Caberfeidh throw away two goal lead to lose MacTavish Cup final against Kingussie in Inverness
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MacTavish Cup final
Kingussie 5
Caberfeidh 2
Scorers – Kingussie: Genini (41, 44) Young (77) Borthwick (79) Anderson (85) Caberfeidh: Maclennan (6) Morrison (34)
Caberfeidh threw away a two goal lead to suffer heartbreak in the MacTavish Cup final as Kingussie stormed back to claim victory in Inverness.
The Strathpeffer club's 85-year wait to lift the trophy looked like coming to an end after they led 2–0 after 34 minutes.
Ally Maclennan put Cabers in front after six minutes and Craig Morrison doubled their advantage after dominating the first half.
But an error from Caberfeidh goalkeeper Ian McCall saw Savio Genini pounce to pull one back.
Genini scored again a minute before half time as the two teams went into the break tied at 2–2.
Kingussie took the lead 13 minutes from time through Roddy Young before Dylan Borthwick and Ruaraidh Anderson killed the game off to give Kingussie victory.
Caberfeidh manager Jodi Gorski knew his team missed a golden opportunity to win the cup, but said windy conditions were a factor in the final.
"We knew in the second half it would be a different game because it was a strong wind," he said.
"We were looking to take a 2–0 advantage into the break, but we conceded stupid goals before half time.
"It was frustrating, we knew if we kept the ball low, the wind would not affect it.
"The second half Kingussie were relentless, but it was a couple of stupid mistakes that cost us goals.
"But I can't fault the boys for effort, it was just one of those days.
"I felt every time we went forward, we could have scored, but the second half we couldn't get it up enough."
Despite making a mistake for Kingussie's first goal, Gorski was full of praise for his goalkeeper Ian McCall who made a string of great saves to keep Caberfeidh in the tie until late on.
"He had a howler for the first goal, but after that he redeemed himself.
"But it is frustrating Kingussie scored through our own mistakes and not from cutting through us.
"When you start playing shinty, you are told never hit the ball straight from your goal, always hit it wide and out of play and we didn't do that."
Caberfeidh now prepare to face Kingussie in the Premiership at Castle Leod next Saturday.
Cabers are currently in the relegation zone in ninth place, but Gorski is confident if they play like they did today, they will not have to worry about the drop.
"If we play like we did today we don't have to worry about relegation, it should be about looking up the table.
"It is about sticking together, pushing on and if we play the way we know we can we don't have to worry about relegation.
"We know how good a team we are, and other teams know how good we are.
"We are capable of scoring goals, it is unfortunate we are always capable of conceding five.
"It is disappointing, but we can watch the game back and see the mistakes we made and move on."
