Matheson Cup

For the second week on the trot Boleskine's U12 had a competition, this time the Matheson Cup at Braeview park on Friday the 7th September.  The games were played in a one league consisting of Beauly A & B, Teanassie A & B , Lochcarron and Boleskine .  In the first game Boleskine beat Beauly A by one goal to nil Ewen Fraser the scorer, did the double over the home side by defeated Beauly B by two goals to nil in the second game, scorers Donnie Forbes and Neil Hope. In the third match they against Teanassie A they had their best win of the evening , the score being five nil in their favour, scorers Ewen Fraser, Donnie Forbes 3 and Neil Hope . Lochcarron proved more sterner opposition the result being a no scoring draw  and in the final match Boleskine went done by two goals to one against Teanassie, Neil Hope getting the goal .   The Boleskine youngsters acquitted themselves very well and finished a creditable third on the night .

Team:- Mathew James, Hamish Stoddart, Donnie Forbes, Finlay Coll, Ewen Fraser, Neil Hope, and Owen Hope.

GLENURQUHART UNDER 12 SIX-A-SIDE

Boleskine Under 12’s entered this competition which was held on Friday 31 August at Blairbeg Park.  We were drawn with Dingwall and Inverness in  Section A (Kirkhill failing to appear); Lovat, Beauly, Caberfeidh and Glenurquhart were drawn  in Section B.

Our first game was against Dingwall and we played some excellent shinty against a very accomplished side.  We had a few opportunities to score but were unable to find the net. Matthew James in the Boleskine goal kept the score to a 0 - 0 draw with some fine saves at his first outing as goalkeeper.

Against Inverness we really found our feet and played some flowing shinty and were pleased to open the scoring when an opportunist long range shot from Ewen Fraser bounced past the keeper.  We extended our lead two minutes later with a shot from close range by Donnie Forbes following a lovely cross from Neil Hope.  Inverness replied fairly quickly with a long run from Joshua Glass (ex Boleskine) who then struck a fine shot from the edge of the D. The Boleskine defence of Hamish Stoddart and Owen Hope kept Inverness at bay with Matthew again showing great goalkeeping skill. However Boleskine kept up the pressure and with less than a minute to go, Ewen Fraser fired a 20yard shot high into the corner of the net.  We finished the game as 3-1 winners.

Dingwall had also defeated Inverness so a play-off contested first and second place in Section A.  This was a tight game and we lost 1-0.

We advanced to the semi-finals as runners-up in Section A and played the winners of section B Glenurquhart.  Both teams were on form and producing fine saves from the keepers at either end.  However despite our best efforts we lost 4 – 0.

Glenurquhart went on to win the tournament by beating Dingwall 1- 0 after extra time.

A fine evening’s shinty and it was a delight to see the young team working well together.  Matthew James played fearlessly in goal and Hamish Stoddart’s hit outs were excellent.  The Hope brothers and David Dryburgh look good for the future being still under 10.  Ewen Fraser finished his under 12 career with 2 fine goals but Donnie Forbes looks set to take up where he left off.

Thanks must go again to Ian Hope for coaching the young boys with such commitment and enthusiasm.

TEAM:- Matthew James , Hamish Stoddart, David Dryburgh, Owen Hope, Ewen Fraser, Neil Hope & Donnie Forbes

Year of Highland Culture

As part of the year of Highland culture a demonstration shinty game between Boleskine under 12’s and Raigmore primary school  was played at Holm Primary School . The Boleskine u12 won the close match by one goal to nil, with the goal coming from Donnie Forbes.  It is hoped to get the winning team photo on the web shortly.

.

IACC Cup  Under 12’s

 Boleskine under 12’s were in action on Friday evening ,25^th May 2007 playing in the Inverness Area Coaching Committee (I.A.C.C.) cup at Drumnadrochit. Eight teams took part being split into two leagues of four, the two top teams of each league playing in the semi final with the winners contesting the final.

 Boleskine were drawn in the tougher of the two leagues along with Lovat, Beauly and Dingwall. In the first game against Dingwall, Boleskine were caught cold conceding a goal in the first twenty seconds. With each game lasting only ten minutes it can be hard to get back on level terms. Two more goals were lost and although Boleskine did create chances the final score was Dingwall 3 Boleskine 0.

