Roddy Macdonald was raised on tales of the great Kyles Athletic teams of the past, but when stories are told in years to come then his own name will figure large in the legends.

Macdonald was the toast of Tighnabruaich on Saturday evening after showing a sharpness in front of goal that would bring a tear to the eye of Craig Levein.

For much of this match, Kyles were hanging on the coat tails of their rivals from the other side of Loch Fyne. If they kept the faith it was mostly because they knew what Macdonald would do with any half-chance that came his way, and the 24-year-old forward delivered brilliantly. Four times he was given a shooting opportunity and four times he rocketed the ball past Graham MacPherson, the Inveraray goalkeeper.

Long before the finish, there was little doubt that he would take home the Albert Smith Medal which is traditionally given to the man of the match in shinty's blue riband event. Yet neither that accolade nor the player of the year award Macdonald picked up last season was a match for his feelings when he and his team mates finally got their hands on the famous Camanachd Cup.

"It's unbelievable," Macdonald gasped. "I've wanted this since I was a wee boy and it's great to finally get there. I think I was six or seven years old when we won the cup the last time. I don't really remember it but obviously I've heard a lot about it. This tops the lot. Player of the year doesn't really mean a great deal, although it's a great honour to win it. Winning the Camanachd Cup with your club is what you play for."

Macdonald has had a handy source of information about the 1994 final, Kyles' last Camanachd Cup win, as his father Kenny kept goal in the team that beat Fort William 3-1 in Inverness that year. Incredibly, Macdonald senior, now 50, is still doing stalwart shifts between the sticks for Kyles, and his stops in Oban on Saturday were as significant to the result as what his son was getting up to at the other end of the Mossfield Park pitch.

The elder Macdonald's profile in the match programme suggested he could be in line for an MBE for services to shinty. As far as his son is concerned, though, it would be better news still to hear that his old man was going to carry on playing. "He's one of the best in the game," said Roddy. "He'll be sorely missed when he finally does give it up, but hopefully he'll play on for a couple of years yet."

It is a weary old cliche to portray shinty players as drinkers of Olympian proportions, but Kenny had no qualms about fuelling the stereotype when he left Oban saying "I'll be in the pub all night." In which light, it was understandable that he should reserve judgment on the career question until after the celebrations were out of the way – which might be a few more days yet.

Kenny Macdonald raised the average age of a Kyle side that would have been improbably callow without him. It contained a smattering of teenagers, and a good few of the others had been classmates of Roddy at school. They were horribly unlucky to lose to a late goal by Fort William in their last Camanachd Cup final appearance, in 2009, but given their age profile, this triumph could easily be the first of many.

"That's the monkey off our back so hopefully we can push on," said Roddy, understandably reluctant to make any firmer predictions.

Inveraray seemed determined to glue the Kyles monkey in place as they forced their Argyll rivals to chase the game for long periods. Russell MacKinlay gave them the lead in the eighth minute after a fine run by Chris Crawford, and although Macdonald hit back five minutes later with the first of his quartet of goals, Inveraray held a 4-2 lead at the break, courtesy of two goals by Garry MacPherson and one by Crawford, with Macdonald getting his second for Kyles in the 19th minute.

The frenetic pace kept up into the second half, with Robbie MacLeod reducing Kyles' deficit five minutes after the break and MacPherson restoring Inveraray's two-goal advantage four minutes later. But as the game passed the hour mark Kyles began to turn the screws.

Fraser Macdonald, the other veteran of the Kyles side, brought the score to 5-4 in the 58th minute, and Roddy Macdonald grabbed the equaliser a couple of minutes later. With the wind at their backs, Kyles cranked up the pressure even further, but heroic defence, and some fine saves by Graham MacPherson, kept the Inveraray goal intact.

Finally, in the 78th minute, the ball fell to Roddy Macdonald on the left side of the pitch, and with a sublime turn and shot he contrived the critical goal. A legend was made there and then, although he was at pains not to sound like one.

"It was a great team effort," said the hero of Kyles' hour. "What a game, it must have been brilliant to watch. Inveraray are one of those teams who take every half chance. They have some great finishers. But we've got goal-scorers as well and as long as we were just a couple of goals behind, we weren't worried. We thought we were still in the game with the wind at our backs and we pinned them down. I thought the winning goal was never going to come, but we got there."