Hopes of a third Badenoch derby of the season are dashed
Newtonmore missed out on the chance to set up a W M Donald MacTavish Cup quarter-final tie against neighbours Kingussie when they lost 3-1 to Skye at The Eilan on Saturday.
The Blues and Whites, without top scorer Iain Robinson, went into the break on level terms but that was in no small way thanks to keeper Kenny Ross.
He saved Ross Gordon’s penalty on 40 minutes before stretching brilliantly to deny Gordon again just minutes later.
There was nothing Ross could do about Ruaraidh MacLeod’s opener and although Joe Coyle finished well from a clever Conor Jones pass, another from Ruaraidh MacLeod and an unfortunate deflection off Daniel Sloss, following a Jamie Gillies corner, sent Skye through.
‘More manager Peter Ross said: “I’ll not offer any excuses. We fielded a team strong enough to win the game but Skye won the tackles and almost every second ball.
“Maybe we had one eye on the prospect of playing Kingussie in the next round.
“Our game against Beauly on Saturday is now massive but there’s no panic.”
Ian Robinson returns for the Mowi Premiership meeting with bottom side Beauly at The Eilan on Saturday.
