan Brady and James Macpherson* -were enough to see the Glen over the line. Craig can get roused though.

Last week’s game saw Kings up again and this time the win was 3-1. Ewan Brady put the Glen ahead on 32 minutes in the only goal of the first half. Fraser Heath fired in to make it 2-0 just 10 minutes after the restart with Neale Reid adding a third a couple of minutes later. A solo effort from Chris Hollysong pulled a goal back for Kingussie 10 minutes from time.

For the Glen, Euan Lloyd impressed with his speed and efficiency at the back while Ewan Grant caught the eye for Kingussie in his tussle with Neale Reid.

An unlikely star of the game was farmer John Cameron’s bull which occupied the field behind the top Druimlon end goals- and his presence was enough to deter the pack of Glen youngsters from attempting to retrieve some of the new match balls which were fired over the fence. The balls might well still be there.
Apart from that the only topic of interest was why John Barr was wearing Kingussie socks. One can only assume his Mam gave him a pair for his birthday. By the same token Kingussie’s Hutchie clearly wanted to wear Fraser Heath’s shirt because he kept pulling at it. Russ should just send him one from Shintyshop.
This week, with the Lovat replay on - then off, the opposing team will be Lochaber. It will be a difficult afternoon especially bearing in mind a trip to Fort William with the seconds.

All the decent pics are from Sheena Lloyd.

*These scorers were wrongly named as Euan Lloyd and Neale Reid. It’s time for that to be amended on the CA website.

Glenurquhart 6 Lochaber 4 (Strathdearn)

Lochaber 3 Glenurquhart 5 (Camanachd Cup)

OK so the Glen notched up two good results on the same Saturday but things were nearly very different.

Take the game at Drum for instance : Lochaber were two up before you could say Loch Ness Monster and then they hit another one to make it 3-1 after Glen had got a goal back through Cairn Urquhart- and it took until extra time before the red and black lads made it securely through to the next round. What a cliff-hanger!

Of course it could all have been predicted before the match. Glen manager Iain Macleod had to go into the match with a number of players missing the most important of whom was keeper David MacFadyen who had to work. Back between the sticks came Gary Mackintosh after a three year lay-off and it took about 15 minutes or so before he got himself re-adjusted to the business of plying serious shinty again. By that time the Glen were two nil down, the first coming when Lochaber’s Danny Delaney picked up a rebound off the stand–in keeper in 5 minutes and the second when the goalie misjudged a shot from Stuart Matheson. It might have helped matters however if the Glen defenders had been tighter on their opponents and prevented the Lochabermen from playing good shinty which let them have the opportunity to shoot.
From this point the Glen centreline of Drew Maclennan, Iain Macleod and Liam Robertson took control in the middle of the park and began creating chances. Cairn Urquhart was first to profit scoring an excellent goal from a well worked corner which he fired into the net from just outside the D. Glen created a number of chances to level the game but wayward shooting and two good stops from Lochaber’s veteran keeper Harry Macdonald kept the home side at bay until disaster in the 34th minute when Delaney picked up another goal to restore Lochaber’s two goal lead.

All was not lost however because just before half time the excellent Drew Maclennan fired up a long ball to Glen full forward Callum Smith. He controlled the ball and on the turn smashed it home to put the Glen in to the half time dressing room only one goal behind.
The second half saw the Glen continue to play well and Ben Hosie drew the sides level in 48 minutes when from the right he made a lovely run into space and scored with a fine first time shot.
Unfortunately though Glen continued to have the bulk of the play, inaccurate finishing and good play from Lochaber keeper Macdonald kept the Glen out. Lochaber were awarded a penalty when Glen fullback Paul Mackintosh kicked the ball but keeper Gary Mackintosh saved from Delaney and the game ran on into extra time.
At the start of the extra period a Lochaber miss in front of goal was quickly punished at the other end in the second half of extra time when Callum Smith rocketed a shot into the roof of the net after receiving the ball from an indirect free hit. Ben Hosie then put the Glen further ahead with another rocket shot, this time from the right.

Glen continued to press and Lochaber’s Macdonald had a fine double save from first Raymond Robertson and then Ben Hosie. In the tenth minute of extra time Ben Hosie completed his hat-trick when he finished well from a ball that came over from a corner and although Lochaber goat a fourth goal back from a penalty strike which this time they converted there was not enough time left for them to make further in-roads into the Glen lead.
In short this was a game which the Glen deserved to win but in order to do so they needed to keep their self-belief at points in a game when it would have been easy to give up. That they kept their collective nerve was particularly down to Drew Maclennan and Ewan Menzies who both put in excellent performances and led by example but those on the sidelines, especially Iain Macleod’s No 2 Chris Surtees who suffered greatly at various points in the game would perhaps have preferred a little less excitement on the day. However there will be no let up on that front since in the next game the lads face up to Lovat seconds who no doubt will have all their pensioners on hand for the match.

The Camanachd Cup tie at Lochaber was equally thrilling - apparently. Perhaps the rather boring affair back in Drum the week before in the Premier League was not so dull after all. The Wing Centre asked Mr Reid what he thought of the game.

Mr R shook his head and simply stated “Lochaber have a lovely pitch. It was perfection. What an improvement there is on it from the time I used to play there when wee Tommy and big Donnie used to rule the roost.”
He refused to say more….
However, it did transpire that this week the Glen had to rejig the backline since Lewis Maclennan was unavailable due to suspension but the return of Mike Brady at least helped to restore some experience to the defence line.

A much tougher game than the previous week was certainly expected and that was how it transpired. Lochaber had clearly made a decision to be much more physical in this game and it paid off when the Glen, unusually made a poor start and lost a goal inside 10 minutes to a Stuart Callison strike as a result of slack marking at a free hit. Shortly after this defender Stuart Reid received a knee injury and had to be replaced. Glen gradually came more into the game and after a period of pressure David Smart scored the equaliser. For the remainder of the half the Red and Blacks dominated the game and played some excellent open shinty, with further goals from Neale Reid , Fraser Heath and James “Frosty” Macpherson making the half time score 4-1. Unfortunately both Euan Lloyd and James Hurwood received nasty injuries and had to be substituted with Stuart Reid coming back on and Billy Urquhart also taking the field for the second half.

A super start to the second half was marked with a fine finish from “Frosty” Macpherson making it 5-1 but any hope for a relaxing second half was quickly dashed when Lochaber scored an immediate second and then midway through the second half a third. Glen then brought on Ross MacAulay for Stuart Reid and pulled both Fraser Heath and Andrew Corrigan back into defence. Although this did tighten the game up Lochaber still had a penalty well saved by Stuart Mackintosh which if it had gone in would have meant an uncomfortable last five minutes. Still the important thing was the result and given that the draw for the next round favoured the Glen with a home draw it is now all down to the lads themselves as to how far they go in the Camanachd. Certainly with Newtonmore gone and Lovat , Kingussie and Kyles due to meet each other in the “draw of death” Glen have as good a chance as any of progressing to the semis. Provided they beat Inveraray of course which will be no easy task.

The photos all come from the game at Spean and come from the camera of Sheena Lloyd with the exception of the snap of “Frosty” which was taken by Neil Paterson.
(www.neilgpaterson.com/ )

Everything shinty related this last two weeks or so has been a distraction from the MacTavish final, hasn’t it? But what a lovely surprise for everyone in both camps to find out last weekend that two of the best loved figures in each camp have been honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Both Glen’s Alan Bell and Lovat’s Mary Ann Henton

have given many years of service to their clubs and communities and it is good to see them and of course the ancient sport honoured in this way. Charlie Bannerman has a nice piece about both of them in this week’s Highland News – and while Charlie sometimes obsesses about football in the irritating way only a townie of his generation can, he hits a nice tone in this article. It is certainly worth a read.The up-coming MacTavish final is the real reason why this biased voice of Glen Shinty has been silent for the last two Saturdays. What’s to say? The top team has been on the back burner or the back foot - whatever metaphor you like - as the first team guys try to avoid injury and picking up caution cards. The second team have had a pile of cup games all at once and given that the pressure was on for second team lads to step up to the main squad to fill in gaps caused by suspensions and niggling knocks, it has not been an easy time for either set of managers.

Kyles Athletic 1 Glenurquhart 0 (Orion Premiership)

There is no way that the above could be other than a disappointing result notwithstanding the fact that Kyles had knocked Newtonmore out of the Camanachd the week before. The game apparently turned on a very early strike for Kyles - Roddie Macdonald in the fourth minute - but in fact the Glen felt hard done by on their return north because they had a last minute equaliser ruled offside - so it could not actually be an equaliser. The guys thought they were worth a share of the points. The pitch? Not good given the fact that this game was the second of two on a ground which is not great in wet conditions at any time of the year. Pity.

Lochaber 1 Glenurquhart 2 (Orion Premiership)

Lochaber must be sick of the Glen by now. They have not had a successful season but for all that they have capable players like all Premier Teams have. The last time they played the Glen, Lochaber were without Shaun Nicholson-he had damaged his back in the season’s previous encounter with the Glen – and this time he did not manage the full 90. Andrew Corrigan, John Barr, Ally Mackintosh and Mike Brady were left out of the Glen starting line-up for various reasons but the presence of Paul Mackintosh, Billy Urquhart and Ross MacAulay helped put a reasonable 12 on the field for the encounter.

James Macpherson put the Glen ahead with the only goal of the first half - his goals have been invaluable this session - and Billy Urquhart grabbed the second when he first timed a rebound off the keeper into the net to give the Glen the points in 81 minutes.

