An injury to influential full back Scott Mckillop marred Oban Camanachd’s 4-2 Mowi Premiership win at Lochaber, coming a week before the Scottish Sea Farms Glasgow Celtic Society Challenge Cup final against Kyles Athletic.
Mckillop left the field during the opening minutes and Oban Camanachd manager Gareth Evans said: “Scott screamed in pain as he went down.
“We think he may have dislocated his knee-cap but it popped back in as he fell. We’ll give him every chance, but he must be a big doubt for the final.”
Ross Macmillan’s turn and shot had the Oban side ahead but Ben Delaney levelled from close range.
Lochaber’s Ryan Johnstone, booked during the first minute, was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Daniel MacVicar but despite being a man down, Ben Delaney’s second goal had Lochaber in front before Malcolm Clark made it 2-2.
Daniel MacCuish volleyed home following a corner and another smart Malcolm Clark finish made it 4-2.
Gareth Evans added: “We made hard work of it at times and need to sharpen up if we are to win the Celtic Society final.”
Macleod makes his mark
Portree is proving a Skye stronghold as the islanders enjoyed a 3-2 derby win over Kinlochshiel.
Dan MacDonald’s composed finish and Archie Millar’s backhand strike had Skye two-up before Archie MacRae’s penalty, five minutes into first half stoppage time, halved the deficit.
Ruaraidh Macleod ran almost half the length of the field, following Sam MacPhee’s ball forward, to score Skye’s third before Donald Nixon, played in by Archie MacRae, calmly slotted the ball home.
Skye match-winner Ruaraidh Macleod has been juggling a job offshore with his shinty commitments this season.
He said: “Fitness isn’t a problem as I can train hard when on the rigs but it’s just a case of quickly getting back into games again when I’m home.
“For us, this was a good bounce-back from last week and that’s 12 points now so we’re getting closer to where we want to be.”
Shiel manager Willie MacRae said: “We never showed up and maybe had one eye on next week’s Macaulay tie against Kingussie. Skye defended very well and caught us napping with their goals.”
Cowie at the double
Kyles Athletic moved out of the relegation zone at Lochaber’s expense after beating Newtonmore 5-2. Will Cowie’s double along with strikes from Conor Kennedy, Innes Macdonald, and Scott Macdonald counted for Kyles with Steven Macdonald’s penalty and Euan Dingwall keeping More in it.
Kyles player-coach Roddy Macdonald: “That was more like it, but we rode our luck in the first half and were lucky to go in 1-0 ahead as Newtonmore had a lot of chances without hitting the target.
“We made changes at half-time and went on to dominate the second half with our forward line looking more like last season.
“It’s two great points without John Whyte, Andrew King and David Zavaroni. Jack Whyte deserves special mention as he’s stepped into the goals and made two terrific saves.
“Hopefully this is the start of a turn in our fortunes, and with players back, we now have selection options ahead of Saturday’s final.”
League leaders Kingussie beat Glenurquhart 5-0. Savio Genini and Dylan Borthwick (one a penalty) both scored twice and Ruaridh Anderson grabbed the other.
Craig Morrison is just one strike short of the 30-goal mark after bagging a brace in Caberfeidh’s 3-2 win at Lovat. Kyle Grant blasted home what proved to be the winner with Graeme MacMillan and Lewis Tawse on target for Lovat.
Sandy Elrick, Finlay MacLennan, Euan Maccormick and Jack MacDonald all scored as Mowi National Division leaders Beauly won 4-1 at Bute. Iain McDonald countered.
Glasgow Mid Argyll were given a walk-over when Oban Celtic were unable to fulfil their Ferguson Transport & Shipping Balliemore Cup quarter-final tie.
The Inverness first team’s match with the Lovat seconds marked a refereeing return for Steven MacLachlan who suffered a cardiac arrest in a game earlier this season.
