Shinty - Teacher proud to be named man of the match as Newtonmore beat Kingussie in final at Inverness
IAIN Robinson says for any young shinty player from Newtonmore, they all have the same dream of bringing the Camanachd Cup back to the village.
The 26-year-old scored twice to help that dream become a reality as Newtonmore defeated Kingussie 3-2 in the final at Bught Park in Inverness.
The PE Teacher scored in both halves, and along with a Joe Coyle strike made it 3-0 after 63 minutes as the cup looked to be heading back to The Eilan.
Ryan Borthwick scored twice for Kingussie to set up a frantic finish in front of a packed crowd at the all-Badenoch final.
But Newtonmore held on for victory and Robinson says for anyone growing up in Newtonmore, winning the Camanachd Cup final means everything.
He said: “As a young boy growing up in Newtonmore, it is all you dream of as a young shinty player to win the Camanachd Cup and take it back to the village.
“I’ve been lucky to do that before, but we have a lot of boys in the team that hadn’t done it before and it is amazing to be able to do that.”
However, despite being 3-0 up with 27 minutes remaining, Robinson did admit that he was aware that Kingussie were capable of pulling off a comeback and was not surprised they got within one goal of levelling the match.
But he praised his team’s defence, and in particular goalkeeper Kenny Ross, for their performances to ensure the cup came back to Newtonmore.
He said: “I kind of feared the worse when Kingussie got that first goal as they are really good at coming back from losing positions.
“But our defenders and Kenny Ross were excellent. They put their bodies on the line and gave it absolutely everything which got us over the line.
“But if there is one team that you can’t write off, it is Kingussie. We were 3-0 up, but I knew that if they got one, that would be a problem as the momentum could swing so quickly,
“But we managed to keep them to two and I will take that any day.”
Robinson was also named man of the match and received the Albert Smith Medal for his performance in the final.
He says it was a proud moment to wear the medal around his neck, but said bringing the trophy back to Newtonmore was what mattered to him most.
He said: “At the start of the season, if you offered one trophy you would take the Camanachd Cup and we have managed to do that today.”
Speaking about receiving the medal, he said: “It is surreal as you never expect to win the man of the match award in the Camanachd Cup final. It is the cherry on the top of the cake, but at the end of the day, I would give it up if it meant we won the game.”