Skye Camanachd, winners of the inaugural MacTavish Cup in 1898, are through to the quarter-finals but it took extra-time to eventually see off Fort William 3-2 at An Aird on Saturday 25 March 2023.

The pitch passed a Friday afternoon inspection and this 2.30pm throw up was given the all-clear following a Saturday morning check.

Fort William were without Ryan Boyle and Duncan Stevenson whilst Martin Pringle remained on the Skye injury list.

Fort William opened with the wind in their favour, but it was Skye who dominated the first 10 minutes, having plenty possession and firing shots both on and off target.

The Fort then went on to have a good spell, so much so that Ross Gordon’s opener for the Islanders came against the run of play. The goal came from a counter-attack and Jordan Murchison found Ross Gordon at the edge of the D and he smashed a low drive into the bottom right corner of the goal to make it 1-0.

Victor Smith drew Fort William level from the penalty spot when referee Alex MacVicar spotted a push inside the box, and it remained all-square until the turnaround.

Fort William took the lead on 56 minutes courtesy of Jack Fraser’s low shot from just outside the D, their only shot on target during the second 45 minutes.

Although Skye then went on to enjoy the bulk of the pressure, and with Stuart Disher on top form in the home goal, they couldn’t find the goal they craved until 15 minutes from time when James Pringle turned home a rebound just inside the D after Disher had made another save.

With no further scoring, referee Alex MacVicar took the tie to an extra-time period. The goal that sent Skye through came on 112 minutes. The ball was played up to William Mackinnon, who was now playing full forward, and he picked the ball up in a wide position before taking on his marker and dribbling to the bye-line and passing into the D where Sam Stubbs was first to react, and he finished well to make it 3-2.

Speaking afterwards, Skye manager Kenny Macleod said: “An Aird is always a hard place to go so we are pleased to be in the next round. We created a lot of chances and once we get back on grass at training, our shooting will improve. You could clearly see in the game that Fort William train on grass whilst we don’t at the moment.”

Fort William from: Stuart Disher: Mark Grant, Craig MacDonald, Jamie Duncan, Ali MacRae: Bryan Simpson, Calum Shepherd, Hamish Shaw: Cam Stephen, Victor Smith, Jack Fraser (captain), Lewis Morrison: subs Graham Campbell, Archie MacKinnon, Jack Kearney

Skye Camanachd from: Murphy Henderson: John Gillies (captain), James Morrison, Sam Macphee, William MacKinnon: Ally ‘Cleodi’ Macleod, Neil MacVicar, Ross MacKinnon: Ross Gordon, Jordan Murchison, James Pringle, Kenny Cushnie: subs Sam Stubbs, Ross Nicolson, Jamie Gillies

Match Referee – Alec MacVicar