COLGLEN secured their first-ever Premiership win on Saturday with a well-deserved 4–2 victory over Lochaber at the Clachan of Glendaruel.
Lochaber looked the sharper of the two teams at the start as they took the lead after only seven minutes when Kevin Ferguson found the space and time to get away a well-taken shot that got past Scott Symons in goal.
After the early wake-up call, ColGlen responded well and forced their way into the game by consistently getting to the ball first and playing some neat passing, especially across the midfield. With the pressure building, Neily McNaughton went close twice before Andrew Tyre levelled the match with a superb strike from a wide position that gave the Spean Bridge goalkeeper Joey Mackay no chance.
Amazingly, The Glen then had two further goals ruled out despite strong claims from the Glen forwards and spectators that both had crossed the line. Despite their protests, it remained level at the interval.
Spurred on by their feeling of injustice, ColGlen came flying out for the second half, eventually getting the goal their standard of play deserved. After 15 minutes of second-half play, Andrew MacVicar reacted quickest in a goalmouth stramash and tucked the ball away to put ColGlen ahead.
With the Glen in the ascendancy, half forward Sam Bulloch settled the contest with two excellent long-range goals. Lochaber did grab a late consolation goal through Finlay MacDonald, but by that stage the result was a foregone conclusion.
With the game all but won, referee Alec MacVicar added seven minutes of injury time, during which ColGlen were forced to make two substitutions as Hamish Harrison suffered a head injury and Auryn Kerr picked up a leg injury. As the final whistle eventually came, it brought to close a dominant performance from ColGlen in which they controlled large periods of the game, created the better chances and looked the fitter side, particularly in the final quarter.
The victory marks another historic milestone for the club in clinching a first Premiership win after weeks of improving performances. Despite a run of defeats, the team has continued to develop and build momentum, and Saturday’s result was just reward for that progress. The victory also lifts ColGlen above Skye and Kyles in the Premiership table.
Once again, a large home support turned out at the Clachan and backed their team from start to finish. Manager Ronnie MacVicar was delighted with the performance and the way his side worked together throughout the match.
Cally McNaughton, sponsored by Brian McNaughton, was immense at full back and deservedly picked up the Man of the Match award.
ColGlen would like to thank Kizzie Illustrations for sponsoring the match.
ColGlen team: S. Symons, C. McNaughton, M. McClymont, S. MacVicar, A. Kerr, H. Harrison, S. Fraser, J. MacVicar, A. Tyre, S. Bulloch, N. McNaughton, A. MacVicar. Substitutes: C. Blair, K. MacMartin, N. W. MacVicar.
