The 2024 Harper Macleod CA Cup Final took place on Saturday 2^nd November at Blairbeg Park, Drumnadrochit. This was the second game of the day,  following on from the London Shield Final and there was a decent crowd in attendance to watch the youngsters in what was set to be a very close and competitive game.

Both teams were piped onto the field by Jack Gow and introduced to Calum MacLeod from Harper Macleod before the game got underway. Jamie MacPherson was the man in charge supported by Jim Barr and John Matheson who were the days goal judges.

Both teams started strongly with some excellent hitting but it was 4 minutes in when Somhairle Dawson bested his marker and found himself in space, unleashing a long range strike which the young Oban Youth keeper had no chance with, putting Kingussie 1-0 up.

This was short lived however and on 9 minutes Oban Youth struck back. Oban having put pressure on the Kingussie defence, closing them down well not allowing them to clear the ball meant that Aidan Michie was first to a loose ball and sent a powerful strike past the Kingussie keeper and into the bottom corner of the goal squaring the game up at 1-1.

Kingussie were right back at it though and some nice play by Coby Farquhar in the middle of the park opened up Somhairle Dawson once again who beat his marker to the ball and drove towards the goal, turning and then slotting the ball into the bottom corner part the Oban Youth keeper. Kingussie were once again ahead, 2-1.

Oban Youth didn’t let their heads drop though and following the throw up put a nice passage of play together in the forward line, linking it with some fantastic movement. After a good attempt at goal which was cleared by the Kingussie defence Oban were first to the ball once again and it was young Ollie Duffy who sent a screamer of a shot past the keeper and into the top of the net, squaring things up at 2-2.

The game settled down slightly from there with both teams showing some excellent hitting of the ball throughout the rest of the half. It was on 26 minutes though that Oban Youth struck again, once again it was Ollie Duffy who created himself a yard of space on the left of the pitch and struck a low hard shot through a crowd of players finding the back of the net and putting the Oban side up for the first time in the game.

The second half started with a bang, with Oban Youth’s half time oranges providing the exact amount of energy required for another goal, a fantastic ball in from the right hand side put immediate pressure on the Kingussie keeper and their full back, it was Oban’s Izayn MacIntyre that was quickest to react though, not allowing the ball to be cleared and slotting in past the Kingussie keeper leaving the Oban side with a 2 goal cushion.

The second half was a competitive affair with play flowing from end to end and both teams showing some skills that senior players would be impressed with. Kingussie had a couple of great chances through the speedy Reid Paterson but young Sorren Macinnes was a match to the shots put on target. Oban had their fair share of chances too, having the ball in the back of the net twice but with players standing in offside positions the goals were not allowed.

It remained 4-2 until the last 5 minutes of the game when Malki Mainland, jinked his way through a group of players and thundered the ball into the back of the net from far out on the left of the pitch bringing the game to 4-3.

The last 5 minutes was an end to end battle with the Oban Youth team continuing their strong hitting and nice passing, holding up and the ball and breaking down Kingussie attacks.

Jamie MacPherson brought the game to a close on 60 minutes with both sets of players exhausted from their efforts. This final was close, competitive and skilful and credit goes to all players involved as well as their coaches for an entertaining spectacle.

Calum MacLeod from sponsors Harper Macleod was on hand to conduct the presentations, handing out the medals to first of all Kingussie as runners up and then to Oban Youth as the days winners. He then handed over the Harper Macleod CA Cup to a delighted Oban Captain, Archie MacIntyre ,to round off the days proceedings.

Our thanks go to Harper Macleod for sponsoring the CA Cup for 2024 as well as to all the excellent volunteers at GlenUrquhart Shinty Club for hosting the days events, having the pitch in excellent condition and feeding the teams after the match. Thanks also go to Jamie for refereeing as well as to Jim and John for being the days goal judges. The day would not have been a success without you all.