Kingussie start title defence with crushing win over Caberfeidh
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MOWI Premiership champions Kingussie sent out a message to their rivals as they overcame Caberfeidh 7-1 at the Dell.
Kingussie wasted no time in taking the lead and there were only three minutes on the clock when James Falconer played a short pass down the right to Savio Genini who was on the edge of the D. Genini turned before sending a forehand strike through the keeper's legs from a tight angle.
However, Cabers levelled in the fifth minute when Craig Morrison, who topped the shinty scoring charts in 2019, turned home a low cross from the left.
The Kings regained the lead on 12 minutes when Ruaridh Anderson dropped into midfield before playing the ball forward and Ryan MacWilliam attacked the Caberfeidh defence before lofting possession to James Falconer on his left. Falconer got the ball under control before executing a composed finish to make it 2-1.
Kingussie continued to press the Cabers defence and, on 28 minutes, Ruaridh Anderson was again involved as he came deep before finding Roddy Young who held the ball up as he spotted a marauding dash forward from Fraser Munro.
Young sent the ball wide to Savio Genini whose first-time pass was perfectly weighted, allowing Fraser Munro to take the ball on the run and, to the delight of the home support; he struck a superb shot from the left, high across the keeper into the far corner of the net.
Kingussie made it 4-1 just before the break when full forward Savio Genini came deep to gather possession in a central position and he tried to play in Ruaridh Anderson who was running in from the right.
Caberfeidh full back Ryan Simmonds got to the ball first but Anderson quickly closed him down and the defender's attempted clearance deflected off the Kingussie play-maker's stick and squirmed low past keeper Iain McCall, inside his right post.
Kingussie were in complete control and James Falconer got his second on 50 minutes when he lifted the ball past the keeper from a tight angle inside the left of the D.
Savio Genini got his second in the 65th minutes when two Caberfeidh defenders missed a lofted corner from the right and Genini finished on his forehand at the back post, sending the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Ruaridh Anderson was next to notch a second goal with a calm finish a minute from time. Thomas Borthwick sprayed the ball to the left wing where Savio Genini quickly squared possession to Anderson on the left of the D.
Anderson went to strike the ball with his forehand but cut back to lose his marker before taking another touch by a defender and stroking the ball low across the keeper into the far corner of the net for a great individual effort.
The win sets Kingussie up nicely for a testing clash with Lovat at Balgate this coming Saturday.
Meanwhile, Kingussie's second team also made an emphatic start to the season as they crushed Caberfeidh seconds 9-0 in their Mowi North Division 1 clash at Castle Leod.
Dylan Borthwick is back in the Kingussie ranks after injury and he put the visitors in front on seven minutes.
Kingussie never looked back and Russell Menzies claimed a quick-fire hat-trick with goals in the eighth, 10th and 15th minutes to make it 4-0.
Rory Borthwick is another pushing for a first-team berth and he added a fifth on 25 minutes before Dylan Borthwick completed his hat-trick with strikes in the 27th and 33rd minutes to make it 7-0.
Kingussie were relentless and Dylan Borthwick got his fourth just three minutes after the restart. A mixture of good home defending and some spurned chances meant there was no further scoring until a couple of minutes from time when Peter Dickson made it 9-0.
The Kingussie colts now welcome their Lovat counterparts to the Dell on Saturday.
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