Stuart Callison scored for Lochaber with two minutes to go but the Glen kept both points. Not much of a game to watch said the old guys in the pub but at least everyone returned to Nessieland with a full set of fingers and teeth.

Iain Macleod’s second team has had mixed fortunes in the past fortnight too: they too have won one and lost one but in as much as both these matches are cup games they have had knock on effects for the rest of the season. Both were close affairs.

Glenurquhart 3 Lovat 4 (Sutherland Cup)

This was a game which left Glenners saying “What if?” What if in fact the Glen’s big players had put in a performance? What if Callum Smith had not been offshore?
Ben Hosie scored after 15 minutes but Lovat’s Thomas Fraser equalised 4 minutes later. There was no further first half scoring but Thomas Fraser scored two more for Lovat as they enjoyed a period of superiority largely due to the Glen’s inability to get to grips with Lovat centre man Sandy Tulloch who had an excellent afternoon. Referee Deek Cameron awarded the Glen a penalty on 78 minutes, Jack Hosie stepped up to convert. Lovat’s Scott Mackenzie made it 4-2 with what was to prove to be an important goal on 83 minutes and although Ben Hosie got his second goal a couple of minutes from time to make it 4-3, Lovat held on to get through to the next round, though it has to be said that the Glen had some clear chances to score the net earlier on.

Glenurquhart 2 Fort William 1 (Strathdearn Cup)

This was a tight game which the Glen did well to nick at the end. It was not an easy gig in any way and such was the shortage of players the Glen had to call on veteran Drew MacNeill to fill in at full back where he had a fine game.
Glen actually started well with the Hosie brothers (Jack and Ben) looking lively up front though the various chances the good lead up play created were not taken.

An early claim for a penalty for a kick by Fort goalie Ricky Fraser was dismissed and Gearasdan boys went on to take the lead thanks to a nice strike by Graham Campbell in 22 minutes. Jack Hosie slammed in the equaliser in 34 minutes and Glen went on to have a nice spell of pressure with Ben Hosie rattling a drive off the post with Fort keeper Fraser beaten.
The second half followed a similar pattern though the heavy rain falling on hard ground began to make conditions a little tricky and on one or two occasions sticks began to slip from hands. Fort’s Scott Knox took a nasty knock below the knee and had to go to the sidelines for a minute or two but was tough enough to return to the field after treatment.

Glen lost Brad Sneddon with a wrist injury a few minutes later but fortunately Ross MacDiarmid stepped in to take over in the backline and the Glen held firm. The
winning goal came in the 65^th minute when Raymond Robertson managed to get a hard drive on target which was blocked by keeper Fraser but the ball fell kindly for Jack Hosie who fired it home from close range. Glen then fought hard to hang on to the win and were glad to make it through eventually to the semi-final and a date with destiny and Newtonmore wherever the tossed coin decrees.

Glen have been lucky up to date with tossed coins so the law of averages probably means that we’ll be going for an afternoon out in Newtonmore. Let’s hope big John Mackenzie has to go stalking on the day - indeed perhaps Gary Mack could hire him for an afternoons hunting to keep him safely occupied!

And so to the MacTavish Cup final. Preview or Déjà vu? As the Chairman would say “May shinty be the winner.” For himself, the Wing Centre would actually prefer the Glen to win and could live with shinty being the loser even; and if victory came from a mistimed sclaff of a shot in the 90^th minute, then he could live with that too.

Pictures- Lochaber shots by Sheena Lloyd: the rest from the in-house photography unit of “D” Enterprises Ltd. Apologies to Mary Ann for the photo used. Tina had a nice one up on a site at one time but it could not be found and permission could not be sought. The only other one to hand was when she was holding the MacTavish last year and that one was never going to get past the editor's digital scissors. To be fair to both of them, Alan's permanently-clutched plastic bag has been cut from his snap -in one of the other (unused) pics he was holding a brolly with Lovat printed on it referring, it was claimed ,to the Lovat Arms Hotel in Fort Augustus. What are they like these celebrities !!

For a while now in the Glen it seems that the shinty season has been over though the team has seemed not to realise this and carried on winning anyhow. Half the time the full squad hasn’t been available. You wonder how focused the side might have been had they anything to actually play for, like Newtonmore who are coming here this week. Why they are coming here when the pitch is still in a state of recovery from the Games and we have no matches scheduled for most of September this scribe does not know. It’s unusual too in that it does not fit the usual back to back pattern of fixtures which has become so familiar of late. Oh well never mind.

What has actually happened since a certain date in June is that the Glen have won a pile of matches and drawn one - and of the ones the Wing Centre has seen the only one he can be bothered to recall with any real clarity is the one that happened this past Friday at Balgate, though the earlier encounter which took place the week before also sticks in the mind.

The two games were chalk and cheese: on the first Saturday Lovat were dominant in the middle and had the bulk of the possession yet for some reason - you realise just how reliant they are on Greg - they could not score or even test Smack¹ (Yep-somehow he got his place back after Fadgies² Inveraray display - though maybe Fadgie was working). Glen had in fact more and better chances but James Macpherson, Ally Mackintosh and Fraser Heath all contrived not to score them. Meanwhile Lovat’s Ryan Ferguson came running through on several occasions and just when he should have shot for goal contrived to pass it wide out of the danger zone to the consternation of the Lovat fans and the bemusement of the Glenners young and old.

“He must have less confidence in his shooting than we have in John Barr’s,” said the old Glenner.

“But John Barr’s³ not playing,” said the young Glenner.
“That’s what I mean,” said the Old Glenner somewhat cryptically. Anyway in the second part of the game Lovat scored a scrappy goal through Lewis Tawse ⁴ but not long afterwards Macpherson had a shot that was saved by Lovat keeper Stuart Macdonald ⁵only for the ball to fall to Glen’s Iain Macleod and he dropped his hands down the club and first timed the ball into the net. It was the best goal to come from that side of the Glen since Dunc Fraser⁶ first timed a corner home against Beauly earlier in some other season.

In the end the teams shared the points and although Lovat were without Lorne Mackay and Greg Matheson, the Glen were missing John Barr, Andy Corrigan Neale Reid and Ewan Brady, the latter two because they had been speaking to refs when they should have been listening or something like that.

The most exciting thing about the game was the fact that the collection was very good and thanks must be offered not only to our own people but also the Lovat folk because they were generous.
Anyway six days passed and the Glen went over to play Lovat at Balgate on the Friday night. Naturally Fadgie was back in goal and what an excellent closely contested game it was. Indeed it was only spoiled for the Wing Centre by the fact that he got a tick in his calf when he crossed the long grass from the road where he had parked his car.

Like the usual Lovat defence the tick was tenacious and took some time to be dislodged with a tweezers – but, surprisingly, the Lovat defence was more easily penetrated this time because Neale Reid, back from suspension, opened the scoring in the second half after a really fine passage of play: then Ewan Brady, also back in the side, fired in a second and although Ryan Ferguson managed to pull one back as the fading light confused Fadgie, Neale Reid was still able to notch another before the end.

This game tells Lovat quite a lot about what they have to do in order to beat Kyles in the upcoming Camanachd Cup. In a sentence they need to get Greg Matheson back fit for the fray. Lorne Mackay would also be useful but Fraser Gallagher would be even more valuable. Otherwise the look of their subs bench is long on experience but probably ,as the picture shows, short of pace.

However,it was a pleasant evening and the game drew an excellent crowd which has got to be a good thing.

Nothing has been said about the Lochaber games or the Kingussie games except that for this pundit at least back to back fixtures are not really appropriate. Let’s leave it at that and hope the Camanachd are able to look at such things a little more carefully in the season to come.

What else has happened? Not really very much of note for the second team except that Michael Fraser fired in a hat-trick against Lovat seconds and now appears to be the top scorer for this season in the second string.

A series of poor results before that against Strathglass and against Kingussie mean that there is now no hope of winning North Division 1 – not that that was ever realistic. The thing that does disappoint however is that manager Chris Surtees has had to patch together teams in order to compete at all just as we have arrived at the business end of the season. Still the youngsters who have turned out have put in plenty effort on the field and the Lovat result was a boost.

Then came the Glen Games and a tractor push which took the lads from Corriemony down to Blairbeg and once round the track all for the sake of cash to keep the side solvent. A pic or two is included as a record of the event. Iain Macleod organised the event while Mr Chairman drove the tractor and provided a manic edge to the whole afternoon.

The Club also ran a bar in the Hall on games day with Louisa Urquhart in charge of business while Helen Maclennan, Laura Stoddart and Laura Quinn were kept on their toes dealing with the orders.

The actual bar itself - put together by the four Bs (Bobo Morrison, Billy Macleod, Billy Reid - also known as Mr - and Bill Urquhart) also looked fantastic and thanks are due to them for their efforts.

For the first time ever, the “D” while it doesn’t aspire to the style of Samuel Pepys’ diary, has included some footnotes if only because yours truly has managed to learn how to do superscript!!

The first two pics are from Neil Paterson while the rest are from Sheena Lloyd. Thanks to both.

¹ Smack – Stuart Mackintosh former Glenurquhart goalie, now third in line behind Fadgie and the Ralston boy. He does not appear to smoke.

² Fadgie- David MacFadyen – would be Glen’s first choice goalie if he did not have to work on the occasional Saturday. Is a physio so he can sort his own injuries. He does not smoke either.

³John Barr- shinty player who was brought up in Abriachan. The only other Glen player who does not smoke.

⁴Lewis Tawse- a Lovat shinty player. One of the 11 Lovat players who do not smoke. Has a remarkable geometric hairstyle. If he really wants to be cool, perhaps he should smoke.

