Badenoch win inaugural WCA Premier Cup

The inaugural WCA Premier Cup took place on 16^th August 2026 at An Aird, Fort William with the crowd’s appetite well and truly whetted by the Single Team Cup Final earlier that afternoon. In terms of senior cup final experience there was a little disparity between the two sides with Badenoch appearing in five of the last six senior cup finals and Kinlochshiel making their debut in a senior cup final having won the Mowi Challenge Cup in 2022 and 2023. In the Semi-Finals Badenoch triumphed 7-0 over Skye while Kinlochshiel also recorded a strong victory, beating Inverness 6-0.

Just two minutes after referee Craig Scott threw the ball into the air to start the game, Kinlochshiel fashioned the first chance, a ball played through the middle to Laura MacLeod who pushed it nicely into the path of Maura MacKenzie, the youngster’s shot needing a smart save with the feet by Betty McGregor. It would be Badenoch who opened the scoring though, a shy from Grace Fraser was played across by Lexi Farquhar (helped by a lovely flick from Zoe Reid), Kirsty Deans’ shot at from the back post was well stopped by Lisa Falconer but there was nothing she could do to stop the rebound from Megan Ralph.

Following the opener, the two sides exchanged chances with Badenoch dominating the territory and creating the more guilt edged chances, but it was Kinlochshiel who forced the best save of the period, Maura MacKenzie shifting the ball onto the right wing and firing a looping shot towards goal that brought out the best from McGregor. Soon after though, Badenoch would double their lead, Reid’s mazy run on the right flank was eventually stopped by the Kinlochshiel defence, but the clearance fell to none other than Deans who made no mistake by rifling the ball into the right corner of the net. Two would become three soon after, again starting from a Fraser shy, the ball reaching Reid who played a ball across the front of the goal from the left, again the Kinlochshiel clearance found Deans though, and again she punished them with an expert finish.

The Valerie Fraser holders made it 4-0 just two minutes from the half-time interval, Farquhar battling well to win possession in the final third before Ralph played a smart ball for Reid to run on to, her powerful strike giving Falconer little chance. Going into the break Kinlochshiel might have felt a little aggrieved at being four down, Badenoch had without doubt been the better side and had shown a real clinical side, but Kinlochshiel had shown endeavour and fight though they were shut down impressively by Badenoch’s backline.

The west coast side’s half-time adjustments allowed them to grow even more into the game, and the first twenty minutes of the second half were very nip and tuck, with neither defence giving an inch. That was until Reid picked the ball up at wing centre and fed Ralph, the full-forward’s first shot was well blocked by the Kinlochshiel defender, but the sheer power of Ralph’s swing gave her a yard of space on her marker and that was all she needed to crack a shot into the back of the net.

Badenoch did not let up and within five minutes of the fifth, the sixth came, arguably the pick of the bunch as Farquhar played a smart one-two with Deans, the youngster then running onto the ball and whipping a hit from 35 yards out on the left-hand side to complete the scoring.

Ultimately, Kinlochshiel will have been disappointed in the result but they can take pride in their play and never say die attitude. For Badenoch, it is a 6^th senior cup in seven years and with a Mowi Valerie Fraser Camanachd Cup Final coming up against the same opponents on 5^th September!