Day Scots shinty squad had armed police on red alert
It's becoming a bit of a theme here with only two games managing to beat the weather this past weekend in the Scottish Hydro Premier Division.
Newtonmore took another step towards winning their second consecutive league title when they brushed aside Oban Camanachd 5-0 at the Eilen (pictured).
Four goals from More's Glen Macintosh and a single from Camanchd Cup hero Danny Macrae secured both points for the Badenoch club. This win now sees Newtonmore and Kyles Athletic both sitting on 27 points at the top. Kyles, however, have a game in hand over their old enemy.
Glenurquhart finished their 2011 season with a 4-1 away win over relegated Glenorchy. Two goals apiece from John Barr and Liam Girvan put the Drum men out of sight. Glenorchy did, however, manage to pull one back through John MacNulty.
Congratulations to Lewis, who beat Uist in this years Mod Cup match. A double from Will Church kick-started the party on the island as the 108th Mod got underway in Stornoway.
There will be no league action this weekend as the Scotland team heads off to Athy, Co Kildare, for the first leg of this year's Shinty/Hurling International.
Scotland's 19-man squad fly out on Friday morning from Inverness and Glasgow Airport to Belfast and prepare for a four-hour bus trip to Athy. What could possibly go wrong?
Two stories spring to mind when travelling with the Scotland team over the years to Ireland. One story trying to get there - and another story trying to return.
I'll tell you of the story trying to get there this week and maybe the one about the return next week.
It was back in 2004, the Camanachd Association decided to try and save some money by sending the Scotland team to Ireland by boat rather than by air.
We all got ourselves down to Troon and met in a supermarket car park beside the ferry terminal. Fraser Mackenzie (assistant coach at the time) thought it would be funny to shoot this year's Scotland skipper, Norman Campbell, and this year's assistant coach, Kenny Ross, with a plastic florescent yellow BB gun. Once the play fighting and nonsense was finished, we headed inside for a hearty breakfast.
We hadn't thought twice about our pre-breakfast antics until returning to the cars and finding police everywhere. One policeman shouted "that's him, with the combat trousers on" while running towards Fraser.
Fraser was then ordered to throw down his weapon and get on the ground. Unbeknown to the team, an elderly woman had tipped off the police that there was a madman running about Safeway car park shooting people, and Glasgow's armed response unit were half way down the M77 on full alert.
To cut a long story short, the full team made it to Ireland, despite the ferry being held back for both shooter and victims as they gave statements. And the florescent yellow firearm was confiscated never to be seen again. Let's hope this trip is a little less eventful.
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.
Comments Post your comment