Crossal & Co were again the winners at the eighth John MacKinnon Memorial Sixes which took place at the Portree High School astro pitch on Saturday 5 February 2022.
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 and in 2021 due to covid restrictions and six teams gathered for this year’s competition ahead of a 10am start.
It had been wet overnight with accompanying hail showers but other than a couple of showers during the morning, conditions were reasonably favourable.
With two games being played simultaneously, a good-sized crowed gathered and they were entertained by what were some closely fought which were matches played 10-minutes one way.
Round Robin Stages
Caman if you think you are hard enough 0 Crossal & Co 0
The main reason this game finished goalless was a magnificent save by Caman keeper Murphy Henderson who adjusted his body mid-flight to parry a deflected shot. This was the only match Crossal & Co wouldn’t win and they lost Ross MacKinnon through an accidental injury.
Chips & Co 1 North West 0
Veteran James “Chips” Munro turned back the years as he slammed home a rebound to get his side off to a winning start, earning a bonus point into the bargain.
Chips & Co 0 Witness the Fitness 2
Witness the Fitness were amongst the tournament’s more fancied teams and a bonus point goal from Abby Maclean and a Chris Rose strike sealed a 2-0 win against Chips & Co.
North West 0 PG Tips 1
A fine solo goal from Martin Pringle gave PG Tips all three points against North West.
Crossal & Co 4 PG Tips 1
William MacKinnon, Ruaraidh MacLeod, Iain Nicolson and Thomas MacKinnon got the goals for Crossal & Co with James Pringle countering.
Caman if you think you are hard enough 0 Witness the Fitness 1
A terrific John Gillies solo goal gave Witness the Fitness another win.
Crossal & Co 1 Chips & Co 0
Iain Nicolson’s effort was enough to give Crossal & Co victory over Chips & Co.
North West 1 Witness the Fitness 2
Sam Macphee’s first goal since the Balliemore Cup Final wasn’t enough for North West as efforts from John Gillies and another Abby Maclean bonus goal gave Witness the Fitness a 2-1 victory.
Chips & Co 0 PG Tips 2
Ross Gordon’s brace gave PG Tips their second win of the tournament.
Caman if you think you are hard enough 0 North West 1
A goal from Danny Morrison gave North West what was to be their only goal of the competition.
Caman if you think you are hard enough 0 PG Tips 2
PG Tips took the points courtesy of Ross Gordon’s strike and a bonus goal from Rhianna Kirk.
Crossal & Co 2 Witness the Fitness 0
Two of the tournament’s more fancied teams met with Taylor Matheson and Ruaraidh MacLeod giving Crossal & Co another win.
PG Tips 0 Witness the Fitness 2
Witness the Fitness returned to winning ways, collecting a couple of bonus points into the bargain, as veteran Iain Murray and Abby Maclean sealed the win over PG Tips.
Caman if you think you are hard enough 0 Chips & Co 1
Ally “Viewfield” MacLeod scored to clinch a semi-final spot for Chips & Co.
Crossal & Co 1 North West 0
In the final round-robin match, Taylor Matheson scored during a hail shower to earn Crossal & Co the points against North West.
The group stages results left the league table as follows:
Witness the Fitness – 16 points
Crossal & Co – 13 Points
PG Tips – 10 points
Chips & Co – 7 points
North West – 3 points
Caman if you think you are hard enough – 1 point
Semi-finals
Witness the Fitness 1 Chips & Co 1 (Chips & Co won 2-0 on penalties)
The semi-final ties were played simultaneously and table-toppers Witness the Fitness started as favourites against Chips & Co. However it didn’t turn out that way as goals from John Gillies and Ewen Munro took the tie to extra-time.
With no further scoring, referee John Angus Gillies took the tie to a penalty shoot-out. The women’s player, veteran and the under-17 player from both sides lined up and a couple of good saves from Calum Nicolson coupled with penalty conversions from Jenna Beaton and James Munro sent underdogs Chips & Co into the final.
Crossal & Co 1 PG Tips 0
The other semi-final didn’t carry the same drama but that didn’t bother Taylor Matheson who continued his scoring streak with the only goal of the game.
Final
Crossal & Co 4 Chips & Co 1 (after extra-time)
The final between Crossal & Co and Chips & Co was played for 12-minutes with a change of ends at half time.
Chips & Co showed they weren’t there just to make up the numbers when a turn and low shot from James Munro gave them the lead.
Crossal & Co went in search of an equaliser and William MacKinnon went close following a corner.
Taylor Matheson was next to try his luck but Calum Nicolson made an outstanding save.
Chips & Co went back on the attack and an outstretched foot from Crossal & Co keeper Ewen MacKinnon was just enough to keep out James Munro’s effort.
Chips & Co were doing most of the defending and a shock result looked on the cards. However with just a couple of minutes remaining, William MacKinnon’s hit-in from the left dropped across the keeper and into the net to make it 1-1
With no further scoring, another extra-time period ensued.
Crossal & Co took the initiative from the start with Iain Nicolson firing the ball low across the keeper from wide on the right to make it 2-1.
William MacKinnon then ran across goal before adding a third and Ruaraidh MacLeod shot low into the goal from the left to make the final score 4-1.
Team line-ups:
Crossals from: Ewen MacKinnon, William MacKinnon, Ross MacKinnon, Iain Nicolson, Thomas MacKinnon, Taylor Matheson, Ruaraidh MacLeod, Holly Maclean
Chips & Co from: Calum Nicholson, James Robertson, James Munro, Ewen Munro, Jenna Beaton, Ally MacLeod (Skeabost), Cameron Mackay, David MacInnes
PG Tips from: Peter Gordon, Robbie Gordon, Ross Gordon, David Pringle, Martin Pringle, James Pringle, Angus Gilpin, Rhianna Kirk
Witness the Fitness from: David Grant, Archie Millar, Jordan Murchison, John Gillies, Gordy MacDonald, Abby MacLean, Chris Rose,
North West from: Iain MacLellan, Sam Macphee, Christina MacDonald, Archie Buchan, Archie MacDonald, Ian MacPherson
Caman if you think you’re hard enough from: Murphy Henderson, James Morrison, Ally “Cloudi” MacLeod, Danny Morrison, Ilana Paterson, John MacLeod, Seonaidh MacLeod
The matches were refereed by John Angus Gillies and Allan MacLeod.
The teams gathered at the Skye Camanachd Clubhouse for an after-match meal after which the John MacKinnon Sixes Shield was presented to Crossal & Co captain Taylor Matheson by former Skye Camanachd President Ian MacDougall who also handed out the medals and individual prizes.
The individual award winners were:
- 2022 MacKinnon Sixes Player of the Tournament – Murphy Henderson
- 2022 MacKinnon Sixes Ladies Player of the Tournament – Abby Maclean
- 2022 MacKinnon Sixes U17 Player of the Tournament – Charlie Latton
- 2022 MacKinnon Sixes Over 40 Player of the Tournament – James Munro