Sport / Sporting round-up 3 March 2025
THE SHETLAND badminton inter-county team narrowly saw off Caithness at the weekend to seal a superb away county success.
The blues raced into a 3-0 lead after the men’s doubles matches, but were immediately pegged back to 3-3 after the women’s doubles.
That meant the match was to be decided on the mixed doubles games, and the two teams shared the next four results to leave the overall score 5-5.
But pairs Luca Russell and Caroline Keith, and Chloe and Rory Irvine, won their respective matches to secure an overall 7-5 win for Shetland in Caithness.
SHETLAND Valkyries paid an emotional tribute to former player Erin Quinn as they played their first match on Saturday since her death in January.
The Valkyries welcomed Stewartry to their temporary Gilbertson Park home for the first game in their regional play-off series.
It was Stewartry who came away with the victory on the day, beating league champions Valkyries by 34-20.
The pair will meet again in two weeks, on Saturday 15 March, with Valkyries travelling away for that one.
It was a double header at the Gilbertson Park on Saturday, with the Shetland men’s team also in action beforehand.
They thrashed Banff 36-0 to make a positive start to their tenure at an unfamiliar turf, with the replacement of the Clickimin rugby pitch with a new 3G surface the reason for the swap.
Shetland’s comprehensive victory on Saturday keeps them in fifth place in the Caledonian North Division 2 table, but with as many as six matches in hand on league leaders Gordonians 2nd to move up the table.
THE FINAL darts grand prix of the season was played on Saturday in Whalsay, with 57 men and 10 women entering on the day.
In the quarter-finals of the men’s competition in the Whalsay Boating Club shield there were some close matches.
Aiden Couper beat Evan Grogan 4-2, Kyle Tait saw off Gareth MacRitchie 4-2, John Philip Sandison beat Whalsay team-mate Roger Irvine 4-3 and Evan Goudie defeated Craig Smith 4-3.
The semi-finals were played over the best of nine legs, and saw Couper emerge a 5-3 winner against Tait before Sandison defeated Goudie 5-3.
The final was played over the best of 11 legs and saw a close game between Couper and Sandison, with the players sharing the opening eight legs of the final.
Couper moved ahead in leg nine and claimed victory in the 10th leg of the final to earn a 6-4 victory and claim the Whalsay Boating Shield, his second grand prix victory of the season.
The women’s competition saw the 10 players compete on two round robin boards with the top two players from each progressing through to the semi-finals.
Zara MacRitchie progressed through to the final following victory over Gemma Irvine, while Melanie Scott beat Marcia Pearson.
The best of five leg final between Scott and MacRitchie went the distance, with MacRitchie emerging a 3-2 winner.
During the days play 180s were recorded from Hayden Jamieson (three), Roger Irvine (two), Ryan Inkster (two), John Philip Hughes (two), Kyle Tait (four), Callum Urquhart, Gareth MacRitchie, Stuart Paul, Arnold Brown, Aiden Couper (six), John Philip Sandison (four) and Harold Sutherland.
High checkouts were recorded from Hayden Jamieson (151), Ryan Hutchison (100), Evan Goudie (104), Evan Grogan (103 and 100), John Philip Hughes (1180, Aiden Couper (109), Gareth MacRitchie (124), John Philip Sandison (120 and 107).
Shetland Darts Association thanked the Whalsay Boating Club for its continued sponsorship and hosting of the event.
GEORGE Robesten helped push his Ross County side to within two points of the Scottish Premiership’s top six after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Kilmarnock.
Robesten was brought on for the final 20 minutes as the Staggies held on against Killie, which means they have now won three of their last five league matches.
That leaves them two points off sixth-placed Motherwell with four games to play before the league splits in two.
Henry Oldbury kept a clean sheet as Golspie Sutherland saw off Bonar Bridge 2-0 at the weekend.
The goalkeeper started the game and ensured Bonar Bridge were shut out as his side kept their grip on third place in the North Caledonian league table.
It was a disappointing result for Spencer Moreland and Brechin City on Saturday as they dropped points at home to Clachnacuddin in the race for the Highland League title.
A 1-1 draw with fifth-placed Clachnacuddin now means Brechin have slipped to three points behind league leaders Brora Rangers.
Moreland started the match, which Brechin salvaged a draw in with an 88th minute equaliser.
It was to be the final match for Brechin manager Patrick Clegg too, who was sacked after the game.
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:
- Removal of third-party ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
