U15 Boys Football Squad vs Wick - Quarter Final of the North of Scotland Cup

The following boys have been selected to play against Wick in the Quarter Final of the u15 North of  Scotland Schools Cup:

James Macleod

Iain Murdo Macleod

Scott Montgomery

Josh Campbell

Ross Allison

Dennis Macdonald

Ali Morrison

Jamie Sullivan

Alasdair Maciver

Andrew Macaulay

Ross Maciver

Stewart Macdonald

Calum Macrae

Seumas Maciver

Kick Off @10 tomorrow, check twitter for updates on the game. Good Luck Boys.

Nicolson Senior Girls Basketball Match Report

On the 19th of January, the Nicolson Institute Senior Girls Basketball Team
celebrated a great victory winning 42-26 against Fortrose Academy.  The first
quarter saw Alicia MacSween open the scoring with a quick paced lay-up. This
was closely followed by a basket from Fortrose, and it was in this way that the
quarter proceeded.  At the end of the first quarter the score was an even 8-8. 
At the start of the second quarter Fortrose went ahead for a short time before
Nicole Lammie and Kathleen Mackay scored within quick succession of each other,
with Kathleen only just missing out on a three-pointer.  At this time, the
defense for both teams were working hard to ensure that no more baskets were
lost.  Claire Maclachlan worked hard as team captain to keep defense tight,
motivating her team mates with shouts of encouragements when good blocks were
made.  Katie Vann and Erin Offer worked well together to bring the ball up the
court and keeping possession until either they or, Alicia could get into a
suitable shooting spot.  In the third quarter tensions began to increase, with
the Nicolson Girls eager to secure a win.  Kirsty Watt and Nicole were quick on
rebounding and helped the team increase the lead to an 6 point gap.   Fortrose
put up a great fight, and had commendable determination, even when the point
gap continued to increase, during the third quarter. In the final quarter, good
defensive blocks from Leanne Morrison kept the score steady at a 16 point lead,
securing the Nicolson of their second victory against Fortrose this session.

Friday - Video of the Week

Insane piece of downhill moutain biking by Danny Hart from last years World Championships

Senior Boys Football match report - 08.01.12

NICOLSON SMO-KING HOT
The Senior Nicolson boys team marched through to the quarter finals of the N.of Scotland cup with a 5-2 victory away at Kingussie High school. Whilst the margin of victory looks convincing, the game proved very difficult on a wet and muddy pitch.
Kingussie started the brighter of the two teams as the Nicolson struggled to find their feet, often quite literally! In the opening minutes Cpt Caz Macphee looked like Bambi on ice and as a result Kingussie had a shot on goal which was gathered easily by Ally Macleod in goal. At this stage Kingussie looked dangerous and play was concentrated in the Nicolson half.
The Nicolson defense and midfield began to adapt to the conditions and in their first meaningful attack opened the scoring. A throw in from Jake Rivett resulted in a scramble in the box and the ball and the ball eventually broke to Sam Macsween. Sam made room for himself, pivoted on his right foot and curled a fantastic left foot shot into the top corner from around 18 yards. Within 5 minutes Kingussie drew level as slack play in defense by the Nicolson led to the left winger of Kingussie running clear. He squared it to his teammates who between them, managed to bundle the ball past a wrong footed Ally.
The Nicolson regrouped and showed fantastic ‘bouncebackability’ (one word) by regaining the lead straight away. Gordon Maclennan took a quick throw in to Jake Rivett who hit the byline and manufactured a great cross to the back post where Innes Ian Morrison was waiting to volley emphatically past the goalie. Half time score 1-2.
The team was asked to keep up the intensity and get the ball to the attackers who were causing the Kingussie defense all sorts of problems. The talk evidently worked as after 48mins a brilliant ‘Cruyff flick’ from Maclennan sent Cally Macleod racing through and he showed great composure to slot the ball beyond the keeper into the corner.
By this stage the Nicolson were well on top with James ‘Titch’ Morrison and Domhnall Bardon taking control of the midfield. It wasn’t long before the Nicolson scored again when Gordon took advantage of hesitant defending to pinch the ball, race through and calmly knock the ball under the keeper. After 65mins the Nicolson took the opportunity to bring on some fresh legs, Iain Welsh replaced Innes Macdonald, who’d put in a very strong performance at left back and Andrew Macmillan replaced Sam MacSween who was suffering from cramp after running his heart out.
With 15 mins left Kingussie reduced the deficit when, following some good interplay, their centre forward raced through and placed a shot past Ali into the corner. This could have passed panic in the Nicolson defense as in the Scottish cup they had lost a 3 goal lead to Inverurie. However, with Caz MacPhee and in particular Chris Dempster who was later voted man of the match, in great form, the defense held firm and it was the Nicolson who were to have the last laugh. Andrew Macmillan shwoed great wing play to force a corner and from the resulting corner, Cally curled the ball right under the cross bar where the keeper couldn’t keep it out. A goal direct from a corner! Mr Rowlands decided that that was quite cheeky so took him off straight away and jet heeled Connor Mackay replaced him for a lively final 12 mins. There was still some time for Titch to hit the cross bar before the referee, who hails from Uist , signalled the end of the game. The quarter final will be a home tie against Dingwall, Culloden or Inverness High School. Well done boys!

