Trio well represented in Scottish squads
SCOTLAND coaches Drew MacNeil and Ronald Ross have named 70 players in the initial squads to face the Irish hurlers at the end of October.
Beauly, Glenurquhart and Lovat are well represented, making up nearly a third of the senior squad of 41, while the same clubs provide nine of the 29-strong under-21 squad.
MacNeil and Ross will be inviting the players to three training and assessment sessions starting at Bught Park on Sunday 25th August. There is second session also set for the Bught a week later and the final session takes place in Paisley on the 8th September.
After that the groups will be reduced to around 20 to form the official party to meet the Irish. The senior timetable is a home and away double header starting with the away leg in Croke Park, Dublin, on Saturday 26th October.
Inverness will be the venue for the return leg a week later and at that point the under-21 squad will also feature, as well as the women’s international team.
There are few surprises in the make up of the squads and competition is sure to be fierce for the players to come through the assessment sessions.
Beauly pairing Conor Cormack and David Ma
clean have made the step up from last year’s under-21 squad, as has Glenurquhart’s Neale Reid, while Lovat’s Craig Mainland and Daniel Grieve, and Glenurquhart’s Ally MacKintosh will look to get their first senior caps.
There was speculation that Lovat’s goal machine Greg Matheson would feature in the senior squad, but he will lead the line for the under-21s as the Scots target their first win at that level in a generation.
The battle for Scotland’s number one jersey is also set to be an intriguing one with the Glen’s Stuart MacKintosh the obvious choice for the past few years, but now under serious pressure from Lovat’s Stuart MacDonald.
MacNeil will get another opportunity to assess the pair when the clubs face each other in tomorrow’s Orion Premiership clash at Blairbeg Park, Drumnadrochit.
It is the first time the clubs have met since their memorable MacTavish Cup final clash in June with Lovat looking to carry out a 2013 four-game whitewash of their old rivals.
The Glen welcome back Eddie Tembo and Ewan Brady from suspension, while Reid is also in contention after missing the Fort William match.
Lovat are keen to finish the season strongly and second place behind Newtonmore will represent their highest-ever finish. The Mainland twins, Martin and Craig, should return after missing the win over Kingussie at the end of July.
In other matches in the Orion Premiership, Lochaber pursue their sixth game unbeaten when they face Inveraray at the Winterton, while Kyles Athletic look to climb away from the bottom three when they entertain Kinlochshiel.
In the Marine Harvest leagues, a win or even a draw for Kilmallie at Cannich in their final match of the season against Strathglass will see them crowned North Division One champions.
Nearest rivals Beauly face Skye at Braeview with the visitors, in their final game of the season, desperate for the points to help them pip Caberfeidh to third place.
Meanwhile, the second semi-final of this year’s Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup goes ahead at Bught Park tomorrow with Fort William, fourth in the all-time winners list, facing Newtonmore, who lead the rankings, despite winning it just once in the last quarter century. The match is televised live by BBC Alba and throws up at 4.05pm.
PLAYERS selected for the Scotland senior and under-21 squads from the local area are as follows:
Senior squad — Conor Cormack and David Maclean (both Beauly); John Barr, Andrew Corrigan, Ally MacKintosh; Stuart Mackintosh, David Smart and Neale Reid (all Glenurquhart); Kevin Bartlett, Callum Cruden, Daniel Grieve, Drew Howie, Stuart MacDonald and Craig Mainland (all Lovat).
Under-21 squad — Marc MacLachlan, Jack MacDonald and Scott MacLeod (all Beauly); Ewan Brady and Fraser Heath (both Glenurquhart); Michael MacKenzie, Graeme Macmillan, Lewis Tawse and Greg Matheson (all Lovat).
