The visitors went into the game as runaway leaders of South Division One - a league above the Bute second team - but came within five minutes of trailing at the interval, and never looked certain of victory despite playing the last 20 minutes with an extra man, eventually squeezing through courtesy of sub Lewis Cameron's 84th-minute winner.

Both sides were forced to sit through a 35-minute delay before the game could begin due to the absence of match official George O'Rourke, but after Billy Wotherspoon - who was due to take charge of the Bute first team's Camanachd Cup tie with Inveraray later in the day (click here for report) - agreed to step in, it was Bute who made the more impressive start.

It took the hosts only 40 seconds to get in their first shot on goal, Roddy Middleton finding his range from distance after good work by Leighton Reid and Neil McKirdy.

And McKirdy was at the heart of the move which led to Bute's next effort on goal, winning a free hit on the left which eventually found its way to Gordon McMillan, who fired his shot over the crossbar.
Simpson did likewise from a free hit in the 12th minute, though Bute could have been forgiven for cursing the sound of the referee's whistle, which blew just a second or so before McMillan flicked the ball into the back of the net.

But McMillan's next effort on goal led to a rather happier outcome for Bute five minutes later, when his shot was turned around the post by Lochside keeper Robert Dunnings for a corner - and Middleton's set-piece was met on the run by Simpson, who buried the ball in the back of the net.

Lochside captain John Will was the first man to have a serious attempt on goal for the visitors on 27 minutes, but his shot flew well wide of the Bute goal - though he did force home keeper John Whitelaw into a good save a minute later as the visitors finally began to find some form.

David Devine drove a shot just over Whitelaw's crossbar on 34 minutes, but the Lochside man had better luck five minutes before the break when Whitelaw could only half-block a shot and Devine stroked the rebound into an unguarded net.

And all Bute's hard work in the first half looked in severe danger of being undone just 60 seconds later when the home defence got into a terrible fankle inside the D and Will snapped up the loose ball to put the visitors 2-1 ahead.

Things might have got even worse for the hosts before the break, only a goal-line lunge from Bob McKechnie stopping Colin Carswell scoring a third for Rovers after Whitelaw was caught out of his goal.

But Bute took full advantage of the opportunity to regroup at half time, and the islanders were level once more less than a minute into the second half when Reid broke away down the left and sent over a nice cross which Simpson swept high into the corner of the net.

But Bute were unable to build on their second goal, and Lochside went on to enjoy their best spell of the game so far, with Will and Devine each finding enough space for a shot on goal, though neither was able to hit the target.

Devine, though, had better luck on 66 minutes, making the most of a clever lay-off from Will to hammer a powerful shot into the roof of the net and put his side 3-2 ahead.

And Bute's uphill struggle got considerably steeper two minutes later when Stevie MacKellar was given his marching orders after being given two yellow cards for separate fouls on Devine in the space of little more than a minute.

The home side, though, refused to capitulate despite their one-man disadvantage - and joy was unconfined in the depleted Bute ranks on 79 minutes when Simpson smashed home a Reid corner with another first-time shot to tie the scores at 3-3.

Bute's determination alone would have made them well worth another shot at the visitors in extra time, despite being a man down, but any such thoughts were dismissed six minutes from time when McKechnie, hampered by an injury sustained a few moments before, lost possession to the right of goal and Cameron knocked the resulting cross into the net.

The loss of a fourth goal finally knocked the stuffing out of a brave Bute team, and Lochside managed to see out the final few minutes without seeing their goal come under serious pressure; nonetheless, the visitors were full of praise after the game for Bute and their efforts, confirming that this was the Oban side's toughest game of the season - and that it was the first time this season they had conceded three goals in a single match.

* Bute are back on league duty this coming Saturday, June 13, when the team travels to Tighnabruaich to take on Kyles Athletic in Marine Harvest South Division Two.

See also:

www.shinty.com - official website of the Camanachd Association
Bute Sport Flickr group - six action shots from Saturday's game, by UFOPilot

* Please note that The Buteman is not responsible for the content of external websites.