 The second game against Lovat started equally badly with another early setback. As the game went on however Boleskine settled and created several good chances giving as good as they got against one of the tournament favourites. Final score, Lovat 1 Boleskine 0.

 Game three saw Boleskine take on Beauly, last years winners who were hotly tipped to lift the cup for the second year running. Boleskine seemed to grow in confidence as the tournament progressed and played some good shinty once again creating opprertunities in front of the Beauly goal but without getting the breaks. Finlay Call in goal for Boleskine had some excellent saves and overall the team showed great determination and effort. Final score Beauly 2 Boleskine 0

 In summary over the three games the youngsters gave it ‘‘their best shot’’ with no lack of commitment or enthusiasm. The short time of each game  (10 minutes)  seemed to work against Boleskine who would have preferred more time to settle and play themselves into the game. In this type of tournament however this is just not possible and teams really need to ‘‘hit the ground running ‘’ if they are to be successful. All of the children enjoyed the competition  and will have gained a great deal from the experience. Great credit must go to Ian Hope who has invested a considerable amount of time and effort in coaching the under 12 team and also managing them on the night. If they continue to work hard on their basic skills and continue to show the same level of commitment then there is no doubt that they will go on to greater achievements.

 The Boleskine youngsters received tremendous encouragement and support from both parents and other well wishers and comprised  the following pool of players.

 Ewen Fraser, Craig Hepburn, Joshua Glass, Hamish Stoddart, Donnie Forbes, Finlay Coll, Luke Taylor, Neil Hope, and Owen Hope.

Reporter Peter Macdonald

ALLANMORE CUP 2007

This year’s Allanmore Cup took place at Glenurquhart High School on Sat 17 Feb 2007.  The 6 teams taking part in the round-robin competition were Beauly, Boleskine, Glenurquhart, Kirkhill, Strathglass and Tarradale.

Our first opponents were last year’s winners Beauly.  We played well but were denied on a number of occasions by a very competent Beauly goalkeeper.  We eventually lost 2 – 0 to a strong accomplished side.

We next played Strathglass in a closely fought game that looked to be heading for a goal-less draw. However Strathglass scored close to the end to snatch a 1-0 win. (though our coaches and players felt it was offside).

Kirkhill were next and they had already won their opening two matches.  However our young team had now settled and was showing some excellent linking play.  Donnie Forbes in goal denied Kirkhill on numerous occasions with some superb saves.  Our efforts were eventually rewarded with Ewen Fraser scoring twice to give us our first win of the day.

Tarradale proved to be difficult opponents and despite some excellent attacking play, we could only manage a 1-1 draw  -  Ewen Fraser again on target.

Our final game of the day was against Glenurquhart.  Yet again our defence was very solid and Finlay Coll in goal kept Glenurquhart at bay.  We took the lead after some strong attacking play with a superb strike from Ewen Fraser.  Glenurquhart battled hard and scored a well-deserved equaliser with a couple of minutes to go.  It was then end-to-end play with our young players showing great determination.  This paid off as, with a minute to go, Ewen Fraser scored his fifth of the day for us to win 2-1.

The tournament had been closely fought and although Beauly were obvious winners with 4 wins out of 5, the other teams were very tight.  It was with great delight, therefore, that we were announced as Runners-Up.  Our young players had played as a team, showed great tenacity, skill and enthusiasm and thoroughly deserved their silver medals.  Thanks must go the coaches – Ian Hope & Peter MacDonald – whose dedication and hard work at training every week has paid off. 
WELL DONE BOLESKINE

Team:- Ewen Fraser, Donnie Forbes, Luke Taylor, Finlay Coll, Hamish Stoddart, Joshua Glass, David Dryburgh, Neil Hope

Reporter Catriona Fraser

 U14 DEVELOPMENT PLATE

There will be three teams in section Boleskine Tomatin and Strathspey  Matches will be played in a round robin competition

Dates of games

4/5/07 at Tomatin

8/6/07 at Farr

18/8/ in Strathspey