Marine Harvest Valerie Fraser Cup Final - Skye Camanachd Ladies 6 Lochaber Ladies 1 | |
05 September 2017 Skye Camanachd won the Marine Harvest Valerie Fraser Cup for the first time with a storming 6-1 win over Lochaber in the final at An Aird on Sunday 2 September 2017. A good sized crowd gathered for this show-piece occasion and there was a children’s banner parade ahead of throw up with Ardnamurchan Primary School judged to have the best display. This 3pm throw up was a repeat of the 2016 final when four-goal Kirsty Delaney helped Lochaber to a 4-2 victory. This was the first time the sides had met since that day and Skye captain Lorna MacRae, who scored both her team’s goals twelve months earlier, was to play a key role. Skye Head Coach Robbie Gordon added Christina MacDonald to the squad which beat Badenoch & Strathspey in the league in the team’s last outing. Lochaber boss started with Kirsty Delaney who was carrying an injury. Ahead of throw up, the players were piped onto the field where they were introduced to Iain Fraser from sponsors Marine Harvest and Womens Camanachd Association President Lisa MacColl. Skye took the lead after just 3 minutes. Caitlin MacLean’s low shot from distance was saved with her feet by Lochaber keeper Aeleen Campbell but Lorna MacRae was quickly in to bundle the rebound over the line. Lochaber fought back and Skye goalie Sarah-Jane Ferguson did well to keep out a Christy MacIntyre strike. Skye showed the strength of their squad by taking on Sarah Corrigall in place of Jenna Beaton. Lorna MacRae doubled Skye’s advantage on 17 minutes when she collected a low Caitlin MacLean pass from the right before taking a touch to the left and her dropping back-hand effort beat the keeper. Alison MacVicar gave Lochaber hope on 23 minutes when she sent the ball low into the net after Skye keeper Sarah-Jane Ferguson had saved a Kirsty Delaney effort following a free-hit on the Lochaber left. However Skye returned on the offensive and Lorna MacRae completed her hat-trick on 29 minutes, accepting a Sarah Corrigall pass before taking the ball round the keeper and tapping it home to make it 3-1. Lochaber’s Alison MacVicar had the ball in the net for a second time but the effort was ruled out by referee Iain Kennedy as Kirsty Delaney was offside so it stayed 3-1 until the break. Jenna Beaton came back on for Sarah Corrigall before Lorna MacRae put the outcome beyond doubt on 46 minutes. Jenna Beaton’s ball from the left gave MacRae an initial shooting chance but the keeper saved. Caitlin MacLean’s effort from the rebound hit the post but Lorna MacRae followed up to knock the ball home from close range. Lochaber’s Kirsty Delaney was withdrawn shortly after. Jenna Beaton made it 5-1 just 4 minutes later with a well-worked goal. Caitlin MacLean was again involved as she won a couple of challenges on the Skye right before finding out Lorna MacRae in space. MacRae ran at the Lochaber defence before picking out her strike partner and Jenna Beaton struck the ball low into the net. It was fitting that Lorna MacRae would round off the scoring. Sarah Corrigall cut in from the Skye left and her short pass found MacRae who took a touch past a defender before running in on goal and stroking the ball low into the net to make it 6-1 with 67 minutes played. After the disappointments losing out in the final to Glasgow Mid Argyll in 2014 and Lochaber last year, Skye tasted Valerie Fraser Cup success for the first time and Iain Fraser from sponsors Marine Harvest presented the trophy and silver mounted caman to Skye captain Lorna MacRae. Lorna MacRae also deservedly collected the player of the match award from sponsor Peter Gow. The sides have still to meet twice more in the league this season with the title destination still in the balance. Skye Head Coach Robbie Gordon spoke after the match. “The girls played really, really well,” he said. All the things we have practiced at training paid off today. Our movement was good, our passing was good and our shooting was good. Everybody played their part and we were dominant in every area of the park. It’s not every day you win a Camanachd Cup and these girls have worked really hard and they deserve every bit of it.” Skye captain Lorna MacRae added, “After last year’s performance, we knew what we had to do today. This is the biggest competition to win so it’s great to get this success under our belts and now we’ll concentrate on trying to win the league again.” Skye Camanachd Ladies from: Sarah-Jane Ferguson; Helen Lamond, Emma Gordon, Katherine Dibble; Izzy Kirk, Rhianna Kirk, Ilana Paterson, Lorna MacRae (captain), Caitlin MacLean, Jenna Beaton; subs Sarah Corrigall, Christina MacDonald, Leah MacLeod, Shannon MacDonald, Kirsty Dibble Match Referee – Iain Kennedy Scorers Skye Camanachd Ladies Lorna MacRae (3, 17, 29, 46, 67) Sarah Corrigall (50) Lochaber Ladies Alison MacVicar (23) |