North of Scotland Schools Cross Country Championships 21/2/12

The North of Scotland Schools Cross Country Championships will take place at Gordonstoun School on February 21st. This is the day after the February long weekend so this will mean that for those that are going, we will unfortunately have to travel on the morning of the competition and back on the same day.

For anyone interested in running, please give your name to Mr MacCorquodale in the P.E Department as soon as possible. Entries have to be in on  February 8th. Below are the age groups for the various races, girls and boys will have sepearte races.

·        Group D  ( under 14)   Date of Birth on or after 1.1.99

·        Group C   ( under 15)   Date of Birth between 1.9.97 and 31.12.98 

·        Group B   (15 + over)   Date of Birth on or before 31.8.97

Western Isles Island Games 5km - Castle Grounds 4/2/12

There is a 5km in the castle grounds being organised by the Western Isles Island Games Association. It will be held in the Lews Castle Grounds starting at the Castle Green on February 4th @ 1130 am.

You can walk or jog the course. The cost to participate is £2 for secondary school pupils and £5 for adults

Closing date for entry is February 1st. For further information call 01851 822 785

Please see link below for entry form and course map:

http://www.wiiga.com/news20120112.htm

Friday - Video of the Week

Thanks to Mr Rowlands for this one!

Junior Girls Football Team

Here is a list of the girls who have been selected to play against Arbroath Academy away tomorrow in the 2nd round of the Scottish Shield:

1. Kirsty Macdonald 2G1
2. Lorna Latimer 3A1
3. Amy Macleod 3A1
4. Amanda Nicolson 3A
5. Kirsty Gillies 3F2
6. Eleanor Smith 3S1
7. Beth Macleod 3A1
8. Isabelle Bain 3A1
9. Sophie Macaskill 3G1
10. Peigi Ann Scott 3A2
11. Amy Shirkie 3A2
12. Nicole Maclean 3M1
13. Kathryn Macmillan 3A2

Good Luck girls. Follow the game on twitter tomorrow.

Senior Girls Basketball Team

The following girls will be travelling to Fortrose to play basketball on Thursday this week:

S5
Nicole Lammie
Kathleen Mackay
Alicia MacSween

S6
Claire Maclachlan
Clare Macleod
Jennifer Maclean
Leanne Morrison
Erin Offer
Katie Vann
Kirsty Watt

Good Luck Girls!

Friday - Sports Video of the Week

Okay so here's your first sports videos of 2012.

Scottish Inter District Cross Country Championships

A big congratulations to Connor MacLean S3 who had an outstanding run at the Inter District Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh last Saturday. Connor was running in the u15 race for the North of Scotland. The race involves the best athletes from each district in Scotland with the North, West and East teams all involved. This race is traditionally very fast on a normally firm course but this year the athletes were faced with high winds and soft underfoot conditions making it tough going. Connor finished in 10th position which was a great performance at this level. The race was very close with Connor only being 8 seconds away  from 4th place. This race is a good warm up for Connor for the Scottish National Championships in Falkirk on 18/2/12 and if this race is anything to go by, every second will definitely count.

Welcome back!

Happy New Year to everyone.

Nicolson Institute have got a busy calender of sporting events over the next couple of months so keep checking back about fixtures, up to date results and competition reports.

Today the senior boys are playing football in the North of Scotland Cup against Kingussie. Next week the Junior girls are playing against Arbroath in the Scottish Shield. We then have athletes taking part in various events such as: the Scottish Schools Swimming Championships, Scottish Schools Indoor Athletics Championships, Rugby and Basketball games.

Good Luck to all those involved in what is a busy time of year.