Crossal retained the nineth John MacKinnon Memorial Sixes which took place at the Portree High School astro pitch on Saturday 18 February 2023.

The event remembers Skye Camanachd Vice President John MacKinnon who died in December 2011 as the result of a tragic accident at work.

The tournament did not take place in 2020 due to an unplayable pitch nor in 2021 due to covid restrictions and seven teams gathered for this year’s competition ahead of a 10am start.

It was a bright, dry morning and the favourable conditions helped attract a healthy crowd who were entertained by some closely fought matches.

The games were played 10-minutes one way with two games played simultaneously.

Round Robin Stages

Blaven 4 Storr 1

Blaven made a good start with James Pringle scoring twice, one a great strike from distance. Angus Gilpin and Caitlin Maclean, the latter earning a bonus point into the bargain, bagged the others. Archie Millar netted for Storr.

Crossal 2 Quiraing 1

Ruaraidh MacLeod scored twice, cancelling out Jordan Murchison’s effort as the holders Crossal got off to a winning start.

Cuillin 2 Glamaig 1

A bonus point goal from Peter Gordon and Kenny Cushnie’s effort wiped out Archie MacDonald’s strike as Cuillin gathered their first points.

Storr 1 Tianavaig 2

Despite Sam Macphee’s goal, Storr suffered a second defeat, this time to Tianavaig with Ross Gordon’s double making the difference.

Blaven 1 Quiraing 2

Ross Nicolson netted for Blaven but an own goal following John MacLeod’s hit-in and a turn and shot from Jordan Murchison made for Quiraing’s first win.

Crossal 1 Tianavaig 0

William MacKinnon scored the only goal of the game.

Cuillin 2 Storr 1

A rare James Morrison goal and another from Kenny Cushnie were enough to give Cuillin the points despite a goal from veteran Allan Macleod which earned his side a bonus point.

Crossal 5 Glamaig 1

Crossal were already looking to be the team to beat and doubles from William MacKinnon and Ruaraidh MacLeod and a bonus point effort from Holly Maclean meant Archie MacDonald’s effort for Glamaig was no more than a consolation.

Glamaig 1 Quiraing 0

Glamaig bounced back as James Robertson scored to seal victory over Quiraing.

Tianavaig 1 Blaven 3

Raghnall Robertson was on target for Tianavaig but Iain MacLellan’s double, either side of an Angus Gilpin goal, gave Blaven victory.

Cuillin 1 Blaven 1

Kenny Cushnie and Angus Gilpin were on the scoresheet again as Cuillin and Blaven produced the first draw on the morning. Cuillin almost won it with Peter Gordon first hitting the post and then seeing another effort saved well; turned onto the post by David Grant.

Storr 0 Crossal 2

A bonus point goal from Holly Maclean and Iain Nicolson’s effort gave Crossal another win.

Quiraing 1 Cuillin 1

Two Skye first team players were on target with Kenny Cushnie putting Cuillin ahead before Neil MacVicar pulled Quiraing level.

Glamaig 1 Tianavaig 0

James Robertson scored to give Glamaig  a single goal victory.

Quiraing 3 Storr 1

Jordan Murchison scored twice and Neil MacVicar the other as Quiraing beat Storr 3-1. Sam Stubbs replied.

Blaven 0 Crossal 2

Crossal won again with William MacKinnon and Ruaraidh MacLeod netting.

Glamaig 2 Storr 1

Sam Stubbs scored for Storr but James Robertson and a bonus point goal from Sadie MacDonald earned Glamaig a 2-1 win.

Cuillin 1 Tianavaig 1

There was a share of the points with Cameron MacKay blasting the ball home for Cuillin but Katherine Dibble equalised, sweeping the ball home from close range near the end, securing her team a bonus point.

Quiraing 1 Tianavaig 1

Jordan Murchison scored for Quiraing with Ross Gordon finding the net for Tianavaig.

Blavin 1 Glamaig 1

Blavin and Glamaig shared the points with James Pringle scoring for the former and James Robertson for the latter. The point was enough to send Blavin into the semis at Quiraing’s expense.

