Portree Primary School 3 Banavie Primary School 2 – UPDATED. | |
01 July 2010 Portree Primary School’s successful shinty season continued as they beat Banavie Primary School 3-2 at Kirkton on Monday 28 June 2010 to win through to the MacKay Cup North Final. The young Islanders were at full strength with the exception of Alasdair Murchison who was on holiday. Portree have won the national MacKay Cup for the last 2 years but they knew they would have to play well to get past a good Banavie side who recently drew with Kingussie. Portree lost the toss and played up the slope in the first half. Banavie pressed form the start for the opening goal and only good defending from keeper Iain P MacKenzie and full back Donald Nicolson kept them at bay. Portree buckshee back Caitlin MacLean was playing against Zoe Smith, daughter of Banavie coach Victor Smith, and they were evenly matched during the first half. The Portree attacks were few and far between with their forwards having difficulty linking up with each other and retaining possession. Banavie opened the scoring after 26 minutes to give them a 1-0 half time lead. Portree keeper Iain P made several good saves with the feet and always looked calm during the first half but his centre line struggled to dominate the middle of the park. Portree introduced Calum Williams in place of Jack Henderson in the centre line at the start of the second half and Williams went on to have a great game as the centre line began to win more and more of the ball. This pressure paid dividends early in the second period when a wide ball was collected by Stewart Taylor at wing forward. He crossed to the back post where Ben Nicolson shot low into the corner of the net from 10 yards to level the game. A great goal and just reward for Nicolson’s hard work at left wing forward. Banavie hit back quickly to make it 2-1 when a defensive error and slip at the wrong time let them in to score. The game became tense as Portree pressed for an equalizer. An injury to Banavie’s full centre resulted in a reshuffle which took Zoe Smith from attack into the centre line. Donald Nicolson and Caitlin MacLean were now able to dominate the Portree back line and sweep up most of the attacks. Portree captain and full centre James Pringle was now pressing forward, looking for the equaliser and his long looping shot from distance, 10 minutes from the end, found the back of the net to level the game again. Portree now had the momentum and they pressed for the winner in the dying minutes of the game. With just a minute remaining, and extra time and penalties looming, Portree were awarded a free hit when Stewart Taylor was injured in the act of shooting. As Taylor received treatment, Conor Ross knocked the free hit to Ben Nicolson and when his shot was blocked, James Pringle latched onto the ball and cracked home a low shot from 15 yards out into the corner of the net. A great goal fit enough to win any tie! The final whistle blew shortly after, much to the relief and delight of the large Portree support. Iain P MacKenzie, Donald Nicolson and Caitlin MacLean were assured and resilient at the back for Portree whilst James Pringle, Iain Nicolson and Calum Williams fought hard to win the midfield battle. This was a tough test for a never say die Portree side who just don’t seem to know how to lose. Portree Primary School from; Iain P MacKenzie, Donald Nicolson, Niall McHugh, Samuel Ritchie, Caitlin MacLean, Iain R MacKenzie, James Pringle (captain), Iain Nicolson, Jonathan Laing, Stewart Taylor, Ben Nicolson, Connor Ross, Jack Henderson, Calum Williams, Sean MacCallum |