Newtonmore cruise to yet another Cottages.com MacTavish Cup Victory

Glenurquhart 0 Newtonmore 3

Premier side Newtonmore won the cottages.com MacTavish Cup for the fourth year in a row beating Glenurquhart 3-0 at the Bught Park, Inverness on Saturday 15 June 2019.

Played in slippery conditions following earlier heavy rain, the scoreline does little to reveal how tight this game was particularly in the first half when Mowi National League side Glenurquhart took the game to the holders and with better finishing might have upset the form book.

At the other end Newtonmore always carried a potent threat and there was an early let off for Glen after a miscued ball out of defence set up Glen Mackintosh for a point-blank strike but he was denied thanks to a superb reflex save from Glen keeper Stuart Mackintosh.

Glen however, were still pushing forward and eventually a drive from distance by Brady again forced Ross to pull off a fine save. Newtonmore then lost centre Conor Jones to a head injury but his replacement the experienced Jamie Robinson quickly settled in the centerline berth and under his influence ‘More created a series of chances but their shooting –particularly that of captain Evan Menzies – was at this stage inaccurate.

About the half hour, Glenurquhart suffered the loss of wing forward Conor Golabek with a hamstring injury and though he did attempt to resume later in the match his absence robbed Glenurquhart of a degree of movement up front. They did however finish the first half on the up with ‘More keeper Ross having to work hard to keep out shots first from youngster Oliver Black and again from Brady.

The second half started ominously for Glenurquhart with referee Lachie Wood showing a yellow card for full back John Barr for a trip on Menzies – and though Glen continued to play with some flair it was ‘More, who had pushed centre Steven Macdonald forward who began to create the better-quality chances.

Eventually after having had one strike ruled out for offside Newtonmore broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute when following a period of pressure, the ball broke in a central position for winger Iain Robinson who fired it high past Mackintosh for the crucial opener.

Glenurquhart continued to push back for a spell but gradually they stopped having serious chances – though Ross had to be quick off his line to prevent Oliver Black netting in a late foray forward.

With Glenurquhart visibly tiring, Newtonmore ended their hopes of victory with two late goals from their captain Evan Menzies. The first came from close range in 84 minutes when he was fed in by eventual man of the match Iain Robinson. Menzies’ second strike – and his side’s third- quickly followed in stoppage time when he picked up the rebound from Glen keeper Stuart Mackintosh and finished clinically from outside the “D”

A cruel ending perhaps to Glenurquhart’s cup dreams, but glorious for Newtonmore who have now won the MacTavish Cup 43 times since its inception in 1898.

Man of the match was Newtonmore’s Iain Robinson while captain Evan Menzies came forward to accept the MacTavish Cup, from Luke Smith of sponsors cottages.com.