Crossal 1 Cuillin 0

The final round-robin match saw Crossal make it six straight wins as Ruaraidh MacLeod’s goal sealed a 1-0 win over Cuillin.

The group stages results left the league table as follows:

Crossal – 20 Points

Glaimaig – 11 points

Cuillin – 10 points

Blaven – 9 points

Quiraing – 8 points

Tianavaig 6 points

Storr – 1 point

Semi-finals

Crossal 3 Blaven 1

The semi-final ties were played simultaneously and table-toppers Crossal saw off Blaven with goals from Ruaraidh Macleod, William MacKinnon and Holly Maclean. Ross Nicolson replied.

Glamaig 0 Cuillin 0 (Glamaig won 2-0 on penalties)

Keepers Calum Nicolson and Peter Gordon were on top form so neither side could break the deadlock.

Referee Willie MacDonald took the tie to a penalty shoot-out with the designated trio of women player, over-40 and under-17 from each side lined up. Keith MacKenzie put Glamaig ahead with a shot low to the keeper’s right whilst Peter Gordon was unable to convert. Charlie Latton saw his penalty well saved by Peter Gordon but Ally Stewart was unable to score so Glamaig remained 1-0 ahead. Sadie MacDonald was next up, knowing she could send her team into the final and he held her nerve, firing low to the keeper’s left to win the shoot-out.

Final

Crossal 1 Glamaig 0

The final between Crossal & Co and Glamaig was played for 12-minutes with a change of ends at half time.

Crossal won the round-robin meeting 5-1 but this was a much closer affair.

Crossal’s William MacKinnon scored the only goal of the final when he cut across goal to the left before sending a back-hand drive across the keeper and into the net.

Glamaig keeper Calum Nicolson saved well with his right foot after the restart to prevent William MacKinnon adding a second.

Team line-ups:

Blaven from: David Grant, James Pringle, Angus Gilpin, Ross Nicolson, Caitlin Maclean, Alex MacDonald, Aaron MacKenzie, Iain MacLellan

Crossal from: Ewen MacKinnon, Thomas MacKinnon (captain), Ross MacKinnon, William MacKinnon, Iain Nicolson, Holly Maclean, Ruaraidh MacLeod

Cuillin from: Peter Gordon, Kenny Cushnie, Cameron MacKay, James Morrison, Ilana Paterson, Alasdair Stewart, William James Sutherland

Glamaig from: Calum Nicolson. Ally “Cleodi” MacLeod, Sadie MacDonald, Charlie Latton, James Robertson, Keith MacKenzie, Archie MacDonald

Quiraing from: Michael Nicolson, Christina MacDonald, Sam Macphee, Jordan Murchison, Ian MacPherson, John MacLeod, Neil MacVicar, John Archie Tuncay

Storr from: Allan MacLeod, Sam Stubbs, Chris Rose, Iain MacInnes, Archie Millar, Lexy MacLeod

Tianavaig from: Murphy Henderson, Nui Nicolson, Ross Gordon, David MacInnes, Katherine Dibble, Raghnall Robertson, Ryan Nicolson, James Munro

The matches were refereed by Ewen MacLean, Willie MacDonald and Caley MacLean.

The teams gathered at the Skye Camanachd Clubhouse for an after-match reception after which the John MacKinnon Sixes Shield was presented to Crossal & Co captain Thomas MacKinnon by former Skye Camanachd player Ewen MacKinnon, John MacKinnon’s son, who also starred for the winning team.  

The individual award winners were:

2023 MacKinnon Sixes Player of the Tournament – William MacKinnon (Crossal)

2023 MacKinnon Sixes Ladies Player of the Tournament – Sadie MacDonald (Glamaig)

2023 MacKinnon Sixes U17 Player of the Tournament – Angus Gilpin (Blaven)

2023 MacKinnon Sixes Over 40 Player of the Tournament – Peter Gordon (Cuillin)