2016 MacMaster Cup Final - Kingussie U14 0 Skye Camanachd U14 7 | |
25 September 2016 Skye Camanachd U14 lifted the MacMaster Cup, beating Kingussie U14 7-0 at Aird on Saturday 17 September 2016. The sides had met a week earlier in Marine Harvest North Division 1 at the Dell. Skye were 5-0 winners but the opening exchanges were relatively even in this 11am throw up. Kingussie had the wind advantage in the first half and they had their fair share of the play in the opening stages. Both keepers – Skye’s Murphy Henderson, whose confident, clean hitting was a real asset throughout the game, and Kingussie’s George Taylor-Ramsay - made good saves. Skye made a crucial breakthrough with two goals in the closing couple of minutes of the half. First, Jamie Gillies played the ball forward from the centre circle and Kingussie were unable to clear a Dan MacDonald ball from the left, which deflected into the D off Ross Gordon’s stick, and Holly MacLean scored, with her sister Abby MacLean also in attendance, with 34 minutes played. Then Ross Gordon took down a shy from the left before turning and thumping a brilliant back-hand effort over the keeper a minute later. Ross Gordon got his second on 39 minutes with the goal of the match. There seemed little danger when Gordon collected the ball wide on the Skye right but he slipped the ball past an onrushing defender before sending a powerful back-hand shot from a tight angle which flew across the keeper and into the far postage stamp corner of the net to make it 3-0. It was a superb finish and Gordon went on to complete his hat-trick a minute later when was first onto a shy from the left and sent a bullet-shot from distance into the net. A bouncing Mark MacQueen strike on the hour mark, after the youngster had controlled a loose ball, made it 5-0 and Dan MacDonald added a sixth when he picked up a shy from the right and beat his marker before cutting in from the right and sending the ball low into the net just 5 minutes later. Ross Gordon got his fourth goal of the game when Kingussie were unable to clear a lofted ball from midfield into their goal area. Gordon was afforded too much space in a central position around 15 yards from goal and he sent the ball low into the corner of the net to make it 7-0 with just a couple of minutes remaining. Skye Head Coach made changes with Niall MacPhee replacing Abby MacLean, Cameron MacKay coming on for Liam MacKay and Archie MacDonald taking over from four-goal Ross Gordon. This was Skye’s best team performance of the season with each part of the team working faultlessly in their respective units. The defence, marshalled by full back James Morrison, was outstanding, especially when under a lot of Kingussie pressure in the first half. The centre line, and in particular Jamie Gillie and Mark MacQueen, dominated for long spells whilst the movement, space finding and chances created by the forwards – with Ross Gordon and Dan MacDonald integral to all things good - would have been welcome in any side of at level this season. Skye defender Gilleasbuig MacVicar deserves a special mention. He suffered a hand injury in the first half, which was later confirmed as a broken knuckle, yet he played the whole game. Skye were runners up last year and their captain and full centre Jamie Gillies, who has shared the captaincy with Christina MacDonald this season, was presented with the MacMaster Cup by David MacMaster to the delight of his team’s support. Kingussie U14 from: (to follow) Skye Camanachd U14 from: Murphy Henderson; James Morrison, Gilleasbuig MacVicar, Liam McPhee, Christina MacDonald; Ryan Macaskill, Jamie Gillies (captain), Mark MacQueen; Ross Gordon, Holly MacLean, Abby MacLean, Dan MacDonald; subs Niall MacPhee, Cameron MacKay, Archie MacDonald Match Referee - John Wood |