⁵Stuart Macdonald- another Lovat shinty player. He is the only one who does smoke.

⁶Dunc Fraser- a Glen shinty player who scored a great goal. We don’t know if he smokes or not because we have not seen him for the month of August

By rights it should have been Gordie Mackinnon that the “D” was congratulating .

Gordie was retiring-not a word you would normally associate with him- but at 40 he decided that enough shinty was enough shinty and indeed at the end of this game he was warmly applauded off the park by team-mates opponents and spectators alike. He had a fine game, worked hard and certainly did not look either off the pace or out of place. That said Fort William had come to Drum more than a little short of players in certain departments- and this was not helped when youngster Dean Williamson took a nasty knock on the foot and had to depart for Raigmore. Fortunately later reports indicated that Dean- who had scored the golden goal for Lochaber High School in the Great Glen Sixes (Schools Under 17 Competition only a few days earlier – had not suffered a break to his foot though it was clear that the knock will leave him with some heavy bruising.

Anyway here is a pic-with permission from the Fort William Club- that shows Gordie leaving Blairbeg for the final time. Thanks to them for that.

But what of the headline at the top of the column? Well with the Glen 3-0 up and the game more or less dead, Victor Smith-once upon a time described in the press as portly-obviously got fed up watching and decided to participate.

So he subbed his daughter Zoe-you could not make this up- and the Wing Centre hopes that Mrs Smith gave Vic an earful when he confessed to what he had done when he came home after the match.

Vic then came on at wing-forward or full forward- the nimble vet was buzzing about so much it was hard to tell where he was actually positioned -and before you knew it he back flicked a ball that took Glen keeper Stuart Mackintosh all of his years and quick reflexes to keep out of the net.

After that attempt the portly one was a little puffed and came to the side of the post, where goal judge Billy let him have a drink out of the Glen water bottle, something no Newtonmore player would ever be allowed to do. That is except Norman Campbell who once worked in the Glen putting a road in for wind turbines(not such an acceptable occupation in the Glen now) and as far as the Wing Centre knows no-one in the Glen apart from Andrew Iain or DP would be brave enough to stop Norman taking said drink and it has to be said they were not there at the time.

Anyway back to our hero.

“There’s goals in me yet,” said Vic. The thing with Vic is you never know if he is joking or being deadly serious. Sometimes he is both.

“Well keep them for another day, when people will appreciate them and they will do your team some good.” said the Wing Centre who had finished doing the collection by that time and had nothing left to do but annoy both sides by giving as he would see it valuable advice which might affect the course of the game.

Mistake. He should have said nothing. Certainly, Vic said nothing but you could see he took the comment as a challenge and before you know it he had chased a ball out the wing towards the A82 and fired it into the net from an outrageous angle. Not for the first time did the old entertainer steal the show but if he had listened to his own coaching advice he should have squared the ball to young Astie or one of the other lads up front.

Anyway for the next six or so minutes Vic kept circling the edge of the “D” like----what? A lion hunting down its prey? Perhaps not- maybe like an old Balmacaan farm cat looking for an arthritic mouse in a bale of hay. Whatever he was like, you were only glad that his centreline were not able to get the ball up to him often enough for him to do himself a mischief…

And the Glen, the ostensible winners of this contest?

Well they opened as if they were going to rack up a record score. The first goal was a thing of beauty- a pass down the wing from Iain Macleod, James “Frostie” Macpherson pushes it to Neale Reid who sends it back out to Conor Golabek and his finish zipped in at the post for the opener inside 6 minutes.

A few more flurries round the goal brought some excellent stops out of Fort keeper Paul Mackay while other attempts ended high over the bar and bouncing among the cars in the shop car park.

It was while retrieving one of these misplaced efforts that the Wing Centre missed out on the second goal which came about from a strike by James Macpherson. It was at this point-15 minutes- that the match was halted to allow treatment to the already mentioned Dean Williamson who took a knock trying to block the shot.

After that the game went to sleep. The Glen overplayed the ball at times, generally lost their shape in the centre of the field and were unable to add to their total until late in the game when a nice shy from Eddie Tembo was pulled down by Neale Reid and volleyed home in fine style.

Then as we know-it was all about the old stager himself.

No not these old stagers-or old stags perhaps - who've been locked together in perpetual combat since at least the millennium. Notice how they push and pull jerseys without a care in the world. Good on them.
The real old stager is of course Vic!!

What happened before then? There has been –not to put too fine a point upon it- a bit of a gap since the previous piece. Newtonmore came to Blairbeg and left with four goals and both points after a week’s delay caused by the fact the pitch had been rendered unplayable by the tug of war at the Games. A screamer from Glen Mackintosh, another from Fraser Mackintosh and two from Norman Campbell. Glen struggled to cause Mike Ritchie problems but then Newtonmore did pay the Glen the compliment of playing their youngest fittest defenders against our forward line and they probably had to.

Then the Crofters only went and won the Camanachd Cup. There is nothing else for a Glenner to say at this point but…..well done. No pics for you guys though unless you send one with Mary Ann, Ron Millican, Jimmy Gallagher and Big Finlay with the cup. Don’t worry Glenners –it will never happen!
Even the Beauly guys couldn't believe it when they were told about it.

Thanks to Donald Cameron for his pictures.

Measure Website Visitors

Here’s the thing-the season has been over for some weeks and the “D” has been slow to acknowledge that. Partly that has been because after the last home game v Fort William , for this scribe the season ground to a halt then though there were two other matches which the Glen had to chalk off their “job done” list.
The first of these was a trip to Kyles which to be truthful this Glenner did not hold out much hope of success in.

As far as he could make out the side went down the road short of guys and although Kyles had taken a bash to their morale during their Camanachd Cup defeat to Lovat, there was no doubt that if they had kept their nerve picked up both points they could have put Newtonmore under pressure. As it was not only did they lose a point to the Glen but haven’t won since.

They were always going to have to depend on someone else taking a point off ‘More but at least Kyles could have put pressure on the Badenoch lads and make them feel that they actually had to work to win the Premiership.
Whatever! Not that the Glen did any better when ‘More came along to play at Blairbeg- but enough said.

As for the Kyles game , the Glen went behind early in the match but managed to get back into the points zone when the astute managerial duo pushed Lewis Maclennan up into attack and as a result Fraser Heath scored a late goal with a micro-second on the clock. Kyles were sad while the Glen were very pleased as the photos show.

That left the Wing Centre with some hope that the following week- with a more complete squad-the Glen would win their last match of the season down at Mossfield and save their friends in Kingussie a great deal of angst and hassle by making it even more difficult for Oban to get out of jail free. Did it work that way?

It started out as if it should have – but let the boss tell the story in his own inimitable style. “Mossfield was in excellent condition and well suited to our style of shinty. We started strongly and were moving the ball well and after 14 minutes we scored our first with a good finish by Neale Reid from a corner. Just a couple of minutes later we scored our second when Ewan Brady beat his man and fired a cracking shot into the top corner.

We should have gone on from this position and won the game comfortably but both Fraser Heath and Neale Reid missed chances and Oban came back into the game and scored a goal in 44minutes following confusion between in defence. Oban came out strongly in the 2nd half but with 5 minutes gone, a defender missed a high ball and Neale Reid cracked in a low shot to make it 3-1. We then suffered a blow when Mike Brady took a very nasty hit on the arm and had to be substituted. We brought Eddie Tembo on in the centre line and moved Ali Mackintosh to wing back.

Oban scored a second goal in 71 minutes after poor defending had allowed a shot. Euan Lloyd was suffering from a cold and struggling for breath, so we took him off and moved Fraser Heath back to defence with Brad coming on up front. We had further chances to finish the game but after losing the ball in our forward line, Oban moved it the length of the pitch to equalise in the penultimate minute. The game then finished 3-3 and we had penalties for the Mod Cup. The less said about the pens the better. We missed all 4 and Oban scored 2 so that was that. Neale won the Man of the Match.

In hindsight Oban needed the point more than us and that probably reflected the game, although I had hoped the prospect of some more silverware would spur us on. We didn’t play badly and at times played very well but a draw was probably a fair result.”
The Mod Cup would have been nice to add to the trophy cupboard of course but the Wing Centre does not feel too bad about that failure because it means that he remains one of the few Glenners to have played in a Glen team that actually won a Mod Cup.
Perhaps that was why he never bothered going down to Oban but instead went over the hill to watch Lovat play Kyles. The only thing worth picking out of that encounter was the picture which is included here courtesy of Neil Paterson and that might have an historical interest one day: two keepers both of whom won the Albert Smith medal in a Camanachd Cup final. There are only two other goalies who did likewise- Hughie Chisholm and Scott McNeill.

Then Newtonmore won the Premier the next week- and you have to say they deserved it big time because for all the slip ups they made in the course of the season- and how they must have felt these-they were the most consistent side for the whole season the irony being that the only side that could beat them was Inveraray, the side that was relegated. This can be interpreted two ways -Newtonmore were unlucky and/or the Premier League was a pretty tight competition. It’s fair to say that at times it was - though not every week.
The picture comes from Neil Paterson who kindly sent it on-and it’s good because this shows Newtonmore just after they won the trophy where the emotion and the feelings are at their most genuine.

Of course they got the cup the next week and they are pictured with the sponsors banner - and this must be the only Newtonmore team photo since the MacTavish pic of 1902 where they don’t actually have a cup to pose with but it’s a genuine picture and in years to come they can use it in their fund-raising quiz competitions.
What trophy has this Newtonmore side just won- and why is it not included in the snap?

