Conor Cormack celebrated his 30th birthday in style on Sunday, nursing the Albert Smith man of the match medal, as Dornie was the focus of continued Wester Ross celebrations over Kinlochshiel’s historic Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup triumph.
Runrig, in their shinty tune, sang about “the Kinlochshiel bear coming down from the cave for the clash of the ash” and that bear roared at Oban, getting his fangs on the trophy for the first time in the 125th anniversary final.
When the club gained its first honour with a 1962 Sutherland Cup success, Ian “Dubh” Fraser was the hat-trick hero – and his grandson Jordan played his part in the Reds grabbing Camanachd glory.
A massive Wester Ross support made the trek to Mossfield to cheer them on to a 3-1 victory over gallant Lovat in the Argyll sunshine.
“It’s still sinking in”, said Cormack, son of Beauly and Scotland man Roger. “We went out and played like a band of brothers, everyone working for each other because we know one another so well.
“We trained so hard for this one and it’s paid off. I think we’ve proved in the last five years or so that we’re a top team — and now we’ve taken the biggest step.”
Winning skipper Keith MacRae, clutching five-year-old daugher Mabel in one hand and the cup in the other, said: “The heat made it difficult on the pitch, but we wanted so much to win it.
“Now we’ve got that Camanachd winning feeling, we want it again. The more of these big games you win, the more prepared you are, which is why Newtonmore and Kingussie are such prolific winners.
“We can certainly kick on from here.”
The man from Kyle of Lochalsh earned himself the Freedom of Wester Ross with his matchwinning hat-trick, his first treble of the season.
MacRae, 34, was able to toast the cup with brothers Finlay, 36, and John, 30.
Finlay shrugged off a knee injury to give an imperious display at full-back, but admitted: “I was in pain during the game, but it didn’t matter – it was all about helping the team take the cup home.”
Forward John added: “It’s great that the three of us picked up winners medals together – and the terrific support of our fans drove the team on.”
The only winners from further northwest were Skye in 1990, their solitary success, and this club from Kintail, Lochalsh and Glen Shiel are now determined their victory will not be a one-off.
Manager Johnston Gill said: “We don’t want to stop at one – there’s more Camanachd Cups in this team.
“Each player gave total commitment and I hope our older players will now stay on. The fact that we now have a good group of youngsters knocking at the door will keep them on their toes.”
Mark MacDonald, whose leg seemed to be held together by sticky tape, was immense in his first start for a couple of months, while 20-year-old Duncan Matheson was tireless at wing centre.
Sadly, attacker Ally Nixon failed to recover from a hamstring injury in time, but he contributed to Shiel getting there – and his elder brother Donald did play.
Lovat president John MacRitchie rightly said that his team “looked flat” in spells of their fourth Camanachd final in six years. They certainly didn’t play badly and had their chances.
How the Camanachd Cup final action unfolded
With an assist from brother John, Keith MacRae gave opposing skipper Stuart MacDonald no chance with a high drive in 21 minutes and Shiel were pushing for another before Lovat rallied to equalise right on half-time with Greg Matheson’s fine shot on the turn.
Lovat looked menacing in the first 20 minutes of the second half and the tie was finely balanced until a goal out of nothing proved pivotal. The break of the ball caught out the Kiltarity defence and MacRae pounced to cleverly flick it over the keeper.
With key man Fraser Heath hobbling, Lovat were up against it, although Shiel keeper Josh Grant did well to scramble Matheson’s fine volley off his line.
In a tense finish, Donald Nixon’s free hit opened a chance for MacRae to fire home in off the post to spark unconfined joy among the Wester Ross masses.
Seconds later referee John Angus Gillies, who had a good game, blew the final whistle – and the Kinlochshiel bear was roaring as never before.
