Camanachd Leòdhais end league with win

Camanachd Leòdhais completed their league campaign in style on Saturday with a comprehensive 4-1 defeat of the visiting Inverness.
Camanachd Leodhais in actionCamanachd Leodhais in action
Camanachd Leodhais in action

Leòdhais were able to name a strong squad of seventeen players for the game. The team combined youth and experience with seven of the starting twelve aged 23 or under.

Sixteen-year-old Steven Morrison made his first start for the club at wingback whilst the club was delighted to name Ronan Sinclair on the bench, less than six months removed from a life-threatening illness.

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Lewis knew a win was their only real chance of securing eighth place in the league and looked to put pressure on Inverness from the outset.

Only a couple of minutes in, Scott MacLeod collected a deep shy from his brother Michael and laid the ball off to Will Church.

Colin Fraser in the Inverness goal rushed out to narrow the angle but Church showed real composure as he slotted the ball into the net to open the scoring.

Lewis didn’t let their foot off the gas and Scott MacLeod had four great chances in short succession.

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On another day the fifteen-year-old could have scored a hat-trick but the Inverness goalie was in impressive form for the game.

Inverness were desperately trying to fashion a chance in search of an equaliser but the Lewis backline was snuffing out the faintest signs of danger; Paddy Sinclair, Michael MacLeod and Daniel ‘Gaga’ Gallagher all putting in top-notch performances.

It was Morrison though that was the true standout, his tenaciousness in the tackle and his positioning belied his young age on the way to a man of the match performance.

Following an extended bout of pressure, Lewis finally breached the Inverness goal for a second time on the stroke of half time as captain Kenny ‘Duffy’ Murray picked up a clearance from defence and fired low into the net.

The second half began in much the same way as the first.

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Lewis were not resting on their laurels and some quick thinking from Murray on 52 minutes extended their advantage.

Murray took a quick free hit, catching the Inverness defence on their heels. The ball was squared across goal and Ally Lamont sent a backhand into the net.

There was a lull in the Lewis performance following Lamont’s strike that coincided with Inverness’ best spell of the match.

After testing Lewis keeper Euan Gilmour for the first time, the visitors regained some hope as Stuart MacRae pulled one back.

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Inverness had their tails up as they looked to cut the deficit to one and Lewis were panicking.

Inverness very nearly capitalized but for a cracking palm save from Gilmour before another shot found the side netting.

Lewis finally alleviated the pressure as they scored a fourth on 78 minutes. Peter Gomez picked out Church from a corner at the near post, the forward dribbling into the box and laying it off to Lamont who capped off an excellent performance with his second goal of the game.

The final minutes of the match saw young Alexander Gordon make his first team debut before Ronan took to the field thus ending his long layoff from the sport.

With the league campaign now over, the focus switches to the Mòd Cup match that will take place on October 15th.