Anyway four Glen lads were selected for the Scottish international squad-John Barr was chosen as captain, and for once the game on the Bught against the men in green did not go too badly as the guy in the National made clear.

“A superb first half display helped Scotland post a memorable 24-14 victory in the Marine Harvest shinty/hurling international at Inverness’s Bught Park on Saturday. For manager Ronald Ross it was not so much the victory but the manner in which it was obtained that particularly pleased him. ” I have not seen a better display from a Scotland side, especially in the first half. There were no failures out there. Everyone played their part. The hard work and commitment paid off and apart from dead ball points we scored three good goals and might have had more. Certainly Ireland came back hard at us in the second half but we continued to compete and in the end fully deserved our win” Right from the start Scotland showed they were the hungrier side and might have been a goal up inside the opening minute when a drive by Kyles’ Roddy Macdonald came back off Irish keeper Eoin Reilly to be scrambled away by an Irish defence, which did not look comfortable playing into the sun. Scotland got their first score on the board inside 5 minutes however when dead-ball specialist Kevin Bartlett knocked the ball over from a narrow angle for a two pointer. Ireland fought hard to come back but determined Scottish defending and in particular clean hitting out of defence by Steven Macdonald set the tone for the afternoon though a two pointer from Laois’s Zane Keenan had the scores level by the ten minute mark. Bartlett then eased the Scots ahead with another two pointer only for a foul by Oban’s Daniel Cameron to allow Keenan to even the scores at 4-4. By this stage however Scotland had begun to dominate with Reilly in the Irish goals being first tested by a shot from distance by Steven Macdonald and then having to watch helplessly as the Newtonmore man converted another two pointer.

Next Scotland captain John Barr started a move which eventually saw Bartlett cut the ball across from the wing into the path of Premier League Shinty’s top scorer Glen Mackintosh and he hammered it home for Scotland’s first goal. Moments later Mackintosh returned the compliment by playing in substitute Liam Macdonald who scored Scotland’s second with his first touch of the game. With each goal adding three points to the score, Scotland were beginning to build up a substantial lead which was underlined when Bartlett added a further double after a free hit was awarded for a foul on Barr. Scotland got a third goal in this purple passage of play when Scotland’s newest cap Fraser Heath fired home from close range.

Two further doubles from Bartlett and a single point from Liam Macdonald sent the Scots in at the break with a massive 18 point lead. The second half was very different. Whatever Irish bosses Jeffery Lynskey and Gregory O’Kane said at half time had its effect and their team upped their level of physicality. Scotland though dug in keeping enough pressure on the Irish forwards to make them miss chances which they really ought to have taken. Eventually however something had to give and Shane Nolan finally managed to improvise a goal for Ireland on the 60 minute mark. Though Bartlett added another two points for Scotland, four more for Zane Keenan and a second Irish goal from Nolan might have had alarm bells ringing in the Scotland camp, but there was no real cause for panic and Scotland held on to win the contest in relative comfort. Whether they will be able to repeat this feat in the return leg which takes place in Dublin’s Croke Park on 21st November will be another matter entirely”

Amongst the pics is a family one of course - again one for the Quiz Night of the future: The President of the Camanachd Association, Jim Barr and the Captain of Scotland’s international team John Barr (wearing the strip!!) Surely they must just about be Abriachan’s most famous residents -after Katherine Stewart and Jessie Kesson of course.

The night before the game of course saw the Marine Harvest awards and both Fraser Heath and Helen Maclennan picked up well merited plaudits- Fraser for being the named the National Under-21 player of the year and Helen received the William Paterson Salver for being the Volunteer of the Year. Well done to both.

And beyond that?
In the Glen the under-14s have won a trophy while the youth coaching continues apace-

and now there is to be a Women’s team.

Let’s keep on keeping on!!

Thanks for the pictures go to Neil Paterson, Sheena Lloyd, Russell Fraser and Hazel Stewart and Hazel Hunter

A new shinty season-but a slow start for both the Glen and the D. However, now things are hotting up and not only because the girls beat Strathglass in the Development League . This morning, if the pictures are to be believed, the lads have only gone and emigrated to the States for the whole weekend though the second team have had to stay behind to play Lochside in the Sutherland. The girls have had to stay behind since they have a game too.

So what on earth is this American expedition all about? Now this was not a question which the Wing Centre asked himself. It is in fact the very question that was put to the Wing Centre the other week by an old Glen historian.

“Did the Yanks invite you over because of Bradley Martin’s connection with the Glen?” was the way it was put. Now Bradley Martin was a rich American industrialist who rented the Balmacaan Estate from the Earls of Seafield back before the first Word War. He is commemorated by an obelisk adorned with the American Eagle situated across the A82 opposite the shop. Indeed old Brad might even have been the guy who allowed the field at Blairbeg be used for sport in the first place.

The Wing Centre sort of knew right away that this was not the reason the boys were going over. After all the Phipps who were equally American used to rent the Lovat Estate and as far as he had heard there was never any question of either Beauly or Lovat getting the American gig-so what was the real narrative?

Well, part of the story comes about because EJ’s grandad was a Macleod – and Donald Trump’s Mam was a Macleod – and that gave the boys an in to cheap rates at the Trump International Hotel, near Central Park. Of course given the hassle that Dol Ban has got himself into with his controversial remarks as he attempts to run for the Presidential nomination, the Camanachd Association were very keen to play down the relationship with The Donald, and so Chairman G was forced to issue a press statement.

Released under the banner “Shinty Jumps the Pond” it reads as follows;

Glenurquhart’s MacTavish Cup winning side are gearing up for the trip of a lifetime to New York where on Saturday 9th April they take part in the 18th Annual Tartan Day Parade down 6th Avenue. For Glenurquhart Club President Garry Mackintosh the invitation to his club to strut their stuff on the streets of Big Apple came as a massive surprise – but a very welcome one at that.

“Just after our MacTavish Cup triumph over Newtonmore last June I was contacted by Alan L Bain, President of the National Tartan Day New York Committee who suggested we take the side across, march in the parade and also showcase Scotland’s indigenous sport with an exhibition match in Central Park. Clearly they had noted our historic victory in the media – our first success in the MacTavish in over a century of trying – and I suppose the idea of a team of shinty players from the shores of Loch Ness caught the American imagination. The Loch and its monster are after all a global brand.

We sat on the idea for a while but then having been joined in the venture by several strategic sponsors we realized we could seize the opportunity of a lifetime. We have brought on board tartan specialist Scotkilt Ltd who will supply us with our kilts for the trip, Alan Macpherson of Tanera Camans who will provide our shinty sticks, Tomatin Distillery , Ark Estates (Scotland) Ltd and of course our very own Highland Council , all of whom see our trip as a positive boost for the Highlands.”

The Aird and Loch Ness Councillors have contributed £4,000 for the trip from their Ward Discretionary Fund. Local Councillor and Leader of The Highland Council, Margaret Davidson met up with co-manager Billy Maclean and team captain Lewis Maclennan to wish them well. She said: “I know the Club will do Glen Urquhart and Highland proud. It is a fantastic opportunity and they have done well to make it and take it. Take the good wishes of all of us around Loch Ness with you.”

A party of 30 players and officials, accompanied by the current President of the Camanachd Association, Glenurquhart native Jim Barr, will leave Drumnadrochit for New York on Friday 8th April and are due to return to the Glen on Monday 11th.

Scott Armstrong, VisitScotlandRegional Partnerships Director, said:

“I am delighted that members of Glenurquhart Shinty Club are demonstrating their ‪ScotSpiritin New York this year. As well as being a fantastic experience, by taking part in the Tartan Day Parade the team will be flying the flag for not only Scotland, but also the Highlands and encouraging people to come and visit us in the future.

“Loch Ness is a globally-recognised brand and people from all around the world are fascinated by the myth. I hope the team will capture the imaginations of those they meet and spread the word.

“VisitScotland’s marketing and digital platforms already provide a shop window for Scotland and I hope this trip will complement that, with the team promoting the Highlands internationally by showcasing the region’s cultural background.”

Glenurquhart Shinty Club wish to thank the generous sponsors without whom this event would not have been possible.

Apart from the fact that Gaz was bigged up to be President from his more humble situation as Club Chairman and that Margaret’s napper was rightly used to block out the Castle- let that be a lesson to Hysteric Scotland for not coming up with any spondulicks by way of sponsorship- it tells the story just how we would like it told.

The lads are certainly looking forward to a wee knock about Stateside provided Geordie declares Dyckman Fields playable on the day. Otherwise there is no way anything is going ahead. All the best to the lads in their new role as Ambassadors for the Scottish Tourist Industry –let’s hope they have a good time

The MacTavish? Even as the WC writes it’s heading overseas.

Did the Club ask Torquil ? Maybe Jim Barr told him-then again , maybe not.

Why has the “D” been on hold since November ? Mainly because the Wing Centre got out of the habit of a regular encounter with the keyboard but also in part because the Glen have had a disappointing start to their new season.

Having won the Macdonald Cup at the end of Feb, the side has played well enough –with the exception of the Newtonmore game- but somehow failed to beat Oban Camanachd and Kinlochshiel at home.

On other Saturdays the results would have been different but on these particular Saturdays, it didn’t quite work out. The margins between victory and defeat in this sport are very fine. Apparently.

Thanks to Sheena Lloyd for the photos and to the Highland Council for the one of Margaret , Billy and Lewis.

