Kingussie won the Marine Harvest Premier Sixes following an entertaining day’s shinty at An Aird on Saturday 3 July 2010.
The tournament brought together shinty’s 10 Premier Division sides and the draws split them into 2 Groups. Playing at An Aird in Group A were; Kingussie, Newtonmore, Oban Camanachd, Lovat and Glenurquhart. Group B played at the BA Club and featured; Fort William, Inveraray, Kyles Athletic, Glasgow Mid Argyll and Bute.
The sides played with a florescent yellow ball to see if it would help television coverage.
The Group results were as follows;
Group A
Kingussie 0 Oban Camanachd 0
Newtonmore 1 Lovat 0
Glenurquhart 0 Kingussie 1
Oban Camanachd 0 Newtonmore 1
Lovat 0 Glenurquhart 2
Kingussie 2 Newtonmore 1
Oban Camanachd 1 Lovat 0
Newtonmore 1 Glenurquhart 0
Lovat 2 Kingussie 1
Glenurquhart 1 Oban Camanachd 1
Group B
Fort William 1 Kyles Athletic 0
Inveraray 1 Glasgow Mid Argyll 1
Bute 0 Fort William 0
Kyles Athletic 0 Inveraray 2
Glasgow Mid Argyll 0 Bute 2
Fort William 1 Inveraray 2
Kyles Athletic 0 Glasgow Mid Argyll 3
Inveraray 1 Bute 0
Glasgow Mid Argyll 0 Fort William 0
Bute 0 Kyles Athletic 0
Newtonmore won Group A with 1-0 victories over Lovat, Oban Camanachd and Glenurquhart and a 2-1 defeat to Kingussie was their only reverse. Kingussie finished in second place with 2 wins, a draw and a defeat to Lovat.
Inveraray won Group B with 3 wins and a draw with Glasgow Mid Argyll who finished in second place.
The first semi final brought together Group A winners Newtonmore and Group B runners up Glasgow Mid Argyll. Around 30 seconds from the half time break, Steven MacDonald cut in from the right, turned onto his right side and fired a low shot which seemed to deceive GMA keeper Donald Oliver and put Newtonmore 1-0 ahead.
Owen Fraser was the provider as Newtonmore went 2-0 up 90 seconds from the end. Evan Menzies made space before turning and shooting the ball into the net. ‘More attacked from the throw up and Mid Argyll keeper Oliver saved an Owen Fraser shot with his feet but Menzies thumped in the rebound.
The game ended on a sour note for referee Duncan Kerr as he was accidently caught on the top of the head by Steven MacDonald’s caman at the throw up following the third goal. He had to leave the field and received pitchside attention from medic Eilidh Fraser from Kingussie before making a trip to the Belford Hospital to have the wound attended to. Oban referee Billy Wotherspoon took over for the last minute of the game.
Group B winners Inveraray faced Group A runners up Kingussie in the second semi final. Andrew Borthwick made a good save from a Chris Crawford after 4 minutes when the Inveraray man fired on target following a free hit. Less than a minute later, Ryan Borthwick played the ball forward to Thomas Borthwick who crossed from the right and Fraser Munro prodded the ball into the net to score the only goal of the game.
The final brought together Badenoch rivals Kingussie and Newtonmore. The sides met earlier in the day in the group stages with Kingussie running out 2-1 winners.
The final was refereed by 2009 Marine Harvest Referee of the Year Team MacDonald who picked up the award earlier in the day.
Rory Kennedy went close for Newtonmore in the opening minute but shot wide.
Rory Fraser deflected an Evan Menzies shot onto his own post after 2 minutes but the ball rebounded to safety.
A long ball from Norman Campbell from deep in his own half came off Rory Fraser’s stick and bounced just outside the D but keeper Borthwick seemed to lose the flight of the ball and it went under his feet to give Newtonmore the lead.
Thomas Borthwick collected a Lee Bain pass but blazed the ball over the bar a minute later.
Ryan Borthwick forced a good save from Michael Ritchie in the ‘more goal.
Thomas Borthwick had a shot blocked on 6 minutes after good battling from Fraser Munro but when the ball fell to Borthwick on his backhand, he blasted the ball into the net, giving Ritchie no chance to level the game at 1-1.
Ritchie raced from his goal on 8 minutes to deny Ryan Borthwick to keep the score even at the break.
The winning goal came a minute into the first half. Fraser Munro played a ball out of defence which Michael Ritchie palmed away for a corner. Ryan Borthwick played the corner from the right, low across the outside of the D and Thomas Borthwick crashed an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net to score a great goal.
Borthwick made a great save with his foot to deny Campbell and he made and even better stop above his head to save a Steven MacDonald rocket shot in the final minute.
In the closing stages, Martin Dallas broke upfield for Kingussie but Ritchie rushed from his goal to save with his feet. The game swung to the other end and Newtonmore attacked but they were given offside just seconds before the final whistle.
Kingussie’s sixteen year old starlet Thomas Borthwick was named BBC ALBA Player of the tournament for some sparkling performances throughout the afternoon and he was presented with his trophy by Charles Kennedy.
Kingussie captain Rory Fraser twisted his knee during the final so as he watched on, Fraser Munro climbed the An Aird steps to be presented with the winner’s trophy by Marine Harvest Managing Director Alan Sutherland.