Newtonmore come from behind twice to retain W M Donald MacTavish Juvenile Cup Final
There was a feast of shinty on Saturday 13th June as three finals took place at Bught Park, Inverness, the filling in the final sandwich was the W M Donald MacTavish Juvenile Cup Final which saw the finest U17 teams in the north, Newtonmore and Skye, compete for the sport’s smallest (in stature) trophy.
Heavy grey skies gave the game an eerie atmosphere ahead of throw up and perhaps it was a bad omen for Newtonmore as inside two minutes of Jamie MacPherson starting the game they found themselves behind. A corner from Lachlann MacLeod was taken down nicely by Eoghann Graham and while he was unable to create an opportunity for a strike, the ball broke to Harry Speed on the right flank who hit a looping backhand that swung and dipped into the far corner of the net.
In the eighteenth minute, Newtonmore went close to levelling things up, a free hit from Logan McCormack falling at the feet of the lethal James Coyle, he moved his marker and let fly but was denied by a good save from Somhairle Burrows. The resulting corner saw Coyle again pick up on a McCormack delivery, this time from Jaiden, and this time he pushed the ball into the box before slipping it past the goalkeeper and levelling the tie.
The scores were level for two minutes at the start of the game, and they remained level for only three minutes after Newtonmore’s equaliser as Skye re-established their lead; a great shy from Lachlann MacLeod came to Seth MacDonald in the centre of the park, his hit was blocked but Skye’s Peter Martin was first to the loose ball, he played a smart infield pass back to MacDonald who ran into the now vacant space on the right wing and fired a corker into the roof of the net.
Newtonmore would put a penalty over the bar before levelling things up on the stroke of half-time. Again, the goal came from a Newtonmore corner, the delivery from Logan McCormack plucked out of the Skye by Coyle and a composed half swing found the bottom right and corner meaning it was honours even going into the break.
Ten minutes into the second half and it the holders would take the lead for the first time and while this young Newtonmore team has a reputation for playing free flowing shinty, the goal was more a tribute to dogged determination. Jacob Bain, Jaiden McCormack and James Coyle all put in, and received their share of hefty challenges as the teams battled for control of the ball thirty yards from the Skye goal over a two-minute spell. McCormack’s grit would pay off though as he was able to run the ball into the box and flick it beyond the keeper to put ‘More ahead.
Newtonmore would put the game out of sight with nine minutes left on the clock after a good long ball from James Coyle was flicked inside by Jaiden McCormack, Donald Ross picking up the ball in the centre and doing the hard work of running it 30 yards through the centre of the Skye defence, his cut back to McCormack was blocked but the ball would end up with 15-year-old Brodie Campbell who was in the right place at the right time to rifle the ball into the far corner and make sure the trophy was returning to the Balavil Hotel.
Jaiden McCormack won the Sandy MacKay Medal for Man of the Match after a tremendous display of stickwork, battling and determination but it was Jacob Bain who would lift the W M Donald MacTavish Juvenile Cup high into the air – 100 years after his Grandfather Angus Bain won the same competition!
Congratulations to Newtonmore and commiserations to Skye both teams played their part in a highly entertaining final.
