Tuesday 14th September saw only the second ever CA Primary Club Cup Final take place at Blairbeg Park, Drumnadrochit. This game was a repeat for the 2019 Final between Newtonmore Camanachd and Skye Camanachd and both clubs had come through the group stages of this competition having played, and beaten club teams from up and down the country.
The game, officiated by John MacRitchie started quickly and furiously with both teams showing off some fantastic skill, especially in terms of their long range striking of the ball which, for a primary final was incredibly impressive from both sides.
Newtonmore having won both the other national primary trophies (Tulloch Cup/MacKay Cup) this year were keen to make it a clean sweep and started as they have all year by putting pressure on the Skye goal. The Skye defence soaked up the pressure until the 6th minute when a long range strike from Joe Coyle found the back of the net and put Newtonmore one nil up.
The next 5 minutes were end to end and Skye were gradually getting more and more into the game when a swing of play meant that Newtonmore’s James Coyle found himself in a yard of space on the penalty spot and sent a rocket of a strike past the Skye keeper making it two nil to Newtonmore with 12 minutes gone.
Some end to end play made for an entertaining spectacle for the supporters and with chances at both ends throughout the remainder of the first half. John Archie Tuncay defending well for Skye and Rory Turner in the Skye goals making some superb saves to ensure the half time score remained as was.
The second half started just as furiously as the first with Newtonmore immediately on the attack and Joe Coyle who has been superb all season getting his second goal of the day just one minute after the restart. The Newtonmore forwards seemed to work as a seamless unit with Brodie Campbell working particularly hard to create opportunities for his teammates to score.
Newtonmore then started to up the pace of the game, playing some fantastic passes amongst themselves, it was easy to see why this team has been so successful. James Coyle added another goal to his tally and on the 53rd minute secured his hattrick.
It wasn’t all Newtonmore pressure though, with a fantastic battle between Skye’s Lachlan Macleod and the Newtonmore Captain Logan Macormack taking place each time Skye went on the attack. Skye then began to move their players round and switch up their attacking and defending options.
Skye appeared to have more success when Teri Macleod was moved into the forward line and she certainly gave the Newtonmore defence a lot to think about with her movement and passing. It was all too much for Skye in the end though as Newtonmore’s forward line added a number of additional goals to their score line before the final whistle drew the game to a close meaning that Newtonmore secured their clean sweep of primary honours for the 2021 season.
Following the final whistle, Logan Macormack, Newtonmore’s Captain deservedly collected the CA Primary Cup for 2021 in front of a crowd of cheering friends and family.
Thanks went to both sets of players, coaches and parents for their support before during and after the event. To referee John MacRitchie for officiating the game, Robert Morrison and Jim Barr for Goal Judging, to Graham Bell for taking some fantastic photos of the game, to GlenUrquhart Shinty Club for hosting the event at their fantastic facility and to Highland Industrial Supplies (HIS) who very kindly provided food and drink for all the players after the final.