If there has been a reason for holding back with the pen and ink it’s probably been the form of the Glen this season in the various competitions-though some recent matches have given cause for hope. However, there are many more things to write about in the shinty world without reporting on games that cause personal and community distress - and as herself says “winning isn’t everything” though actually she is wrong there.

New York has been and gone - the experience left two or three memorable pics. One of these was of the team and the other was of Dixie Maclennan at what might in another century have been the sack of Rome.

The favourite in this household however is the snap of Smudger with Officer Dibble. Officer D is a big lad but he’s standing on the pavement and Smudger is on the street. I think S is telling him that he is under arrest.

Apart from that the most important action of recent times has been the 2-0 home win against Lochaber. It was a tight game. The Glen - strengthened by the return of international forward Fraser Heath - made their usual whirlwind start but were unable to find their way past the stuffy Lochaber defence thanks largely to goalkeeper Callum Macdonald and full-back Lachlan Campbell. Lochaber gradually grew into the game and by half time had a slight edge in midfield though their forwards were unable to get much change out of a Glen defence where John Barr and Lewis Maclennan were dominant.

It has to be said also that both Lachie Smith and James Hurwood put in excellent performances in the backline for the second week in a row.

However, with defences on top it was always going to take something fortuitous or special to break the deadlock and David Smart’s first-time strike following a long David Maclennan shy could be placed in both categories. Suffice to say it came slightly against the balance of play at the time. With Lochaber pressing hard for the equaliser, there was always space to be found in their defence and when Conor Golabek produced an opportunist finish in 86 minutes the vital points were finally secured for the Glen.

Lochaber were disappointed no doubt but they have a MacTavish Cup final to look forward to in June - and if their forwards can do something and believe in themselves a bit they have a chance. The formbook doesn’t give them much support but then again in a cup game anything can happen provided you make it happen.

For the Glen, the absence of the team from the MacTavish final for the first time in four years is a disappointment but injuries and absences haven’t helped with a settled side-though to be fair the same is true of other sides.

The loss in the MacAulay against Skye was another daft Saturday. Looking back at the game and bearing in mind the natural tendency of the supporter to see the match through the eyes of his own team it is still difficult to take in that the guys were unable to at least take the match to extra time given the amount of pressure they had in the second half. Gannon did what he was supposed to do one supposes - and if any consolation can be taken from the result it is that it at least cheered up former Glenner Davie MacVicar.

Sometimes we console ourselves that we are not bothered about the MacAulay because the final is on Games Day and we cannot play in it- but every few years Games Saturday does not coincide with the MacAulay’s big day and this was one of them. Now we will have to wait another four years for it to come round again.

For the seconds – goodness knows how Chrissie, Paul Mac and Hendo have managed it but wins against Lochside then Lochcarron in the Sutherland and against Glengarry in the Strathdearn are excellent though League form needs it all.

The Wing Centre has seen all the matches and the thing that has made all the difference is the ability to take chances. Conor Golabek was on form in the first Sutherland match - how that boy worked against Lochside - but if 'Side's Keith MacMillan had not done in his knee and left the field then perhaps …..but then again ,who knows?

Against the Garry, James Macpherson got a hat-trick and Drew Maclennan also had a superb game. If they are both available for the Beauly match then who knows?

The Glengirls have had a mixed time in the big league as was expected - but they will get better. The last match against Strathspey was a close contest - and would have been closer if Hazel had not been taking lessons from the guys in how to miss a penalty. Still Ms H is the top scorer but Ishbel Barr, Hayley Hunter, Debbie Surtees and Abbie Stoddart have also scored. Provided they get a full squad together they can win their cup match v Fort William this weekend but like the men’s teams they will be missing some youngsters who will be off on the High School trip.

And all the above brought to you courtesy of the willing and hardworking volunteers at the club who work hard to fund it all. Their latest actions resulted in a Gala Day and Disco in Blairbeg Hall.

The wider matters?

Here is one for a start- in all the fuss going on at the Bught over sports facilities with the rugby club being massively subsidised with new pitches and the nonsense of a proposed velodrome for the newly “sexy” cycling (mountain biking one can understand) is there any consideration being given to a refurb of the 1920s Bught Park Shinty stadium. No? Thought not. Unlike rugby players and cyclists, shinty players are ignorant lower class ‘oiks’ who can be safely ignored in official circles unless there is a call for anything quaintly highland to be on display. Time the Common Good Fund was raided.

And another?

There is no sponsor as yet for the Camanachd Cup. Not for the Wing Centre to wonder why RBS decided that iconic trophy was not for sponsoring. Perhaps they had been watching “Outlander” and decided the sport was too dangerous to back. So where now? With the Scottish Cup supported by the socially responsible William Hill betting chain and the Scottish League Cup funded by “Betfred” (what was the SFA thinking about? Money perhaps?), the Wing-Centre certainly hopes that Torquil will not be going down the Bookies to seek money. The message that Scottish football is sending out is appalling and shinty should certainly set a higher tone.

If nothing respectable turns up soon, Torquil should just give it to Marine Harvest who have been steadfast in their support for the game over numerous seasons. It’s time they got a little more bang for their bucks.

And while we are at it, what about a letter from the Camanachd President to that nice Mr Swinney now that he’s in charge of education to ask him what he intends to do to raise standards in shinty in all those schools in the shinty areas who ignore it and refuse to include it as part of their regular PE curriculum?

The fact that this sounds outrageous actually says it all.

Now that the nights are drawing in, it’s finally time for the “D-Meister” to get back to keeping out of it. Actually not quite true. Had the Glen - the black and reds as the Courier calls them - actually played up to expectations then the Wing Centre would have fired out the stuff on a regular weekly basis.

However it’s not quite so simple to find words of easy humour when the situation does not lend itself to any sort of light-hearted approach. It’s the same with the performance of Andy Murray. In fact if the “D” was on Twitter - heaven forbid-yours truly would have created the weareallandymurraynow#so Glenurquhart techies could empathise with each other ‘cos there is no doubt that that guy from Dunblane is the Glenurquhart of tennis. In truth though the “D-Meister” thinks it’s the other way round - it’s simply that the Glenurquhart Club is the Andy Murray of shinty. Not only that but the crowd is always against him too- just like they are with the Glen.

Thank goodness that at least there will be no sound system at Castle Leod tomorrow and after this odd insectless summer the chances of being distracted by a butterfly are also pretty remote.

Newtonmore - definitely the Djokovic of shinty egged on by a wee McEnroe good luck charm. And Kingussie?

Let’s leave that right there because Kingussie are about to arrive in the Glen with their first team for a game that dare not speak its name - and though Big Bad Bill in the P&J says they are short of players like Savio and Lee , no one in the Glen believes a word he says. It’s a fair bet that all the Moshi Monsters from the high country will be there - and we definitely won’t have Stuart Mackintosh because he is supposed to take wee Hamish out for a walk since they apparently both need the exercise.

So who will be the goalie? Billy Macleod certainly could do the job once upon a time as could Garry Mac - also once upon a time. Camino Maclennan can do the job in real time but he must be available for the Strathdearn final over the hill and across the fields at Spatown.

The answer is that your guess is as good as the Wing Centre’s and truth be told that guess will be as good as the guess of the two Glen Supremos Bill & Dave. Still they are old hands at this pick and patch now since they have had to do it all season. The first thought that comes to this scribe’s mind is that they have not had a full set of players to pick from since the Glen played Northern California in Central Park or somewhere.

But even that is not true. In the only really tough game outside this Strathdearn experience the Glen edged a fine result over an excellent Lochside Rovers team in the Sutherland thanks to two goals from young Master Connor Golabeck who really should have been stateside on the day. That day however some sort of belief came into the team and a sort of corner had been turned.

In the Strathdearn round following that, the Glenners managed to beat Glengarry up at “Parc des Midges” by 3 goals to 2. Yours truly was present on that occasion and it has to be said that the Glen youngsters played well enough surviving a few early scares but three first half goals from James “Frosty” made the difference in the end. They were all well struck “raspers” which gave the Garry keeper no real chance. He might have had several more on the day but why be greedy?

Then it was over to Braeview where Marc MacLachlan got a hat-trick for the Beaulacs but incredibly he lost because the Glen scored 4-through very early strikes by Fin Robertson, and Calum “Rhino” Miller supported by two other late first half goals by Frosty (see a theme here?) and Daniel Mackintosh.
Then the Glen proceeded to hold on till the final whistle while Beauly threw everything forward including veteran Rodger Cormack to no avail. Their shooting on the day was so wild that it is no wonder the Community Council is inundated with complaints from the householders about balls going in the garden.
Bet you it’s a topic on the “Beauly Discussions” Facebook page but strength to the elbows of Murph and his Men. You keep putting the ball in those gardens.
Thankfully those who whine about the beastly locals and their indolent Highland ways on the “Drumnadrochit Discussions” FB page live too far away from the shinty field to get exercised about Frosty’s powerful shooting. Don’t get the D-Meister wrong, a lot of Frosty’s shots are gloriously accurate and hard - though making Ally McAdam pull off a wonder save for Strath last week was hardly fair. It just made the rest of the Glasaich feel bad about how far they have yet to go.

No the thing about the Frost is that at times he is not the sort of man to miss an opportunity to…..well miss an opportunity.
Apart from irritating John Cameron’s bulls in Sandy Whyte’s field with several flashing drives two of which hit the Highlander - who was not amused and meant the ball was left in the field - there was one shot-taken from a narrow angle from the bowling green side against Kingussie, that the Wing Centre found inside the fence up at Cnoc an Burra.

