After the 4-1 comeback victory against Tayforth took the club to its first ever semi-final, a June 13th clash against our old friends Lochcarron, the club welcomes one of the powerhouses of shinty to the island for the very first time – Fort William – in the Strathdearn Cup on Saturday 30th May.
The Fort reserve side are currently holders of the junior treble – North Division One, the Sutherland Cup and the Strathdearn Cup – and will be looking to hold on to their titles with a talented young squad supported by experience.
This isn’t Lewis’ first home fixture against An Gearasdan – in fact this is the third home draw the club has had against the Fort – but both of the previous two games were in the non-league days when we groundshared with Lochbroom at Inverlael. A record of these two games can be found here Clash of the Ash – Looking back at Fort William in the Strathdearn in 2007 & 2009 – Lewis Camanachd. These were heavy defeats, although the first game in 2007 was a sterling effort against a team who were at that time as well the premier junior side in the country, and in 2009 the club suffered a still-record defeat but did score our very first competitive goal thanks to Ally MacKenzie, Airidhbruach.
The last time the two teams met however it was a very different story. Lewis storm the Fort but pay the penalty – Lewis Camanachd Playing at An Aird, the Fort’s famous home ground, the Dubh is Gorm came back from 2-0 down thanks to goals from Donnie MacRae and Scott MacLeod. Lewis had several chances to win it in regulation time, but the game went to extra-time. Amazingly, Lewis took the lead through Ally Lamont and it wasn’t until the dying moments that the Fort equalised to make it 3-3 and go to penalties.
The Fort won the shootout 3-2 (although not without controversy as Paddy Sinclair’s shot seemed to come off the back stanchion but the referee adjudged he’d hit the post.) but it was an incredible performance by the Dubh is Gorm and probably kickstarted the title charge that saw Lewis go unbeaten from that point on and miss out narrowly to Lochcarron.
This fourth meeting between the clubs promises to be another good match up, and one that will provide another opportunity to assess the progress of shinty in Lewis & Harris over the last twenty years.
Come along to Shawbost on Saturday for what will be a fine exhibition of shinty.