Innes a fan of men in black
The Co-operative MacTavish Cup quarter finals were the main focus of shinty in the north over the weekend.
Kilmallie had the task of tackling local neighbours Lochaber at the Canal Parks, where a close encounter was always inevitable.
Kilmallie's Fraser Massie and Liam MacDonald scored for the Caol men, with Ben Delaney managing Lochaber's only goal, Kilmallie running out 2-1 winners.
Fort William meet Kilmallie in their first Premier League derby
Newtonmore travelled to Beauly to play their quarter-final tie and breezed through to the semi-finals with a 5-0 win.
Goals from Glen MacIntosh, Danny MacRae (2) and John MacKenzie (2) put the Badenoch boys out of sight.
Last year's winners Kingussie also proceeded through to the semi-finals, but not in such a comfortable fashion as their local rivals.
This game also saw the long-awaited return of King's legend Ronald Ross, who has missed the start of the season through injury.
However, it was Kinlochshiel's Finlay MacRae who was first on the scoresheet, only to see his score equalized by a strike from Ross.
James Hutchison then gave Kingussie the lead, only for MacRae this time to find an equalizer and take the game into extra time.
In the dying seconds of extra time, who else but captain Ross, found the winner for Kings, pulling his team through 120 minutes of shinty to face Kimallie in the semi finals.
Fort William faced Caberfeidh at An Aird in their quarter-final tie.
A serious road accident on the A82 held the game up for over a hour, as the referee and some of the players were stuck on the wrong side of the accident.
Both teams ended up warming up several times as nobody was certain when the referee would arrive, which didn't make for ideal preparation.
When the road was cleared and the referee, Charles Young, did make it, both teams were struggling to remain motivated.
After over an hour of shinty, James Clark finally broke the deadlock with a fine strike from outside the box for Fort William.
Next, Gordy MacKinnon did all the hard work leaving yours truly to net Fort's second.
With just minutes remaining Fort were awarded a penalty, which I managed to slot home for Fort's third and final goal of the afternoon.
This now leaves Fort William and Newtonmore to battle it out in the other semi-final.
The only Premier League fixture saw Lovat travel to Drumnadrochit to face Glenurquhart.
Lovat's Greg Matheson ran riot and finished off the Glen men with four goals.
Niell Reid managed to get his name on the scoresheet with a consolation strike, but Lovat wrapped up the game 4-1.
Referees. Now, love them or hate them, we need them.
Yes, they sometimes get it wrong, and yes, they may miss things on the field, but they are only human.
I have criticised referees for performances in the past, and I'm quite sure at some point I will again in the future, however, I don't believe that they are there to be ridiculed.
It's important to remember that referees can have a bad game, just as players can.
More and more, as players, we are hearing slanderous cries from the crowds at referees to get a cheap laugh from their friends.
Referees sometimes travel a ridiculous number of miles to gain a small fee, while helping keep alive the sport we all love to play.
This is not done with the expectation of getting verbally abused for the duration of the game.
In all sports fans often feel, once they pay for their ticket, they then have the right to shout what ever they like.
But there is a point where continuous abusive language crosses the line, and can affect the game.
Do you think anything could or should be done to protect referees from such incidents, or is this just part of every sport and should be dismissed as boisterous banter from the touchline?
Let's hear your thoughts on this.
It's a full fixture list in the Scottish Hydro League this weekend with Lovat travelling to Inveraray, Kingussie hosting Glenorchy, Kyles Athletic facing Glenurquhart and Oban Camanachd taking on Newtonmore.
Fort William face their first Premier derby fixture against Kilmallie at An Aird.
Both teams will want the points from this fixture, especially after Kilmallie beating their old rivals at An Aird last year.
One thing's for sure, the shinty fans of Lochaber will be in for a treat as the two local giants clash head on.
Unfortunately, I am likely to miss the big derby this weekend, as I'm having to swap my football boots for welly boots, as Mànran perform at festivals over the weekend.
However, if I do miss it, I will be sure to keep in touch with the manager, and will be hoping for good news.
So, best of luck to the Fort lads this weekend and all travelling clubs and supporters.
My name is Gary Innes and I play shinty for Fort William and Scotland. When not swinging my caman on the field, I play traditional music for a living and travel widely up and down the country to accommodate both passions. I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts, and hearing from you on Scotland's oldest and wildest sport: shinty.
Comment number 1.
At 18:16 26th Apr 2011, Catherina_X wrote:Are many shinty refs ex-players?
You'd think they would get less stick if they were. Or is it too much to hope that officials in any sport can be treated with respect?
The Scottish team were the worst at mouthing off to refs during the Six Nations...
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Comment number 2.
At 10:56 3rd May 2011, Gary Innes wrote:Many of the refs are ex-players Catherina_x, however I think the respect as a player often gets forgotten quickly when they swap over and pull on the black jersey.
Gary :)
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