To be fair, the big fellow got four goals against the Fort in the next round and was helped by an even bigger fellow Calum Smith who hit one while Cairn Urquhart got the other.

In the semi, Kingussie came to Drum. It was in a way a reversal of the Sutherland semi where they beat the Glen 2-1 on the Bught thanks to goals from Roddy Young and Kevin Thain.
This time in Drum, Roddy again took his chance but Kevin for some inexplicable reason did not. Meanwhile the Frostachan had scored two early goals but the rest of the front men - and whisper it the man himself - missed enough chances for the Glen to have been comfortably 5 ahead before Kevin missed his chance.
Perhaps Dame Fortune also smiled when Ronaldo suffered a recurrence of his ankle injury, though perhaps also the great man’s heart had sunk “Andy-Murray” fashion after Camino pulled off three superb saves from his strikes at goal.
Anyway a win is a win and let’s hope the top team pick one up tomorrow against the big Kings as well.

Whatever, we are into the final of the Strathdearn and Frosty appears to have scored 29 goals according to the Camanachd stats page this season including 10 in the Strathdearn. He needs to get some more on Saturday - and only then will he be upsides with his dad who won a ‘Dearn medal back in 1977.

Interestingly, for those with an eye on the pub quiz, Stuart Reid will also be trying to keep up with his dad since Mr. Reid himself picked up a winner’s medal back then too.

Good luck to Chrissie and all the lads.

Thanks also go to Sheena Lloyd for all the pics except this one of the girls (lifted from the Club website) picking up their training jackets which have been sponsored by our old friend Donnie at Nodram.

N. B. The girls seem to have put their initials on them so they know who they belong to. The guys , it appears, just pick them up sniff them and they know immediately who the jacket belongs to. Strange, the little differences between men and women.

In the end the Glen made it over the line to Premiership safety with a fine 3-1 home win over Kingussie, a hard fought 2-2 draw in the pouring rain down in Lochaber and a just about worth it 0-0 even stevens of a game at home against Kyles. It was a close run thing - but then it was a close run thing for every other team in the league apart from the top four. At all times during the last few nervous weeks despite the many siren voices saying “You’ll be all right now” this writer never really believed the Glen were totally safe until the Skyemen having beaten Kingussie 2-1 at home uncharacteristically shipped a pile of goals away to Kinlochshiel. It dented their goal difference but made it certain that the Glen who had at that stage a pretty poor goal differential themselves were no longer vulnerable.

So what’s to remember from these last few horrible weeks? For one thing Conor Golabeck put in a tremendous display against Kingussie to snatch two of the three goals that mattered.

His first half strike through a crowd of players put the Glen ahead but after Thomas Borthwick equalised before the break the game could have got away from the Glen at any point until Golabeck got a second 13 mins from time. Neale Reid banged in a final one just on the full time whistle and it has to be said that was a crucial game in which to pick up both points ,given the way both were chucked away in the earlier fixture at the Dell.

The Lochaber game was however the one which was most closely contested. On that particular Saturday, the Glen had been hit by the perfect storm. Stuart Mackintosh and David Smart injured and out for the season; James Hurwood injured; Lewis Maclennan on the Isle of Muck and John Barr somewhere between Texas and Norway - it was a wonder the Glen were able to field a worthwhile squad. However into the breach stepped Ross MacAulay, James “Frosty” Macpherson and Rory Maclean.

What happened? Neale Reid put the Glen ahead early in the match only for Kevin Ferguson to equalise with a fortunate goal which hit keeper Iain Macleod on the chest and flew up into the roof of the net. Then we were in a dog-fight of an old fashioned kind but the main ingredient in our success is that Andrew Corrigan having put in some training was just about able to match Shaun Nicholson for pace and that made a huge difference and the game reached half time at 1-1.

Lochaber started the stronger after the break and went in front after 53 minutes with a good finish from Stuart Callison, however our poor marking had allowed the opportunity. Glen responded in the right fashion with an excellent equaliser a minute later. A long ball down the wing was gathered by Corrigan at pace and he fired the ball into the middle to be met by Frosty Macpherson who cracked a great shot first time into the roof of the net. The boy can certainly finish.

There was no further scoring and the game finished 2-2. Glen certainly needed something from the game and in the end got a most valuable point and could perhaps have left with both although a draw was probably a fair result. The quality of shinty was patchy, but the game was played in torrential conditions at times so some allowance can be made. In terms of effort and commitment and bearing in mind the absence of key personnel it was one of the Glen’s better performances against a side that showed its quality earlier in the season by taking Newtonmore all the way in the MacTavish final.

The last game of the season and the first game of October was the Kyles game and the Glen were still not safe. The list of injured absentees remained the same as before, though this week at least John Barr returned to the fold.

On the down side however Mike Brady was working and unavailable while Andrew Corrigan was called off shore on the morning of the game and Euan Lloyd was still suffering with a leg injury from the Lochaber game and was only fit to be on the bench.

The managers had tried using Fraser Heath as a man marker on Roddy MacDonald down in Kyles earlier in the season but as Roddy scored four goals that day, it could reasonably be assumed to be an unsuccessful tactic. The decision was made therefore to use Connor Golabeck at half back in this game, albeit conscious of the fact that with Corrigan also being absent there was bound to be a lack of pace in the forward line. Fraser Heath was moved to wing centre to play against Robbie MacLeod, who had also caused us problems away from home while Ally Mackintosh dropped back to wing back and Billy Urquhart and Frosty Macpherson started up front.

This was a game short in highlights though Kyles had the better of the first half but the Glen defence played very well indeed. Kyles had negated the man marking tactic by neglecting to bring Roddy MacDonald with them, which may have been just as well although Golabeck certainly had a very effective game. However the Glen struggled to create many meaningful chances up front and replaced Billy Urquhart who had been struggling with the pace of the game, with Finlay Ralston after 25 minutes. The youngster did fine but didn’t get many opportunities against a strong defence with Donald Irvine at full back and Callum Miller at half back giving little away.

At half time it was 0-0

In the second half Finlay was replaced with Euan Lloyd coming on at wing centre and Fraser Heath moving to full forward to try and increase our goal threat. This did cause a reasonable amount of ball up front and all the forwards worked hard but it is doubtful if the Kyles keeper had a save of note. There were periods in the 2^nd half when we were under pressure and both the centre line and our forwards were dropping too deep to try and win the ball. The defence played well throughout: keeper Iain Macleod was tidy and cleared his lines smartly. John Barr was his usual effective self, Ally Mackintosh and Conor Golabeck also played well while Lachie Smith had a great game, fearless in the tackle and capable of great hitting. The centre line, apart from dropping too deep, worked hard but truthfully the Glen were exposed by a lack of pace up front which definitely blunted any goal threat. The game finished 0-0.

Afterwards there was disappointment that two points had been passed up though the single gained could have been a vital requirement for continued Premier status. The Glen were however in no way completely safe from the threat of relegation especially since Skye had beaten Kingussie 2-1 on the same afternoon. In the end it worked out all right though when Sandy Mackenzie knocked the ball home for Kyles late in the second half it was just as well for the Glen that he had strayed off-side.

Nothing however will make up for the loss of the Strathdearn. How on earth did that happen? Having come through to the final after a difficult game with Kingussie - Cameron Maclennan had an excellent afternoon and Kevin Thain missed a late penalty - we should have been better on the day than we were.

The lads had a great deal of pressure in the first half having given away a silly opening goal and when Frosty Macpherson snatched an equaliser before the break that should have been our ticket back into the game.

It wasn’t.

A speculative shot from distance gave the Caranachs the lead and while the Glen were still in confusion two more goals followed. Bitter disappointment all round- and to rub salt in the wounds Lochcarron were unable to field a team for their last home match. They missed out on their final match too but that was due to Lochaber.

After that loss the Glen defaulted to a 7-0 defeat at Newtonmore - about five goals too many but then bounced back with a 4-0 home win over Beauly. There we got off to a lucky start when a ball which was going wide was deflected in by Beauly veteran Sandy Tulloch. It was cruel on Sandy who played well for the rest of the match- and if his side had taken their chances then they could have been in the frame for an away win. However that honour lay with the Glen largely thanks to some delicate stick play by Jed Stoddard. He bravely went into the danger zone and took the hit to nick home his first counter – and then with the most delicate of touches picked up a second. The fourth goal however was the best of the afternoon. A neat bit of interplay saw Calum Miller blast home the best –struck goal he has scored since the rasper he struck against ‘Shiel in our promotion winning season. There may have been others but that is the one the Wing Centre remembers. The other moment of note in the Beauly game was the appearance of Hazel Hunter on the right wing. She did what was required and showed good movement and the ability to move the ball quickly which is all that is needed in any player at any time.

Next up were Fort William- and they were defeated 1-0 thanks to a little error by their keeper “Ginge” Walker who allowed youngster Finlay Ralston to nick a first half goal.

That apart the game was very even with Mr Walker redeeming himself courtesy of several excellent saves while at the other end Cameron Maclennan pulled off an excellent stop from Victor Smith (jun).

The game also saw Zoe Smith put in a nice performance on the wing for Fort while Paul Bamber also made a return in the Gearasdan colours.

Best for the Glen by a mile however was buckshee back Lachie Smith whose timing and long hitting was second to none.

So both teams ended up mid-table with no cups to show for a hard season’s work. After what the Glen have become used to recently it has to go down as a disappointing season - but then again some youngsters have come into the squads - and some have shown the character to progress and there is always next season. Can hardly wait!!

For the pictures thanks go to Sheena Lloyd and for some of the Fort snaps, to Ian Cochrane. Particularly love the one of the “subs” bench and of the crowd.

