Boss Borthwick delighted with Kingussie once they got going
It may have taken a while to get going but holders Kingussie proved they are in no mood to relinquish their Artemis Macaulay Cup crown as they crushed Kinlochshiel 7-2 in their first round tie at Rèaraig.
The Kings were without defender Rory MacKeachan (hamstring) on Saturday whilst Fraser Munro was ruled out through work commitments.
‘Shiel’s Mark MacDonald was also working whilst Zander MacRae missed out with a thumb injury.
It was the home side who hit the front through Keith MacRae on eight minutes but Savio Genini on 20 minutes and Ruaridh Anderson’s brace on 31 and 41 minutes had the visitors 3-1 ahead at half-time.
The Red and Blues continued to dominate, and the second half was only three minutes old when Roddy Young made it 4-1 and there was no stopping the visitors.
Dylan Borthwick on 63 minutes, another from Roddy Young on 71 minutes and a hat-trick goal from Ruaridh Anderson on 72 minutes made for a magnificent seven, all ahead of Donald Nixon’s counter just four minutes from full-time.
Kingussie now travel to Lovat in the Artemis Macaulay Cup quarter-finals but before that, they are off to Castle Leod to play Caberfeidh in the Mowi Premiership this Saturday.
Kingussie boss Iain Borthwick said afterwards: “It took us a while to get going, but once we got our third goal, there was no stopping us.
“Everyone put in a real shift, and we played some really good shinty.
“Our forwards worked well together and if it hadn’t been for some great saves from Josh Grant in the Kinlochshiel goals, we probably could of scored more goals.
“We now have Lovat in the quarter-finals and they just seem to be grinding out good results this season so it should be a good game.”
Kingussie return to Mowi Premiership action on Saturday when they play Caberfeidh at Castle Leod.
Newtonmore were without a fixture at the weekend and are now preparing for an Artemis Macaulay Cup first round tie against Beauly at The Eilan this Saturday.
