First win of the season for Camanachd Leòdhais

With several players unavailable for the game, manager Duncan MacIntyre laced up the boots once more to lead the attack. Leòdhas also welcomed back Daniel ‘Gaga’ Gallagher who slotted in at fullback whilst Paul Duke captained the side.

It was Lochaber who took the lead from a corner on 19 minutes, the ball falling to Keith Neville who finished with aplomb. Lewis came roaring back and after Stuart ‘Tyson’ Campbell came close with a looping effort, the home side found their equalizer. Ally Lamont played the ball to Scott MacLeod, who laid it off perfectly to MacIntyre, allowing the veteran to drill it into the corner.

What followed was a furious twelve minutes in which four goals were scored. Firstly, Lewis took the lead as Ally Lamont set up MacIntyre to power the ball low into the opposite corner. Lewis continued to heap pressure on the Lochaber goal and found a third from a corner. Connor Chalmers chipped the ball to MacLeod at the front post; the half forward turning towards goal and the shot off his backhand left the keeper with no chance. Still Lewis pressed and they were rewarded when Donald Lamont gobbled up a rebound to score his first of the season and take the score to 4-1.

The latter stages of the first half saw Steven Morrison make his debut for the club, the teenager taking over for an injured MacLeod before Lochaber pulled one back, Keith Neville once more creating enough space to find the net and make it 4-2.

The second half began at a brisk pace and it was Lochaber who were celebrating early on as they narrowed the deficit to one. Keith Neville proved once more to be the danger man as his low shot just evaded Eòghan Stewart in the Lewis goal.

Lewis weren’t to be deterred however and continued to search for a fifth goal, with Donald Lamont first forcing the keeper into an excellent stop before a Peter Gomez effort was saved by the keeper, Morrison’s rebound slithering just the wrong side of the post, denying him a debut goal.

As time began to wind down, Lochaber’s pressure intensified as they caused panic in the Lewis defence by constantly trying to feed hat-trick hero Neville. Stewart made a couple of crucial saves but with less than ten minutes to go, Lochaber were able to snatch an equalizer and what looked like a valuable point. A tired clearance fell at the feet of the one person Lewis wanted to avoid, as Neville was able to compose himself and tie the game.

With time winding down, Lewis were momentarily reduced to eleven men as Donald Lamont went down with cramp. Lamont was down for the best part of a minute as the game continued on before getting up at the urging of his manager. As he hobbled forward, Paul Duke sent a long ball down to MacIntyre who took it under control and moved it on to Lamont. Lamont, unable to move at any great pace, took aim from range and rifled an unstoppable shot past the outstretched hand of the goalkeeper to seal victory for Lewis and move them off the bottom of the table.

Lochcarron will travel to Shawbost on Saturday with throw up expected to be at 2:30pm. Live updates from the game can be found on Twitter @lewiscamanachd