There have been times over the last few months when the “D” was resting, that this scribe set to making a list of iconic shinty photos which he would take with him to a desert island if he were ever to be sent there with some chosen music, the Good Book and the Complete Works of Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Brus.

Tops amongst them will always be that picture of Billy. Everyone who is from the Glen knows that picture – and they will for all time remember exactly just where they were when that pic of a boy called Urquhart from a Glen called Urquhart holding some broken stuff did its viral soar into the world’s headlines.

But there have been a few other ones that caught the attention- and they are not just the team photos.
One that popped up after the Marine Harvest awards was a snap depicting the only two Glen defenders to have managed to get a hold of these two Newtonmore guys since the early 1980s.
Siobhan and Deb probably were able to mark Brick and Mack tighter than Ali Mac or Angus MacInnes ever did back in the day, but then they’re both old grandpas now and can’t run so fast- though it’s doubtful if they actually tried on this occasion.

Whatever, it’s a lovely cheery photo- and deserves a place in the Glen shinty scrapbook though one guesses the ladies of Badenoch won’t be quite so keen- and if any of these Badenoch ladies don't believe the boys' story that the gals were Glen Shinty players, here is the proof.

Then there is the President.
He has been playing in goals recently – and when the Wing Centre went to watch him in training on the Astro the other night, it was clear he has a superb eye for the ball. This was a gift which was not too apparent when he took part in the pre-season trip to Cabers. That afternoon wasn’t a great one for the Glenners because the world’s greatest National League player scored four times.

Turned out however that the President had left his desk in a hurry and forgotten to take his specs with him. Now he always packs them along with his Litesome Support- and it has to be said the difference is amazing. Skye’s Danny Morrison could only get the ball past him by resorting to a sneaky flicking manoeuvre. Anything else was simply smashed away- and if Kilmallie supremo Mark MacPherson was quoted accurately in the P & J- and granted that is a big IF- Gazza had a good game between the sticks despite the driving rain testing the anti-mist properties of his speuclairean.

True he was beaten twice by the Rodger brothers- both good enough players though in the Wing Centre’s estimation Sunny still remains the greatest Rodger athlete. But that might just be bias because he played for the Town.

But what about this album snap of Lloydie taken on the same Saturday when the Glen gave Kilmallie a “Frostie” welcome back into the Premiership. The young man is just minding his business out on the side of the field trying to knock the ball as far away from the President as he can- so far so good.

But just see how those chicks are looking at him. It must make his mum wonder if she dare let him out on his own. He's just playing shinty- not auditioning for a gig with the Chippendales. It makes you wonder why they weren't looking at the President in the same way.

Anyway- back to the opening game of the season. The 4-2 result takes the Glen alphabetically to the top of the table. Heady stuff- and yet before the match started what with the pounding rain in Drum- yours truly had been wondering if the game would go ahead out west. Now maybe Kilmallie would wish it had not taken place but there is no doubt about it- from the start they were up for it.

Indeed it was Michael Rodger who gave Kilmallie the lead midway through the first half but that was quickly cancelled out by a smashing strike from Callum Smith which brought the sides level just before the break.

In the second half a nice strike from Duncan Rodger put Kilmallie back in front before James "Frostie" Macpherson did well to chase down a ball that looked to be going out and bring the sides back to scoreline equality with a fine strike. Two further attempts which involved first class shooting from the tightest of angles allowed the Glen front-man to complete his hat-trick that knocked the resolve out of a Kilmallie side that might have hoped to open their campaign with a home win.

Sheena's pic? The goal-scoring chap was moving so fast that was the only opportunity to get him in frame.

Still words of caution to the Glen- one win does not a successful summer make – but depending on what players Mr Macleod has for each contest, there is reason to keep positive and motivated.
And iconic shinty pictures? There are bound to be a few other crackers from the snappers.
Thanks to Neil Paterson and Sheena Lloyd for the most obvious shinty pics- for Billy and for the party snap thanks to Anon.

If you have ever tried to book seat no 51 on a train and you look it up on the website it can’t really tell you if you’ve got your back to the engine or not because-and here’s the obvious part-they don’t know how the carriage is to be coupled up to the train. It might be this way or that way-there’s no back or front to a railway carriage. Except there is, as you quickly find out if the seat no 51 you have booked happens to have its back to the engine and you prefer to look at the rain whilst facing forward. Anyway travelling on a train facing backwards is just about how it feels to support Glenurquhart in the Premiership this season with the additional delight of realising that the experienced crew have all clocked off their shifts or been sacked sometime in the middle of the journey and left the locomotive heading where….?

We will find out soon enough but some of the kids who have come on to the train are pretty good although they have had to grow up pretty fast.

At one point earlier in the season this Glen side were good enough to beat Lovat 5-0 and now that same Lovat squad have slipped almost unnoticed into the Camanachd Cup final where, with a bit of improved commitment and self-belief from two more of their forwards, they could almost justify a new pavilion.

If the Wing-Centre was ever a betting man, he would not bet on this game. He won’t have to watch it however because on that very afternoon the Glen will be staging their own big day out when they play in a fixture which predates even the Camanachd Cup- the challenge match with Strathglass and that must always take precedence.

If truth be told the game that disappointed most was the 4-3 away loss to Lovat back in July. Glen rode their luck most of the first half but then thanks to an excellent strike from youngster Oliver Black and two from Frostie Macpherson-the second one is candidate for goal of the season- we were going in to the last 10 minutes ahead. Then John Barr was sent off for a second yellow based on a foul which the referee imagined rather than saw.

With the Glen reduced to 11 men, Lovat pressed on and scored twice, the second coming with the final hit of the game. Apart from making a comment about the over enthusiastic celebrations from some of the tenants of Macshimi there is plenty more which could be written about that game but it’s pointless:

our situation is not due to that occasion but to a number of other matches which we have lost by the odd goal.

There were plenty points to be had but they weren’t picked up when they should have been. A crazy 3-2 loss to Lochaber at home when Glen were 2-0 ahead at one stage was another self-inflicted wound. However as well as self-inflicted wounds there were many others which were not: knee injuries to Jamie Maclennan, John Peteranna and Ewan Carroll played havoc with the second team and so these players were unable to step up.

Then there were suspensions -on the back of some (though not always) dodgy bookings which left the Glen short for crucial games. A serious injury to Euan Lloyd –and other less explainable absences have not helped but it has been the loss of John Barr -as well as the fact that he has at times this season struggled with injury -which has undone the Glen.

With the exception of Ronald Ross, there was hardly a player in the country who could get past him when he was in his prime: he has also been an exceptional servant to the game. Captain of his club and his country John has talked youngsters through matches for a decade-he has been one of the most consistently focused and effective players in the entire sport over that time. Apart from Ronald, perhaps Dannie Macrae and John Stewart are the two other players who had the physical power to stand shoulder to shoulder with John. Of the recent crop of forwards certainly only ‘Shiel’s John Macrae has the physical strength to compete with him throughout the full 90 minutes.

Here we are then- not in a cup final (though both sides did make semis this season) and in a parlous position re points. Yet on the upside there are youngsters coming through despite it all. Despite it all in fact says it all. This is possibly however a debate which can be had at a better time.

There have been downs clearly but there have been ups. Thank goodness for our girls’ squad because both Hazel Hunter and Ishbel Barr have bailed out the second team. Indeed Hazel has also been on hand to bail out the top squad if needed.

Whatever happens by the time the season closes –win or lose, up or down-the Glen will keep on keeping on. Always.

Thanks to Sheena Lloyd for all pics – also thanks to Neil Paterson for the snap of John as winning Scotland captain.

“Poetry and Shinty eh? There’s no doubt the two go together just like..like...eh ..like whisky and Irn Bru.”

No sooner had the Wing Centre come out with that line than herself stopped him.

“You can’t say that,” said she. “The Camanachd Association would get the wrong impression of the Club and bang would go that hard earned Bronze Award. It doesn’t sound like an athletic lifestyle to be drinking all that whisky and Irn Bru.”

Though he had heard of much nastier combinations, on the spot, the Wing Centre decided not to pursue that point but anyhow ,the idea of a shinty/poetry interface (as the great Sorley Maclean would no doubt have said if he were still with us and going to seminars) stuck in his napper.

After all Kinlochshiel were great at the poetry. They wrote poems for their big wins which actually meant that so far they had done two. However, given the sort of season that the Glen had just survived, any win big enough to be the subject of some immortal versifying seemed (and seems) pretty unlikely. And what on earth can rhyme with either Bronze or Certificate?

However,the Committee, surprisingly, were not in anyway negative about the idea-indeed they had information of their own. ”There is certainly a Bard in Balnain,” said the Chairman, “though he is more inclined to deal with matters of topicality or politics.”

“There is, of course, another Bard in Balmacaan,” opined the Chieftain ,”and I hear he’s quite good.”

“In my day,”said Mr Reid, proving that he is always right up on the top of whatever curve is fashionable, “the only poetry we came across was a rap on the lug, though I do see that the TV ads are now using poetry and raps to sell their sporting products to the modern audience.”

Everyone looked in awe at Mr Reid after that remark, His grasp of marketing jargon was certainly impressive and working in the Clansman shop had certainly widened his experience of the world view of Chinese tourists to say the least.

On the grounds that TV ads are modern and that a poet in residence would fit in with the ethos of a sport of which the governing body had engaged with four artists who would be working in the most unlikely locations, the Committee decided to get with the idea.

