Skye prevail in first Gaelic Community Shinty Sixes held in Inverness
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Millburn Academy hosted The Gaelic Community Shinty Sixes, where teams of Gaelic speakers and learners participated in three mini tournaments.
Organised by Iomain Cholmcille, the organisation which promotes the Gaelic language in shinty as well as Irish hurling, the aim of the event was to get fluent speakers, learners and beginners enthused about the language.
Five teams competed for the men’s Shield with Skye Camanachd, Lewis Camanachd, Strathglass, Inverness Royal Academy and Stromeferry No Ferry United playing in a round robin league with the two top teams contesting the final.
The Skye team which included representative players William MacKinnon, Ross Gordon, Martin Pringle and Sam MacPhee proved to be too strong for Inverness Royal Academy.
Two early goals netted by Gordon set Skye on the way to a convincing 6-2 win to take the honours.
Iomain Cholmcille co-ordinator Eoghan Stewart, said “It was fitting that Skye won this inaugural competition – they did so much as a club over the years to keep Gaelic alive in shinty.
“But we were delighted with the efforts of every team. They all developed their Gaelic skills, using it on the park and on the sidelines as much as they could.
“For those just beginning it definitely piqued their interest in the language.”
Two teams Strathglass and Kinlochshiel contested the Women’s Shield competition.
The two teams played a best of three format which was decided in Strathglass’ favour on goals scored after the teams finished level on points.
Strathglass’s 2-0 victory proved crucial whilst the other games resulted in a 1-0 win for Kinlochshiel and a 0-0 draw.
Strathglass skipper Lucy MacLeod said: “We play shinty all year but it’s predominantly a game played through English in the women’s code, so it was very good to be able to speak Gaelic to other people and out on the park.”
In the youth competition, Inverness Gaelic School emerged victors after defeating a team from the same school.
