Great Day’s Shinty For Skye Youngsters At Gilmour Sports First Shinty Finals | |
06 March 2013 Dingwall and Beauly were the event winners at the Gilmour Sports National First Shinty Finals in Fort William on Saturday 2 March 2013. Four teams from Skye set off for the popular tournament which brought together over 200 of the best of youth shinty from across Scotland. The P7 & Under Gilmour Sports National First Shinty Finals took place at the Nevis Centre, Fort William whilst the P5 & Under Gilmour Sports National First Shinty Finals happening at the Lochaber High School. The action got underway at noon. Section A of the P7 & Under competition saw the impressive Glenurquhart team top the group with the equally imposing Portree team taking the runners-up spot. Portree recorded victories over Kyle’ Kingussie and Glasgow Gaels before losing to Glenurquhart. They finished the league section by putting six goals past both Raigmore and Inveraray. However Portree lost out 1-0 to Dingwall in the semi-final stage before losing the third / fourth place play-off to Banavie by the same score. Bracadale from west Skye also gave an impressive account of themselves with some fine performances throughout the afternoon. Section B was just as closely contested with the young and talented Dingwall team topping the group with Banavie clinching second place. The semi-finals were hotly contested with Dingwall defeating Portree and Glenurquhart victorious over Banavie to set- up and intriguing final between the two group winners, Glenurquhart and Dingwall. The final started with Dingwall on the attack and they took an early lead through the outstanding Josh Reid but Glenurquhart fought back and only some sharp goalkeeping stopped Glenurquhart from equalising. Play continued to rage from end to end but it was Dingwall who took a two goal lead with another clinical strike from Josh Reid. With two minutes left, Dingwall made it 3-0 and young Mr Reid grabbed his hat-trick to seal his side’s victory and the title of P7 & Under Gilmour Sports National First Shinty Champions 2013. Camanachd Association president Archie Robertson presented the trophy and medals to all the players. The P5 & Under competition took place at Lochaber High School and the large crowd was entertained with an afternoon of fantastic shinty. Local side Lochaber were out to defend their title and made a good start to their title defence by winning group A with Beauly clinching the runners-up spot. The other league was just as competitive with Kyles Athletic taking top spot and Park the runners up position. The South End team put in a superb performance and were unlucky not to qualify for the last four of the competition Indeed they were the only team to finish the day unbeaten with a record of won two, and drew three from their five group games. However this fell agonisingly short as they missed out on goal difference after losing a last second equaliser to Kyles. However they did the Island proud. Portree were also represented at this level and they also competed well throughout the day. The semi- finals were close affairs with Park and Beauly emerging victorious to set-up an exciting final. The final was a cagy affair with both defences on top but a Duncan Fraser Anderson strike settled the Beauly nerves and a Farquhar MacRae goal sealed the young Beauly side’s victory and the title of P5 and Under Gilmour Sports National First Shinty Champions. |