Double inter-county joy in hockey and football
SHETLAND enjoyed inter-county wins on Orkney soil this afternoon (Saturday) in hockey and football.
Shetland beat Orkney in the hockey match at the Pickaquoy Centre in Kirkwall 1-0 to lift the Lady Hamilton Cup, with Rhea Nicolson scoring for the Blues in the last minute of the first quarter.
This was followed up by Shetland’s footballers making it five Milne Cup wins in a row with a 4-3 victory over Orkney.
The ladies hockey team travelled down to Orkney for the 12pm fixture having won two out of the last three inter-county matches.
This included a famous victory in 2024 which ended a wait of more than 40 years to win in Orkney.
Speaking after the match Shetland captain Rhiannon Inkster-Smith sought to praise the effort of the coaches, adding that the team has worked “really, really hard over the last few years”.
In the football, which kicked off at 3.30pm, Shetland took the lead through a Jack Clubb header early on before Toby MacLeod equalised for Orkney.
It did not take long for Shetland to hit back, however, with a Greg Tulloch double seeing the Blues go into half-time 3-1 up.
The topsy-turvy game saw Orkney claw one back through George Ewing around 63 minutes in.
But around 15 minutes later Reece Black made it 4-2 to Shetland, not long after coming on for his senior inter-county debut.
There was a late consolation for Orkney through an audacious long-range strike from Ewing to make it 4-3 and set up a nervy finish, but Shetland held on for the victory.
Picking up a win on Orkney soil will be a boon for temporary coaches Jim Tait and John Thomson, whose squad featured a number of uncapped players.
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