First off was the under-21 game, which the visitors won by the narrowest of margins 11-10, though Scotland manager Donnie Martin felt his side had done enough to deserve a victory.

Ireland set up the second part of the treble by winning the women's match 8-0. Scotland were rarely in this game after the first 15 minutes, though the score remained 0-0 up to the turn, but Ireland proved too strong in the end, scoring two goals and two one pointers.

Then came the seniors, and a finish nobody could have predicted.

When captain Gary Innes fired over a two-point free hit to make it 11-11 in the second minute of injury time, Scotland seemed to have, somehow, performed the great escape after being under severe pressure for most of the second half.

But the enthusiastic crowd, approaching 2,000 at Inverness' Bught Park, were left stunned as Cork's Shane O'Neill displayed the finest of Ireland's stickwork to wriggle free and fire the ball into the net for the winner.

Scotland had dominated the first period and led 8-5 at the interval through a Ronald Ross goal after a penetrating free hit from Norman Campbell, and two points each from Ross and Paul MacArthur plus one from Niall MacPhee.

Paul MacArthur (Newtonmore) tries to shield the ball from John Griffin (Kerry).

Paddy Mullaney from Laios was superb in goal, otherwise the half time margin might have been wider still.

But there was always the worry that when Ireland came to enjoy the wind advantage after the turn, the three point margin might not be enough.

And so it proved, as the superb Tommy Walsh, Ireland's hurler of the year, sparked the Irish revival alongside man of the match, Shane O'Neill, to take an 11-8 lead.

Walsh picked up a nasty looking nose injury with seven minutes to go, and tempers flared after that. Lochaber's Sean Nicolson pulled a point back for Scotland to reduce the margin.

As the Scots pressed, Innes' two pointer looked to have saved the match before O'Neill broke Scottish hearts with seconds to go.

In the frantic embers of injury time, there was still time for Newtonmore's David Cheyne to be denied a clear claim for a penalty when he was pulled down by Mullaney in the goalmouth.

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