This Saturday, two of shinty’s 100% records go head to head for a place in the cottages.com MacTavish Cup Semi-Final as Fort William welcome Beauly to An Aird. In order to preview this match, we caught up with Fort star Craig MacDonald. You can also read an interview with Beauly Captain, Colin MacDonald, here.
Craig, a big Quarter-Final ahead of Fort this Saturday, how have preparations gone for the game?
Yeah big game on Saturday that could give us a massive boost for the rest of the season, we have prepared for this match well knowing we have got our toughest opponents so far this season.
It’s been a great start to the season, 4 wins out of 4 including a 4-0 win against local rivals Kilmallie on Saturday. How are you and the boys feeling about the new campaign?
Yeah of course it’s been a positive start to the season from the team and always nice to beat your local rivals but hopefully we can keep the head down and still make improvements as we progress throughout the season.
You received some high praise at the start of the campaign from Newtonmore’s Norman MacArthur as well as those in the Fort William setup, what effect did this have on confidence going into the season?
It’s always nice to receive praise especially from Norman who has achieved a lot in the game which gives you massive confidents boost going into the season however, I would like to keep the head down and continue to improve my shinty game by game.
Beauly, like yourselves, have a 100% record going into Saturday – what kind of test do you think they will be?
It will be a massive test on Saturday against Beauly who I personally thought would stay in the Premiership last season after watching them in some games in the last few seasons looking like a very strong team especially in the attack where they have scored a lot of goals this season so, hopefully we can match their abilities on Saturday.
A victory on Saturday would put you into the Semi-Finals and just one step away from that big day out at The Eilan on June 8th. What would it mean to the club to be back in a major final again?
A win on Saturday would be a massive confidence boost to our game and for the rest of the season. For the club to be back in a major final would be nice and be a good stepping stone for the young Fort William team progressing.
