The Skye Camanachd Ladies won the Johnstone Indoor Tournament for the first time at the Nevis Centre, Fort William on Saturday 25 January 2014.
The Skye Camanachd Ladies teams, led by Head Coach Sarah Corrigall, sent two teams to the tournament to join a host of clubs from across the country.
Holders Glasgow Mid Argyll Ladies were notable absentees with several of their players taking part in the British University Shinty / Camogie match against Ulster in Northern Ireland.
The Johnstone Rose Bowl was donated to the Glengarry Girls Shinty Club in 1998 (a year after the team was formed) by Mrs Ailsa Johnstone of DA Johnstone & Son Contractors, Invergarry who have been loyal sponsors of what is the oldest women’s competition in the game.
There were eleven teams competing for the 17th Johnstone Rose Bowl and, with two teams from each group qualifying for the semi final stage, the round-robin tournament draw placed the Skye A team in a tough League A as follows:
League A – Lochaber, Glengarry A, Skye Camanachd A, Badenoch & Strathspey, Dunadd A, Lovat
Lochaber 2 Glengarry A 3
The League games were 6 minute games and 2013 runners up Glengarry A were first up, beating Lochaber by the odd goal in five.
Skye Camanachd A 1 Badenoch & Strathspey 2
Skye A lost 2-1 to Valarie Fraser Cup holders Badenoch & Strathspey in their opening fixture with Anna MacDonald scoring for Skye.
Dunadd A 5 Lovat 0
Dunadd A were convincing 5-0 winners over Lovat to complete the first set of fixtures.
Glengarry A 1 Skye Camanachd A 2
Skye A recorded their first win as goals from Lorna MacRae and Anna MacDonald secured an important 2-1 win over Glengarry A.
Lochaber 7 Lovat 2
Lochaber recorded their first win as they beat Lovat 7-2.
Badenoch & Strathspey 4 Dunadd A 1
Badenoch & Strathspey made it two wins out of two as they beat Dunadd A 4-1.
Glengarry A 3 Lovat 2
It was close between Glengarry A and Lovat with ‘Garry nicking a 3-2 win.
Skye Camanachd A 0 Dunadd A 0
The match between Skye A and Dunadd A ended goalless.
Lochaber 2 Badenoch & Strathspey 1
Lochaber proved that they were serious challengers at the top of the table as they defeated Badenoch & Strathspey 2-1.
Skye Camanachd A 3 Lovat 0
Skye A got back on the goal trail as Nicola MacSween, Ilana Paterson and Lorna MacRae gave them a 3-0 win over Lovat.
Glengarry A 3 Badenoch & Strathspey 2
Glengarry A kept up their challenge with a narrow 3-2 win against Badenoch & Strathspey.
Lochaber 3 Dunadd A 0
Lochaber stayed on target for a semi final slot, coming out 3-0 ahead of Dunadd A.
Badenoch & Strathspey 2 Lovat 3
Lovat got their first win of the day, beating Badenoch & Strathspey 3-2.
Lochaber 0 Skye A 2
Skye A went into their final game needing to beat Lochaber to reach the semi final stage and they did just that thanks to a Lorna MacRae double.
Dunadd A 0 Glengarry A 3
Glengarry A confirmed their place in the last four as they beat Dunadd A 3-0.
Glengarry A topped Group A with their only defeat coming against Skye Camanachd A. The Islanders finished second, a point ahead of third place Lochaber.
Meantime, the Skye B team were drawn in a section with new side Oban, Ardnamurchan and the B teams from Dunadd and Glengarry.
League B - Glengarry B, Skye Camanachd B, Oban, Ardnamurchan, Dunadd B
Oban 2 Ardnamurchan 3
Oban returned to competitive shinty after a short break and they lost out 3-2 to Ardnamurchan in their opening game.
Glengarry B 1 Skye Camanachd B 2
Skye B got off to a great start, beating Glengarry B 2-1, with Emma Gordon scoring both goals.
