Skye Camanachd U14 lost out to Fort William U14 in the final of the 2015 North of Scotland Five-A-Side tournament at the Dalfaber Sports Centre, Aviemore on Saturday 31 January 2015.
The tournament, which was won by Kingussie U14 in 2014, started at 12.30pm and the snowy conditions made for a difficult journey South for the Skye youngsters and their Head Coach John MacLeod.
The nine teams present were split into two groups, playing 7 minute matches, and Skye were in the Red League along with Beauly, Newtonmore and Kinlochshiel.
Skye opened with a 5-1 derby win over Kinlochshiel with Ruaraidh MacLeod and Connor Gilpin each bagging doubles and James Morrison getting the other.
Skye followed that up with a 4-1 victory over Beauly. Ruaraidh MacLeod helped himself to a hat-trick with James Morrison notching another.
Skye rounded off the league section by beating Newtonmore 5-0. Ruaraidh MacLeod got four this time and Martin Pringle got the other.
Skye topped the Red league with a perfect record but it took a play-off match to separate Kinlochshiel and Beauly with ‘Shiel eventually going through to the last four.
Fort William and Glenurquhart were clear winners in the Blue League. The only points they dropped were in a thrilling 4-4 draw against each other. Fort topped the table by virtue of scoring two more goals than Glenurquhart.
Newtonmore, Kingussie, Beauly, Inverness and Lochaber then played an extra play-off match each to decide the final placings before the semi-finalists came together.
Semi Finals
Skye and Glenurquhart met in the first semi-final with Skye having to battle all the way for a 5-3 win. Ruaraidh MacLeod was once again Skye’s top marksman with four goals with Connor Gilpin also on the scoresheet.
The tie between Fort William and Kinlochshiel was a really close affair with the Fort eventually running out 2-0 victors.
Third / Fourth Place Play-Off
Kinlochshiel defeated Glenurquhart 3-1 in the third / fourth place play-off.
2015 North of Scotland U14 5-A-Side Final
The final was a terrific contest. Victor Smith gave his side an early lead but Skye came back into it and forged ahead thanks to a quick brace from Ruaraidh MacLeod. Play swung from end-to-end and the Fort began to take control with Victor Smith levelling and Lewis Clark making it 3-2. As the clock ticked down, Fort William looked like winning, but Skye produced one last effort right on the final whistle when Ruaraidh MacLeod fired a low shot into the corner of the net to equalise and complete his hat-trick with what was his sixteenth goal of a five-match afternoon. The final then went into a golden goal period and both teams started strongly. But it was to be Fort William’s day as Victor Smith managed to get away from marker Connor Gilpin, who had shackled him so well throughout, and Smith fired past Murphy Henderson in Skye goal to claim the winning goal.
Skye Camanachd U14 from: Murphy Henderson, Connor Gilpin, Ross Gordon, Ruaraidh MacLeod, James Morrison, Martin Pringle, Jamie Gillies
Tournament Referees – Evan MacRae, Calum Girvan