The top three sides all lost following a dramatic day in the Mowi Premiership.
Skye Camanachd boss Kenny Macleod hailed a “fantastic performance,” as his side conjured up the shock result of the day, coming from behind to beat league leaders Newtonmore 2-1 at the Eilan.
Skye turned in a good first-half performance but fell behind just five minutes before the break when Iain Robinson’s deflected shot put the hosts ahead.
Newtonmore went on to dominate the second half but when William MacKinnon burst forward from the Skye defence on the hour, he crashed Ruaraidh MacLeod’s pass high into the net to draw Skye level.
More continued to pound the Skye back line but, in a rare Skye attack with just four minutes remaining, Neil MacVicar’s hit-in across goal found Ruaraidh MacLeod and he gave home keeper Kenny Ross no chance with a first-time shot.
Newtonmore threw everything at the islanders for the remaining five minutes, but Skye survived to take both points.
A delighted Kenny Macleod said: “We were already without Jordan Murchison and Kenny Cushnie was a late call-off through work commitments.
“John Gillies was rested after physio with next week’s MacTavish Cup semi-final against Glenurquhart in mind.
“Ross Gordon was unavailable so we gave young Archie Millar, who has been scoring freely for our under-17s, his first start. The boys never gave up and I thought we did enough to deserve the win.”
Magnificent seven for Shiel
Caberfeidh went into the weekend fixtures in second place but, with an absentee list that included Kevin Bartlett, Connor Golabek and Ben MacDonald, they succumbed to a 7-2 defeat to in-form Kinlochshiel.
Shiel led 3-0 at the interval through a Finlay MacRae double and Ali Nixon’s deflected shot.
A rousing half-time team talk from Caberfeidh boss Garry Reid saw his side bite back after the restart and two trademark Craig Morrison finishes cut Shiel’s lead to 3-2.
However, Finlay MacRae won possession to set up Archie MacRae who scored from a tight angle to make it 4-2 and, straight from the restart, the same two players combined as Finlay MacRae played a one-two with Archie MacRae before completing his hat-trick.
A low strike from skipper Jordan Fraser and a second from Archie MacRae, an acrobatic effort at the back post, completed the victory.
Reid said: “We were short and, apart from John MacRae, Kinlochshiel are back at full strength and there is no getting away from the fact that they are a good team up here.
“We were back in it for a moment at the start of the second half but not for long enough. Every team goes through a period where we are short of players and it’s how we come out the other end that matters.”
Kinlochshiel manager Willie MacRae said: “My heart was in my mouth when Cabers scored twice at the start of the second half, and they ran us ragged for a bit, but we went on to show our class and I think we dominated the rest of the game.”
On hat-trick hero Finlay MacRae, he added: “Finlay is a handful no matter whether he plays full back, full centre or up front and he is really good at bringing the young ones into play.”
Finlay MacRae, who has now scored six times over his side’s last three games, seems to be revelling in his role in the forward line.
He said: “I’ve been troubled by a hamstring injury so they put me up front and it’s been going ok, I can’t complain.
“We’ve also been winning games which is the most important thing.”
Kyles leave it late
Ross MacRae’s late winner secured Kyles Athletic’s 2-1 triumph over Beauly at Braeview Park. Conor Kennedy’s opener was wiped out by Beauly’s David MacLean.
With the teams above them all them slipping up, Kingussie took their chance to climb to second place in the table by beating Glasgow Mid Argyll 4-0 at the Dell.
Ruaridh Anderson’s early brace followed by Alexander Michie’s effort made it 3-0 at the break with Savio Genini adding a fourth after the restart. Kingussie now trail leaders Newtonmore by two points, but they have two games in hand.
There was late drama at Mossfield after Malcolm Clark in the first half and Daniel MacCuish just eight minutes from the end had Oban Camanachd 2-0 ahead against Lovat. However, James MacPherson’s 85th minute penalty and Marc MacLachlan’s goal a minute from time earned Lovat a 2-2 draw.
Oban Camanachd boss Gareth Evans was furious with the dropped point, saying: “If we want to do anything this season, then we can’t afford to throw away leads like that.”
In the Mowi National Division, Col Glen’s Dan MacDonald returned from a hamstring injury to score twice in his side’s 3-2 victory over Strathglass.
Michael Rodger struck twice and Lewis Birrell the other as Kilmallie were 3-1 derby winners against Fort William in their Ferguson Transport & Shipping Balliemore Cup first round derby meeting at An Aird. Cam Stephen countered for the Fort.
David MacLennan earned Glenurquhart a 1-0 victory over Glengarry.
Iain McDonald’s brace and goals from Ryan Craig and William Boag helped Bute beat Aberdour 4-0.
Lochaber also progressed with Ben Delaney and Findlay MacDonald cancelling out Charlie MacDonald’s effort in a 2-1 win over Inverness.
Inveraray received a walk-over when Ardnamurchan were unable to field a team for their tie.
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