Kingussie 4 Newtonmore 5. | |
13 June 2009 Newtonmore have won the MacTavish Cup with a remarkable 5-4 victory over their Badenoch rivals Kingussie at the Many experts said before the match that the key to a Newtonmore win would be to contain the King’s main strike threat Ronald Ross. However it turned out that ‘More didn’t quite manage that – Ross scored a hat-trick – but they still managed to come out on top in a thrilling encounter. Kingussie suffered a blow before the match when full back Rory Fraser was ruled out through injury. However ‘More were not without their problems either as international defender Norman Campbell was on his honeymoon and Dan MacRae was not fit enough to start the final. The Kings took time to settle without Fraser’s influence and the blue and white hoops took full advantage. Evan Menzies gave ‘More a dream start with a goal after just 2 minutes. The same player doubled ‘More’s advantage 5 minutes later and Kingussie looked bewildered. However 2 goals in 2 minutes from Ronald Ross – he was given too much space on both occasions by the ‘More defence - levelled the match with only 11 minutes played. Kingussie took the lead after 25 minutes when a ball into the danger area was turned into his own net by a Newtonmore defender with Kevin Thain lurking menacingly in the background. After the initial goal flurry, there was no further scoring in the first half and in fact 74 minutes passed before David Cheyne found space to blast the ball into the net to level the game once more. It only took Kingussie 4 more minutes to regain the lead again and Ronald Ross completed his hat-trick with a brilliant strike when there appeared to be no danger. It did seem at this stage as if Kingussie would see out the rest of the game but ‘More had other ideas and it was manager’s son Paul MacArthur who rifled a shot in from the left to make the score 4-4 after 86 minutes. With just a minute remaining, Newtonmore captain David Cheyne took control of the ball ahead of young team mate Rory Kennedy to blast the ball past Borthwick in the King’s net and take the MacTavish Cup to the Eilan for the first time since 2002. Kingussie's Ronald Ross was named man of the match. This final was a great advert for shinty and it set down a performance marker which Newtonmore manager Norman MacArthur can expect of his players for the remainder of the shinty season. This was the first of a series of live matches to be shown on television by BBC ALBA and the broadcasters must be delighted with the entertainment on show. The remaining finals now have a very high standard to live up to!
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