Sport / Inter-county: footballers hope for famous four in Island Games revenge mission
SHETLAND manager Neil Fenwick says he will take time to “sit back and reflect” after Saturday’s inter-county football clash with Orkney.
The game comes just nine days after they last met in the fifth/sixth play-off of last week’s Island Games, with Orkney 3-2 victors over a much-changed Shetland.
Two draws and a defeat meant the blues ended the competition in sixth place, having harboured ambitions of making the final four at least.
The Shetland coach said he felt that the Island Games squad was “good enough to do more”, but that they had not got the luck they needed in Orkney.
Manager Fenwick, who took over the side in March 2020, boasts a strong record in the annual inter-county fixture – winning four of his five matches.
He also presided over Shetland’s historic 8-0 rout of Orkney in July 2022, the biggest ever win in the fixture.
Fenwick said that he would “get the county over and done with” before taking a break.
Shetland are looking to win four Milne Cup matches in a row for the first time since a seven-game streak between 2005 and 2011, and also are out for immediate revenge after Orkney’s win last Thursday.
The squad for Saturday has “almost picked itself”, Fenwick told Shetland News, with Calvin Leask away, Brandon McKay back to work and Josh Carroll also dropping out.
Finn Regan – who scored remarkable goals in both last year’s 2-1 inter-county win over Orkney and last week’s 3-2 defeat – has gone back to university, so will not be involved.
Spurs’ Matthew Murray, Whalsay’s Euan Irvine and Celtic’s Jack Simpson all impressed during the games for Shetland, and will be part of this weekend’s squad.
Irvine and Simpson looked sharp in the final match against Orkney, and Fenwick said it was “good to get them a taste of the Island Games”.
“Orkney were pretty much at full strength, so it was good to give them as much experience as possible,” he added.
The Shetland manager said that Orkney were missing one or two of those players for Saturday’s clash, but their changes would be “pretty much like for like”.
He is predicting that they will set up and play the same way as they did last Thursday, and said he had “jotted down something I think could work” to overcome Orkney’s threats.
Shetland recovered from an early setback last Thursday to equalise through a Jack Clubb header just before half-time.
But they went on to concede twice in the space of two minutes before the break, with one a mix-up in defence between Carroll and goalkeeper Rory Henderson.
Fenwick said his side had showed “some good stuff and some stuff that wasn’t so good,” adding they had “shot ourselves in the foot”.
“We let in a couple of really poor goals,” he said.
“But I thought for the vast majority of the game we were the better side, that we had the upper hand. I think the final ball just didn’t quite land at our feet.
“Euan Irvine caused them all sorts of problems, and a few times the cross or the cut-back just wasn’t quite there.
“We battled away really well though, and it was a good experience for the young boys coming in.”
That result in many ways epitomised Shetland’s Island Games, with the blues dominating both Jersey and Gozo but failing to find the winning goal.
They also conceded two goals in quick succession, one through a defensive mistake, in the 2-2 draw with Jersey last Tuesday.
Fenwick said he was happy with the effort that his side had put in, but said he felt they “never got much in the way of luck”.
“I told them that you can’t be playing at the Island Games and giving away two cheap goals,” he said.
“It’s a big step up. Gozo and Jersey play at a much higher level, they have much bigger populations, better facilities, and we still dominated them for large periods of those games.”
He pointed to one what if moment, which saw a weaving Finn Regan run end with a shot cannoning off the post in the final minutes of the opening 0-0 draw with Gozo.
“Finn’s shot could have gone in, or it could have bounced back and landed at the feet of one of our other players,” he said.
“They gave everything they could, they ran, tackled and headed the ball enough, but sometimes it doesn’t click.
“We just needed that wee bit of luck.”
Shetland meet Orkney again at the Gilbertson Park at 3pm on Saturday 26 July, with spectators encouraged to come along and cheer on the blues.
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