With the first silverware of the shinty season up for grabs, Kingussie captain James Falconer scored the only goal of the game before raising the cottages.com MacTavish Cup following a 1-0 victory over Skye Camanachd.
Last September, Falconer made an unlikely return from injury to score a crucial goal in his side’s Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup win, which sealed a Grand Slam, and he was to the fore again, crashing Ruaridh Anderson’s corner from the right into the top corner of the net just a couple of minutes short of the half-hour mark.
It was a first trophy as skipper for Falconer who said: “It was a battle out there and the intense heat didn’t help but our whole team put in a great shift.
“Fair play to Skye, they gave us a good game and their keeper Murphy Henderson played very well.”
When asked about the possibility of another Grand Slam, Falconer kept his cards close to his chest, adding: “I’m saying nothing about Grand Slams. We have a league game against Beauly next week and that is as far as it goes.”
It was a first trophy as manager for Kingussie boss Iain Borthwick and he said: “I don’t think it has properly sunk in yet but it’s a good feeling.
“The pressure was on me after what the boys achieved last season so I’m more than pleased to get this one under my belt.
“I always felt the first goal would be important. Skye would understandably feel some nerves with it being their first final for a while so we wanted to see how they would react if we got ahead. They reacted well to be fair, but we defended well when we needed to.
“No sooner has this game finished though than I’m worried about a few injuries we’ve picked up ahead of Saturday’s league match against Beauly.”
Skye played their part at Bught Park, Inverness on Saturday and boss Kenny MacLeod said: “We are talking wafer-thin margins at this level, and we had a couple of chances that may have gone in on another day.
“The game came in waves, but the second half seemed to run away from us and despite our best efforts, we couldn’t score.
“There were two excellent defences on show, shutting out two fine forward lines, and although their keeper Rory McGregor was named man of the match, I thought our goalie Murphy Henderson kept us in it at times.
“We are proud of our performance, but pride doesn’t win you trophies and I hope the boys now have a taste for this. Our average age is 22 and we want to appear in finals like this more regularly.”
Cup specialists progress to semi-final
They may be still searching for their first league points, but Glasgow Mid Argyll again proved to be cup specialists, beating Kyles Athletic 5-3 after extra-time in the Artemis Macaulay Cup quarter-finals.
John McNulty, Cammie McCue and Calum McLay for GMA and Conor Kennedy’s strike and Roddy Macdonald’s brace for Kyles had the sides tied 3-3 after 90 minutes but Brian Slattery and another from Calum McLay at the start of extra-time won the day.
Craig Anderson, who has come through the youth ranks at GMA, said: “We didn’t start off too well but we had a lot of position and territory after that.
“We took our chances, and it was good to score five goals today; it gives our forwards a much-needed confidence boost, ahead of the Celtic Society final in a fortnight.
“Scoring early in extra time was crucial and we saw the game out well after that.”
GMA will face Oban Camanachd in the semis after the Oban side defeated an under-strength Inveraray 3-0.
Youngster Matthew Sloss bagged an early opener with Daniel McCuish returning from suspension to score a second soon after. MacCuish got his second just four minutes from time.
Some brilliant Stuart MacDonald goalkeeping and two goals in two minutes just after the hour were enough to give Lovat a 2-0 win at Mowi Premiership leaders Newtonmore.
Greg Matheson, with his sixth goal in seven games, and Duncan Davidson, with his second strike in two matches, left boss Jamie Matheson delighted.
He said: “That’s a really good result. We rode our luck in the first half and to get to half-time at 0-0 was massive for us as I’d have had no complaints if Newtonmore were a couple ahead at that point.
“Stuart made two saves in the first half that were truly incredible, keeping us in the game, and the boys were superb in the second half and deserved the win in the end.”
In Mowi South Division 2, Ryder Cup hopeful Robert MacIntyre drove the Oban Celtic colts on as he opened the scoring in a 4-0 victory over Strachur-Dunoon. Hannah MacDonald netted twice before Finlay Milton got the other.
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