Inverness shinty boss Drew McNeil feels buzz ahead of Kilmallie cup tie
SHINTY'S main bill of fare for local clubs this weekend is the second round of the MacTavish Cup with Drew McNeil’s Inverness side facing a difficult away trip to face Premier League side Kilmallie.
With a wealth of experience at shinty’s highest level – in his time he has managed Scotland’s National side and steered both Fort William and Glenurquhart to cup success – McNeil is unfazed by the prospect of taking his city side down the Great Glen into what has been traditionally hostile territory for Inverness shinty teams.
“Our league form has been patchy this season so far but there is progress to be seen. The disappointing thing is we will without Davie Glass again this week – he’s still out with ligament trouble – but on the positive side we have Iain Munro our regular keeper, back between the posts again,” he said.
“We played Kilmallie in a friendly at the start of the season- and it was a close enough match and I don’t expect it to be any different this time round. There is a buzz about the club just now-we have moved the sport into many of our local primary schools and with sponsorship from Macdonald Resort hotels, we will launch our Shinty Academy soon.
“That sort of atmosphere definitely works its way through to players in the top team.”
Strangely Inverness’s away form has been better than their performances at the Bught and a league point picked up at Inveraray, a team with Premiership pedigree, suggests Kilmallie manager Mark Macpherson might be advised to treat his visitors from the top end of the Caledonian Canal with respect.
The tie of the round however should be the derby clash at Drumnadrochit, where Glenurquhart host neighbours Lovat. Both sides have been recent MacTavish Cup winners – Lovat in 2013 and 2014 and Glenurquhart in 2015 – but neither side has been convincing in their Premiership performances so far this season. Glenurquhart in particular have blown hot and cold, taking a point off reigning champions Newtonmore only to lose 5-0 to Oban Camanachd last weekend.
Lovat on the other hand have struggled to replace the finishing power of internationalist Kevin Bartlett, who returned to his home club Caberfeidh in the close season. There have been recent signs that manager Fraser Gallagher has managed to steady the ship.
“We are beginning to look more like our old selves and should have taken both points instead of just one at Kingussie,” he said. “Against Glen we will be missing a couple of regulars, like Calum Cruden, but as they showed in our first round win against Strathglass our forwards can certainly hit the target if they are in the mood.”
Glenurquhart came out with a 2-1 victory in the most recent league encounter between the sides but manager Iain Macleod is always reluctant to name his starting 12 until just before the throw-up.
“With so many players working away we are never quite sure who will be available until perhaps the Friday before the game,” he said. “Now we also have some injury problems in the squad after the Oban game and will have to wait to see how things pan out in the course of the week.
“After meeting twice in recent MacTavish finals, both teams have a lot of respect for each other and they will play the game in that spirit.”
Over at Braeview, Beauly face a Kinlochshiel side unbeaten in the Premiership but manager Allan Macrae has hopes that his team will build on some of the good points they showed in the first half of last week’s Camanachd Cup tie against Skye. In the final MacTavish tie of local interest, Caberfeidh travel to Badenoch to face Newtonmore.
Finally in Marine Harvest National Division, Strathglass will be looking to take at least a point from present league leaders Skye.