Ardnamurchan 4 Dunadd B 6
The match between Ardnamurchan and Dunadd B was the top scoring encounter of the day with ten goals. Dunadd B eventually ran out 6-4 winners.
Skye Camanachd B 1 Oban 0
Kirsty Dibble got the all-important goal as Skye B beat Oban 1-0.
Glengarry B 0 Dunadd B 5
Dunadd B were too strong for Glengarry B as they won 5-0.
Ardnamurchan 0 Skye Camanachd B 3
Skye B kept up their 100% record, beating Ardnamurchan 3-0, thanks to goals from Kirsty Dibble, Nicole MacRae and Fiona Lamond.
Glengarry B 0 Ardnamurchan 4
Ardnamurchan finished off the tournament with a win as they defeated Glengarry B 4-0.
Oban 0 Dunadd B 4
Dunadd B kept racking up the goals as they came out on top, 4-0 against Oban.
Glengarry B 0 Oban 3
Oban they got their first win as they beat Glengarry B 3-0.
Skye Camanachd B 0 Dunadd B 5
Skye Camanachd B and Dunadd B both had 100% records and had both already qualified for the semi final stage ahead of their meeting. In the end, Dunadd B won 5-0 to complete League B.
Dunadd B came top of the pile in Group B with maximum points from their four matches. Skye Camanachd B were second, ahead of third place Ardnamurchan, with the Islanders only defeat was against the group winners.
So the semi-final line-up was as follows:
Glengarry A v Skye Camanachd B
Skye Camanachd A v Dunadd B
Johnstone Indoor Tournament Semi Final – Glengarry A 10 Skye Camanachd B 0
Skye Camanachd B made a good start to the semi final but Glengarry started to dominate and Katie Lamond in the Skye goals made some brilliant saves, just as she had done all afternoon. Glengarry's experience saw them start to break down Skye's defence and they begin to find the net, eventually running out 10-0 winners to secure a place in the final.
Johnstone Indoor Tournament Semi Final – Skye Camanachd A 7 Dunadd B 1
The second semi-final saw League B winners Dunadd B play League A runners-up Skye Camanachd A. Skye made a slow start and Dunadd took advantage and pressured the Islanders defence. However Skye held firm and as the game went on, they started to find their flow and Lorna MacRae started to find the back of the net, scoring some wonderful goals. The game ended 7-1 in Skye’s favour with MacRae netting five times and the impressive Ilana Paterson scoring two to take Skye into the final
Johnstone Indoor Tournament Final – Glengarry A 3 Skye Camanachd A 4
The final brought together Glengarry A and Skye Camanachd A for the second time in the afternoon. The Islanders came out on top in the league encounter and a Lorna MacRae hat-trick saw them 3-1 up at the interval, with Elaine Wink countering for ‘Garry. Glengarry A fought back in the second half but despite Beth MacDonald and Elaine Wink’s second goal of the game, Lorna MacRae got a fourth and Skye ran out 4-3 victors.
Mrs Ailsa Johnston presented Skye captain Roz Lamond with the Johnstone Rose Bowl and her team with their medals.
To round off a perfect day for the Islanders, Skye’s Lorna MacRae was deservedly named Player of the Tournament.
Glengarry thanked all the teams for making the day such a success and invited everyone to come back for next year’s tournament on Saturday 31 January 2015.
Skye Camanachd Ladies A from: Sarah Corrigall, Roz Lamond (captain), Ilana Paterson, Lorna MacRae, Anna MacDonald, Kristen MacBeth, Nicola MacSween
Skye Camanachd Ladies B from: Katie Lamond, Izzy Law, Emma Gordon, Korri Henderson, Nicole MacRae, Kirsty Dibble, Fiona Lamond
Tournament Referees – Graham Cameron & Duncan Kelly
Following the tournament, there was a quick dash back to Portree for the Skye Ladies as they attend Skye Camanachd’s 2014 Annual Dinner Dance at the Skye Camanachd Clubhouse where the celebrations continued.