If ever a player has experienced the highs and lows of sport it is Newtonmore skipper Jamie Robinson.

After the despair of being red-carded for a moment of madness in the MacAulay Cup final, leading his side to their 30th Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup triumph yesterday will be something that will live with the 27-year-old joiner long after the details of this particular final are a footnote in history.

The fairytale wasn't just in the win: Robinson scored the opening goal in his side's 3-0 demolition of Kyles Athletic and won the Albert Smith medal for man of the match.

"I told one of the lads at work this week that I fancied myself for a goal, even though it would be my first of the season," he said. "I cannot find words to describe the feeling now especially after what happened to me in Oban."

Robinson's strike came in the 14th minute after some bright Kyles early play had come to nothing against a robust Newtonmore back line which seemed content to absorb the Kyles probing.

When 'More broke forward they did so with menace as was proved when a long ball up found Danny Macrae free from his marker. His neat pass inside allowed Robinson to hit a swerving shot past Kyles' veteran keeper Kenny Macdonald for the opening goal. Two minutes later Newtonmore almost got a second when Macrae set up Glen Mackintosh for a strike, but the Kyles defence just managed to smother the shot.

The rest of the first half was an interesting tactical duel with the key to 'More's success the close marking of Kyles danger man Roddy Macdonald by half-back Steven Macdonald.

At the other end Kyles placed Grant Irvine out wide to draw Newtonmore full-back Norman Campbell out to the side, but the ploy didn't get the chance to work because the other Kyles forwards had to drop too deep to pick up the ball, so the Newtonmore defenders were able to push up to the centre line and deny the Kyles centres space.

Newtonmore created chances at this stage but failed to convert, with another strike from Robinson saved with his feet by Kyles keeper Macdonald. At the other end a single shot on target from substitute Roberto Zavaroni was the best the Tighnabruaich side managed before half-time.

If Kyles hoped to turn matters round in the second half they were disappointed. Newtonmore, having won their fourth Orion Premier League title in a row last weekend, were not about loosen their grip on a cup many of their fans regard as theirs by right.

They continued to press and Kenny Macdonald had to look lively to deny Glen Mackintosh and Jamie Robinson before Kyles mounted some raids of their own. Roddy Macdonald ran himself into the ground trying to make it happen for the Argyll men but his final shot lacked accuracy.

Newtonmore turned the screw in the 60th minute when Glen Mackintosh ran through the Kyles defence to place the ball past Kenny Macdonald and put 'More two up.

Kyles still tried desperately to come back but with the exception of a long shot by Dunky Kerr which Michael Ritchie dealt with safely they found little joy against a Newtonmore defence that was simply too strong. 'More eventually made the trophy secure with five minutes to go when a ball in from the right from Glen Mackintosh was finished off emphatically by Danny Macrae.

Kyles will certainly feel they could have played better, but for Robinson the Camanachd Cup victory has finally made it a successful season. "We have had Premier League success, certainly, but without this win we would have looked on the season as a failure," he said. "That's how passionate we are about the Camanachd Cup in Badenoch."