THE opening round of the cottages.com MacTavish Cup took place in the north shinty area this past weekend, with form side Lovat posting a 4-1 home victory over last year’s losing finalists Kinlochshiel.
The win delighted Lovat boss Fraser Gallacher, despite the fact that his Kiltarlity-based side had comprehensively defeated Shiel four weeks earlier in the opening Premier League fixture of the season. “This was an excellent result for us because Kinlochshiel played much better than they did last time,” said Gallacher.
“For the first half hour or so the game was pretty even but then I felt we put our foot on the pedal and dominated to the extent that there were spells when we were exceptional. We had big contributions especially from midfielders Lorne MacKay and Craig Mainland and that must set us up well for the next round which is an away trip to Kingussie.”
Gallacher’s assessment of his opponents’ performance is certainly accurate for Shiel, who have struggled to replicate the form of recent seasons, started on the front foot, going ahead in the opening minute when a long free-hit forward from half-back Connor Cormack was missed by defender Dan Grieve allowing John MacRae to opening the scoring with a neat finish from close range.
Lovat then attempted to work their way back into the game, and gradually they began to do so with strong running from half-forward Fraser Heath and neat stickwork from MacKay gradually giving them the edge. Clear chances at this stage were scarce, however.
Eventually something had to give and in 34 minutes a determined piece of play saw wing-forward Graham MacMillan win the ball on the left. His cross-field ball was then neatly turned inside by MacLachlan for Matheson who first-timed it low past Shiel keeper Stuart MacRae for the equaliser.
Lovat then took a deserved lead just before the half time break when following an under-hit clearance by Shiel fullback Paul MacRae, Greg Matheson was again on hand to fire home his second goal of the afternoon.
The second half continued in the same vein with Lovat more or less in complete control of the play and Matheson in particular revelling in his part in proceedings. Finally free of the injury which has dogged his career over the past season or two, he was keen to run deep and pick-up balls in territory most forwards steer clear of.
His tireless running set up the third Lovat goal when he held off a challenge to fire in a tricky shot on which was stopped by Suart MacRae before MacLachlan snapped up the rebound , tucking it home from inside the D.
The final Lovat goal also had MacLachlan’s stamp upon it when after some tenacious play he was able to improvise a knock-back in the crowded box allowing substitute Calum MacAulay to score with a low drive through a ruck of players.
Elsewhere in the cup, Caberfeidh defeated Lochaber 3-2 in a close encounter at Strathpeffer with Kevin Bartlett’s 75th minute goal the decisive strike of the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Kingussie took advantage of Lovat’s cup action to match them for points at the top of the Mowi Premiership with a 5-1 away win over Inveraray. Savio Genini scored three times, with Ruaraidh Anderson and Roddy Young netting the others.
Elsewhere, Kilmallie lost 2-0 at home to Kyles Athletic.
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