MacDiarmid Primary School finished runners-up in the 2016 RBS P5 (& under) National First Shinty Festival at Lochaber High School, Fort William on Saturday 27 February 2016.
MacDiarmid and Portree were the Skye qualifiers and the teams were drawn into two leagues for this noon start. The top two teams would qualify for the semi-finals.
League A
MacDiarmid were drawn in League A with Alvie, Ballachulish, Balnain, Bute, Dingwall and Glasgow Gaels.
MacDiarmid beat Bute 2-0 with Archie Millar scoring twice. They then overcame Alvie 2-1 with Archie Millar and Cameron Long on target. Another Archie Millar strike saw off Glasgow Gaels 1-0 with Archie Millar and Cameron Long netting in a 2-1 win over Balnain. MacDiarmid suffered their only League A defeat which was a 2-0 reverse to Dingwall. However they rounded off the league section with by beating Ballachulish 1-0, with Tristan Crowe getting the winning goal, so they finished top of League A, a point ahead of second placed Bute.
League B
Portree were drawn in League B with Aberdour, Drakies, Dunadd, Inverlochy and Taynuilt. Portree beat Aberdour 3-0 and Drakies 3-1 but lost their other three matches.
Inverlochy were the League B winners with Taynuilt in second spot.
Semi-Finals
MacDiarmid beat Taynuilt 2-1 in their semi-final meeting. MacDiarmid full centre Archie Millar got both their goals to give his side, which only has a school role of 52, a final spot.
Inverlochy topped a strong Bute side, but only just. Their semi-final finished 1-1 after the regulation time mainly thanks to a series of excellent saves from the Bute keeper, who kept out three strikes which were heading for the top postage stamp corner of the net. Inverlochy’s Rhys Kennedy got the crucial golden goal a minute into the second half of extra-time to give his side a place in the final.
Final
The final was just a step too far for MacDiarmid as they lost 3-1 to an Inverlochy, coached by Fort William stalwart Willie MacDonald. Archie Millar scored the MacDiarmid goal in the final and he had another ruled out when a team-mate strayed into an offside position at 1-1. However Inverlochy lifted the trophy thanks to goals from Rhys Kennedy, Ben Britton and Archie MacKinnon.
MacDiarmid from: Calum Campbell, Steven MacLeod, Shonnie-Alec MacLeod, Archie Millar, Cameron Long, Tristan Crowe, Jack Mutch
MacDiarmid Coaches – Donnie Martin, Iain Murray, Andrew Long