Lovat manager Jamie Matheson was delighted to see his side come through a challenging trip to Beauly following a penalty shoot-out win in the first round of the Artemis Macaulay Cup.
Following a 1-1 draw Lovat goalkeeper Stuart MacDonald was the penalty hero, saving three of Beauly’s four penalties as his side won 3-1 to book their place in the last eight of the competition.
Matheson was full of praise for beaten opponents Beauly but believes his side deserved to progress at Braeview Park.
Lovat Manager Jamie Matheson pays tribute to Beauly following a hard fought victory with a Penalty Shoot-out on 29th April 2023 – Artemis Macaulay Cup #shinty pic.twitter.com/5YkVcP2miC
— Shinty (@camanachd) April 29, 2023
He said: “What a game of shinty. I think anybody here who was not a Lovat or Beauly fan was treated to a fantastic game of shinty.
“I take my hat off to Beauly. We haven’t played them in a competitive game in probably 10 years and it’s a fantastic Beauly side.
“You can see by the results they are getting in the Premier League and testament to them, it’s a tough place to come and play against them.
“I thought we played pretty well and certainly in the first half I felt we could have had three or four goals.”
Matheson insists he was confident his side would win the tie even as it went to penalties – largely due to the excellent custodian in the Lovat goal in the form of MacDonald.
Penalty shoot-out to decide the winner of the Artemis Macaulay Cup tie after the match finished Beauly 1 Lovat 1 on 29th April 2023 – #shinty pic.twitter.com/FCcV9KOTTv
— Shinty (@camanachd) April 29, 2023
The Lovat boss said: “It’s not so nervy having to rely on probably Scotland’s best goalkeeper and the best goalkeeper to pick up a shinty club in goal for a penalty shootout.
“We’re delighted to get through to the next round. It was a really tough place to come and we’ve won the game and we’ll look forward to the next round.
“There are a few big games coming up but we’re starting to get a little closer to where we want to be.”
Lovat player Martin Mainland, who scored the winning penalty to send his side through, said: “We made it more difficult than it should have been.
“But we got the job done in the end and that’s all that matters. It was a challenging afternoon and we should have put it to bed.”
Quarter-final line-up complete
Lovat will travel to Kinlochshiel in the quarter-final after they beat Caberfeidh 4-1 at Rearaig.
Kyle Grant put the visitors ahead but a double from Finlay MacRae and goals from Zander MacRae and Archie MacRae gave the home side victory.
Kingussie got their bid to make it four-in-a-row in the cup got off to good start with a 4-2 win over Skye in Portree.
Skye were 2-0 up after 25 minutes thanks to a Ruaraidh MacLeod goal and Ross Gordon’s penalty but Lee Bain scored a hat-trick for the holders before Savio Genini added a fourth in the 80th minute.
Kings make the trip to face a last eight trip to face Newtomore who beat Fort William 4-0.
Angus MacBean, Craig MacIsaac and Iain Robinson had the home side three goals up at the break before MacIsaac added a second late in the game.
Oban Camanachd, beaten finalists last year, swept Bute aside 5-0 at Mossfield Park.
Louie MacFarlane, Daniel Cameron, Malcolm Clark, Matthew Sloss and Daniel Madej all scored for the home side.
The victors will have home advantage again in the quarter-final against Inveraray following their hard fought 2-0 win against Col Glen. Allan MacDonald opened the scoring before Zander Kilmurray netted in the final minute.
Scott MacDonald scored four as Kyles Athletic beat Aberdour 6-0 with Finan Kennedy and Conor Kennedy also on the scoresheet.
They will travel to Glasgow Mid Argyll in the last eight after they were given a walkover as opponents Oban Celtic were unable to field a team.
Two goals in a minute help Aberdeen University beat Kilmallie
Willie Hunter got two goals in a minute as Aberdeen University beat Kilmallie 2-0 in the second round of the Strathdearn Cup.
Russell Menzies scored twice to put Kingussie 2-0 up in their tie at Lovat but a double from Euan Ferguson and a Seb Monkman goal in the space of four minutes completed a late turnaround for the home side.
Skye also ran out winners in a five-goal thriller with Shockie MacLennan’s goal six minutes from time giving them victory over Beauly.
Elsewhere, Brodie MacBean scored twice with Xander Ross also scoring as holders Newtonmore beat Glenurquhart 3-1.
Fort William, Kinlochshiel, Lewis and Lochcarron were all awarded walkovers in their ties as their scheduled opponents Strathglass, Loachaber, Boleskine and Strathspey respectively were unable to field a team.
Kyles Athletic reach double figures in Bullough Cup win
In the Bullough Cup first round, Luke Thornton scored four while there were doubles for Roan MacVicar and Andy Gayner as Kyles Athletic won 10-0 at Uddingston. Connor Guidici and Anna Nicolson were the other scorers.
Euan Gilmour netted twice after Bruce Johnstone and David MacAllister had scored to give Kilmory a 4-0 win at Strachur-Dunoon.
Gavin Stobbard and Kyle MacFarlane grabbed a pair apiece as Lochside Rovers beat Oban Celtic 4-2 while Niall Arnott, Donald MacInnes and Sean Taylor netted for Tayforth in their 3-1 win over Inverarary.
There were three league matches played on Saturday too.
In the Mowi National Division Lochaber beat Strathglass 3-0 thanks to goals from Pat Toal and a Ben Delaney double.
Ewen Campbell struck a late equaliser for Inverness to cancel out Shaun Nicolson’s opener for Glengarry in the 1-1 draw in National Division 1.
It was a similar story in National 2 with Logan Adam scoring three minutes from time to earn Aberdour a point at home to Bute after William Boag had put the visitors ahead in the first half.
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