Newtonmore in particular looked to have a mountain to climb in facing Fort William at the Eilan after losing on penalties in the first round of the Camanachd Cup to Kyles Athletic.

The match was played at a fast pace, on a good surface and in front of a substantial crowd.

The Blue and Whites took the lead in the second minute when a quick break down the right side came to David Cheyne who lashed home from 15 yards, giving Scott McNeil in the Fort goal no chance.

The game was moving at lightning speed from end to end. For the most part, Fort William had the best of the midfield, but Newtonmore's defence was coping well.

The garrison squad's forwards always looked dangerous, but it was the Eilan side who threatened most when a superb strike from Cheyne had to be palmed round the post by McNeil.

However, a rare moment of slackness in the 'More defence in the 37th minute led to the Fort getting back on level terms.

The ball came to Gary Innes on the right side of goal to fire home the equaliser.

Unabashed, Newtonmore retaliated and, incredibly, were back in the lead inside a minute.

Steven MacDonald, tight on the right side of the Fort goal, let fly with a hard ground shot that McNeil reached but was unable to prevent from trickling over the line.

Michael Ritchie in the Newtonmore goal was given a fright when a ground shot leapt into the air from nowhere, but it missed the goal as well as his outstretched caman.

McNeil was the busier of the pair going into the break, however, with two good saves in successive minutes.

Into the second period and the game was still end to end.

Fort William tended to by-pass their midfield with strong hitting out of defence, but their less constructive build-up led to fewer chances.

Several shots from Newtonmore flew narrowly wide at the opposite end.

Norman Campbell came on with 15 minutes to go when a muscle strain forced Paul MacArthur to leave the pitch. Campbell moved into the forward line with Cheyne dropping back into midfield, and chances still came and went at both ends.

The Blue and Whites had a major scare with just five minutes left on the clock when a Gary Innes shot was superbly saved by Ritchie.

Come the final whistle, Newtonmore's support were celebrating their place in the final. This was no classic, but never short on entertainment and was exceedingly well controlled by referee Billy Wotherspoon.

In the other semi-final, Kingussie travelled to Kiltarlity to take on North Division 1 side Lovat, and might reasonably have expected an easier task of it.

So it appeared when Russell Dallas fired in the opener, then Ronald Ross made it 2-0.

But James Macpherson pulled one back and, minutes later, Lovat were back on level terms through James MacKenzie.

Just on half-time, however, Ross fired home a penalty to restore Kingussie's narrow advantage at 3-2.

Five minutes after the restart, Kevin Thain increased Kingussie's lead but MacKenzie once again narrowed the gap to 4-3.

In the 70th minute, Lovat found themselves once again on level terms through Greg Matheson and the home support were in dreamland.

However, in the end Kingussie's superior fitness and firepower told as two late strikes from Ross followed by one from Thain with five minutes to go saw the Kings through 7-4.

The two Badenoch giants now meet on Saturday, June 13.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---