RONALD Ross led Kingussie to a memorable victory over Glenurquhart in the Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup final in Inverness.
The jubilant Kingussie fans savoured a vintage two-goal performance from the returning hero, although he had a rival for the man-of-the-match award - which Ross won for a record fourth time - in 17-year-old Savio Genini.
It was an emotional day for Kingussie who had a red poppy embroidered on to their shirts in memory of their 1914 Cup winning-team, many of whom perished in the Great War.
Kingussie keeper Craig Dawson, an unused sub in five previous finals, said: "I thought we bossed it from start to finish. Our midfield were on top and that is where we won the match, while Savio and Ronald looked dangerous whenever they had the ball."
A tense match at a sun-kissed Bught Park was watched by one of the biggest crowds seen at a Camanachd final in recent years. Much of the pre-match speculation centred on the contribution of Ross who had played in only a handful of first-class matches this season.
Glenurquhart lined up their international full-back John Barr to shackle Ross and it was they who made the brighter start with Neale Reid and James MacPherson coming close in the first five minutes. Classy Glenurquhart defender Andy Corrigan limped off in the ninth minute and the balance of play began to move in Kingussie's favour.
In the 22nd minute an exquisite pass from Ross found Genini in space and he coolly finished from the edge of the box to get the scoring under way.
A 30-yard drive from the Glen's Arran MacDonald had Dawson scrambling in the 27th minute and minutes later MacPherson had his head in his hands as he fluffed a sitter from inside the box.
With half-time approaching and the match perfectly poised Ross stamped his class on the afternoon's proceedings as he held off his marker to smash an unstoppable 20-yard drive into the Glenurquhart net.
Glenurquhart fans expecting a big reaction from their team at the start of the second half were to be disappointed.Kingussie came back out strongly with Thom Borthwick and Fraser Munro inches away from putting the match beyond the Glen.
Glenurquhart seemed unable to mount consistent pressure and paid the penalty in the 68th minute when Ross and Genini exchanged passes before the youngster slammed home Kingussie's third. Ross had the last word in the 83rd minute when he scored after Borthwick found him unmarked from a free-hit routine.
Minutes later James MacLean became the 23rd victorious Kingussie captain to hold the famous trophy aloft.
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