A quick plea was put out on Social Media- and to his and everyone's surprise- the following verses dropped into the Wing Centre’s e-mail inbox within the week. It appeared to come from the Bard of Balmacaan- and its subject - that epic match between ‘Shiel and the Glen which took place over at Balgate at the end of the 2017 season. It was a game in which the Glen picked up a point when even Bill McAllister had predicted their defeat.

Hurrah for the Thin Red and Black Line

All Hail the conquering boys from Shiel

Who did the Premier title steal

At Mossfield Park on a Saturday.

Long may they enjoy their victor-ay!

But pause a moment by and by,

Take some time to wonder why

All this glorious season through

They stumbled at the number two

“Why so,good sir?” I hear you say

The answer’s here as plain as day.

At Blairbeg ‘Shiel failed to score

And lost two goals. Oh that was sore!

The Glen stood firm and broke their hearts.

Yet a greater blow was on the cards.

Over the hill at Blairbeg pitch

‘Shiel’s frontmen hit another hitch.

The Glen with half their team adrift

Put in another awesome shift

‘Shiel huffed and puffed and cursed and swore

But John just simply Barr-ed the door

And with young Ally at his best

Smack rarely faced a serious test.

Then Frostie’s goals made ‘Shiel upset:

Into the match they could not get.

Poor ‘Shiel were really in a jam

To lose both points would do them harm.

“Right,” said John. “They’ll need some aid.

We’ll have to help them, I’m afraid.”

So Ally was told to give a pen

To get ‘Shiel in the game again.

That 2-2 draw was just enough

To win ‘Shiel all that trophy stuff

That single point was gold indeed.

It was all that ‘Shiel would ever need

To win the Premier League at last

With all the fear and pressure past.

So well done Shiel,but keep in mind

Just how the Glenners were so kind

To let you have one point from four.

You were never getting any more.

There was of course an earlier poem about a win over Kyles written in an Argyllshire accent, harking back to the days when the inhabitants of Tighnabruaich were actually from Argyll.

Then there was of course a famous ditty from the Chieftain about the Sale of Work.

There was also the attempt by the Treasurer to persuade guys to hand in their old sticks by writing in the poetic style of Julia Donaldson

Give us back your stick, Mun!!

“Stick Man Oh Stick Man just why are you sad?

At the start of the season you ought to be glad.

The teams are delighted and so should you be

To get back into shinty, if not to your tree”

“Alas,” says poor Stickman “that will happen no more

For here I’m abandoned behind the front door.

No longer permitted to take part in the game

Though I’m raring to go. It is such a shame.”

“Stick Man, Oh Stick Man just what can we do

To make use of the energy left inside you?

You do have a future. Still you can play -

But to get you involved just what can we say?”

“Get on to the players who’ve packed up the game

To return me to Sticky without any blame.

I’ll find a new master- and then I’ll be set

To get back to my shinty; there’s goals in me yet.”

(With half-hearted apologies to Julia Donaldson and none to Axel Scheffler)

So there you go. It was an appeal from the heart. With the price of shinty clubs going through the roof the call went out to all former shinty players of whatever age to give back their unused clubs. The Glen now have more teams than ever - both boys and girls- so we desperately needed sticks so all can play. Most players have more than one shinty stick lying around at home - and while they might require one to fend off the occasional burglar- the others could surely be used to help out the Club that provided them in the first place.

Did it work? Who can say? We still need clubs - and beyond that,maybe we need to gather up all our shinty verse as well and put it in a book to hand down to future generations, to recoin a phrase the Wing Centre heard recently. Perhaps next week we'll hunt out more poems from the vault. Few would be averse to that.

“This will really have to stop. It’s gone too far, “said the Wing Centre’s brother. He used to play for Kinlochshiel and won some minor medals with them a long time ago. More than that he won a silver medal at a far off Wester Ross Provincial Mod which presumably means that once upon a time he knew what real poetry was. Anyway, all he said was “You must have caught the bug from somewhere.”

“I simply can’t think where I got it

But it’s really very hard to stop it” said the compulsive versifier , with a sigh.

“It’s been like this for months till now

But I’d like to stop it anyhow”

“Were you anywhere near the honorary bard of Kintail Lochalsh and Glenshiel? I think I saw you speaking to him at the ‘Shiel game over at Balgate in October,” said the brother who tends to notice things.

“The answer is a most definite Yes

I spoke to him there I must confess”

“Then that must be the explanation simple or otherwise. I fear however, you are going to need specialist help to get over this affliction. There is nothing worse in life than the awful certainty of an obvious rhyme. Even Shakespeare’s characters avoided that.” The brother waited for an answer.

“I know

Even though

they spoke in poetry all the time,

they didn’t feel the need to rhyme

But the thought of rhyming till I drop

Upsets me - so it’s got to stop! “was the answer the brother got, at which he walked away baffled.

So there matters stand for the present; the Wing Centre has been struck with the divine afflatus, the virus having been passed on from another team’s bard and until the illness abates there is nothing for it but to give him time and stick with the rhyme.

Which is easier said than done- and can be very irritating as the Chairman found out when he asked for a brief report on the Inverness friendly which the Glen won 2-1.

“James Cameron put the town ahead

And then I thought the game was dead

Till Finlay R knocked our first one in

And his second goal gave us the win.” said the Wing Centre not really realising what he was doing. The Chairman looked at him rather strangely but said nothing and moved on to other business.

“How’s our Lotto going so far this year ?” he asked

“Not really very well I fear.

When the prize is low

The tickets are slow

To go”

“Are we making anything on it at all?” asked the Chairman

“If we are, the sum’s quite small” said the Wing Centrewithout any forethought as to the consequences.

“It was £20 we made last week

if the jackpot’s high, the takings peak”

The Chairman sighed and went on to talk about the Beauly game. The Wing Centre remained silent until he was asked to comment on that particular clash.

“Usually I would not give a toss

But that was a disappointing loss

Still, Connor’s goal was taken well

After that we went to H…”

He was not permitted the time to finish his sentence-if that was what it was going to be. As he walked slowly up Balmacaan Road it was clear that his problems with compulsive rhyme was becoming serious- made more deadly by the poor handling of metre and syllable. Too many years reading about Rupert Bear and Bill the Badger in Nutwood might have set up the initial infection but the disease had only really taken off after that conversation at Balgate.

Still it isn’t all bad ,as this little piece of poesy might reveal.

The New Shinty Season-Bring it on

The Shinty season’s almost here;

The nets and goals are up.

Helen’s washed the stripey shirts

and cleaned the Macdonald Cup

Plonker’s lined the Blairbeg sward

In straight, geometric lines

And Billy’s cut the grass quite short

While Iain’s used the tines.

The corner flags are newly sewn

There’s fresh turf on the D.

The edges have been trimmed right back

Just what you want to see.

We’ve cleared the pitch of rubbish

and filled in all the holes

We’ve even purged the lower side

of a herd of hungry moles.

With the AGM behind us

for yet another year

and the Dinner Dance being over,

there’s nothing left to fear.

The training’s already started;

The boys seem keen once more.

Here’s hoping that the black and reds

Can make the home crowd roar.

We wonder why we do it:

no one really knows

But come the opening week of March

Once more we’re on our toes.

Yes, we may win a cup or two

or nothing much at all.

But we’ll keep Glen shinty going

and answer every call

And there it is-though there really ought to be something about the Glen Girls’ match against Kinlochshiel and now thanks to Ishbell’s timely intervention there actually is.

The result went 7-0 in favour of the GlenWith the scorers being: Abi Stoddart (3), Hazel Hunter (2) and Claire Hannon (2)

Glen fielded a strong squad of 14 to take on Kinlochshiel in the opening friendly of 2018.It was therefore a good opportunity for new players Iris Erskine, Julie MacLeod and Kirsty Smith to get some experience ahead of the season

“Despite having had our initial training hampered by poor weather and icy conditions on the Astro we were intrigued to see how we would perform especially against the new Kinlochshiel side. In the event Abi Stoddart and Claire Hannon were dominant in the midfield. And that eventually told against the inexperienced ‘Shiel girls

Overall the team appeared to enjoy playing together again, with some moments of good passes and well executed basics. There were also moments which showed our rustiness . The squad is back to training on Tuesday nights 19:30-21:00 on the Astro turf; all are welcome.

The other pre season friendlies to look forward to are

Lovat Saturday 17th 10:00 in Balgate

Inverness Tuesday 20th 19:30 On the Astro in Drumnadrochit

Strathglass Saturday 24th 10:30 throw up on the Astro in Drumnadrochit “

The Girls’ season commences for real on 4th March when we are away to Glengarry. Thanks to Ishbell Barr for the words: I am sure that given her connection with the West, next time she could manage it in rhyme

Oh and finally----

Well done to Sheena who did snatch

Some pics from the Inverness match .

A Day of Mixed Fortunes

Taking a philosophical view about the old game.

Skye must not be the limit !

Hold the back page! Newtonmore are even worse than the Glen at taking penalties

Spell Bound

Finally, Eventually, Magically……………………the MacTavish is won.

Shinty life goes on

Glen axe Lochaber twice in the cups……..just!

Not an Orchid - not a MacTavish preview even.

Footnotes to the Season

One last performance on shinty’s big stage from Old Vic

Let's just keep on keeping on!!

Glen Shinty takes off for the Big Apple

Rounding up…and then sounding off

The Glen makes its Annual Cup Final Appearance and the “D” almost never noticed.

The waiting game is finally over - at least for the Glen.

Snapping to it for posterity

Travelling on the train facing backwards

Verse or Worse

Less Poetry ,Please