This weekend Kinlochshiel welcome Caberfeidh in the MOWI Premiership, one week on from their 4-1 win against the same opposition in the Macaulay Cup. Cabers however, are flying high in the league while Shiel have had a mixed start, we spoke to centre Donald Nixon ahead of the game.
How has the team been preparing for this weekend’s game against Caberfeidh?
We will be preparing like we would any other game. Training hard in every session and making sure we’re ready for the game ahead. It’s tough playing a team 2 weekends in a row, especially a team as good as Cabers are. We know what to expect from them and will have to be up for the challenge again this weekend.
Obviously, you triumphed over Cabers at the weekend in the Macaulay, does that give you confidence going into the league encounter?
Yes we can take definitely take some confidence from the result. Probably our best performance of the year so far. We won’t get too carried away though. Cabers started the game really strong and went 1-0 up, dominating the first 20 minutes. Their goal then woke us up and we started playing some nice shinty after that, finishing the game strongly. We’ll need to make sure we start better this weekend.
It’s been a bit of an up and down season for Shiel so far, what is the mood like in the group/aims for the rest of the season?
We have had a tough start to the season with lots of injuries and some disappointing results. Saturday was the first time getting the full squad fit and playing together since the opening weekend. We’re now hoping to push on and get some momentum behind us. It would obviously be great to win some silverware this year but we’ll take each game as it comes and see where the season takes us.
You’re coming up against two of the top 5 scorers in the league in Craig Morrison and Kevin Bartlett, you managed it on Saturday past, but just how can you keep players like that quiet?
Craig and Kevin are both very good players and you can never relax with them on the pitch. Cabers also showed us that they have other boys in their squad capable of scoring goals with Kyle getting his one at the weekend. It’s a team effort, starting with our forwards defending from the front. I also believe our defenders are up there as some of the best there is in the game and know they will be up for the challenge again this week.
Have you found a difference in the way teams set up against you over the past 5 years as Shiel have become more and more successful?
To be honest I haven’t. Shinty is a game played with such small squads and there’s a limit to how much you can change your team and tactics from week to week. Most teams including ourselves will just try and get their best team out each week no matter the opponent and do their best to win the game.