Skye Camanachd and Kinlochshiel were the big winners at the Women’s Camanachd Association’s Cup Finals Day at the Eilan.
Skye Camanachd lifted the Mowi Valerie Fraser Camanachd Cup for the third time when they beat four-time winners Glasgow Mid Argyll 3-0.
Skye led inside three minutes when GMA didn’t deal with Caitlin Maclean’s free-hit from the left and Sarah Yoxon squared the ball to Abby Maclean who finished from the front of the D.
Abby Maclean got her second late in the first half, unselfishly set up by Rhianna Kirk whilst Caitlin Maclean’s effort from distance on 65 minutes sealed victory and Skye skipper Rhianna Kirk stepped forward to lift the prestigious trophy.
Skye boss Jenna Beaton, who has been unable to play since the end of last season with a broken collarbone, said: “We knew going into the game that GMA had a solid defence, so we fielded a speedy forward line to in an attempt to be first to the ball but fair play to GMA, they shut us down whenever they could.
“We passed up some chances to finish the game off and I didn’t feel safe until we were 3-0 ahead.”
Skye’s Caitlin Maclean was the deserved winner on the player of the match accolade and said: “Our aim was to get an early goal and we relaxed after that and played our shinty. All our hard work has paid off.”
Jenna Beaton added: “I’m especially pleased for Caitlin as she dominated the midfield whilst Catherine Robertson was outstanding when she came on and Abby Maclean always gets on the end of something.”
GMA manager Graeme Macdiarmid said: “We are much more capable than our performance showed but take nothing away from Skye who were worthy winners.”
Shiel claim Challenge Cup honours
Earlier in the day, favourites Kinlochshiel were too strong for Inverness B, winning 14-1 to retain the Mowi Challenge Cup.
Scottish international Lorna MacRae was ‘Shiel’s top scorer with six goals whilst Lexie MacKenzie netted five times.
Isabelle MacKenzie, Alaina MacLennan and Katie MacRae got the others with the impressive Isla MacNeil countering for Inverness. Kinlochshiel captain Maree MacKenzie raised the trophy.
The North under-21 squad won back the Caol Cup after defeating the South 3-1 in their annual representative match at Mossfield.
North full forward Euan Maccormick from Beauly opened the scoring on 35 minutes, surging forward to first-time a ball across the D by the excellent Gordon Currie from Bute in the South goal.
The North created several first half chances but had to settle for a single goal lead at the break.
The South made a storming start to the second half, and they levelled on the hour when Col Glen’s Scott MacVicar slammed the ball into the roof of the net from inside the D.
The South continued to press, and Skye’s Murphy Henderson in the North goal had to be at his best to keep them at bay.
The North worked their way back into the game though and west coast duo, Ross Gordon from Skye and Kinlochshiel’s Archie MacRae, won the day.
There were only 12 minutes remaining when Ross Gordon tapped the ball home following a goalmouth scramble after Archie MacRae’s initial shot had been saved.
Then, just a couple of minutes later, Archie MacRae clinched victory with the goal of the game, striking the ball across keeper Currie from wide on the left and captain Duncan MacPherson from Newtonmore collected the trophy.
North boss Kenny MacLeod said: “We were good in the first half and created many chances.
“We just didn’t get going in the second half though but fair play to the South as they were totally up for it from the restart.
“We found a way to win in the end.
“The heat made for difficult conditions and Glenurquhart’s Alastair Maclean was tremendous for us the whole game.”
And if that wasn’t enough west coast dominance for one day, Donnie MacRae scored four times as Lewis Camanachd won 9-0 when the Strathglass second team travelled west for their Mowi North Division 2 meeting at Shawbost.
Donald Lamont and Paul Duke added doubles and Paddy Wilson got the other.
League leaders Lewis have now taken maximum points from their last 12 matches, completing their season.
However, Lochcarron can beat their total by taking five points from their three remaining games.