Dingwall Academy lose out to Inverness Royal Academy in North of Scotland Cup final after penalty shoot-out - Teacher proud of players after battling performance

North of Scotland Cup Final

Dingwall Academy 1

Inverness Royal Academy 1

(Inverness Royal Academy win 4-3 on penalties)

DINGWALL Academy PE teacher Kevin McKie praised his team for putting in a battling performance as they lost the North of Scotland Cup final on penalties to Inverness Royal Academy.

With the two teams locked at 1-1 after normal time, Inverness Royal Academy won the penalty shoot-out 4-3 at Grant Street Park in Inverness on Monday night.

Dingwall took the lead when Craig Lawrie latched on to a cross from Lewis Gibson in the box before firing a low drive into the net.

But Inverness Royal Academy got themselves back into the match seven minutes after the break when Sam Thompson scored from close range to make it 1-1.

Both teams had chances to win the game in normal time, but neither school could find the winning goal as the match went to penalties.

Mckie said while his players were disappointed, they put in a terrific effort on the night.

He said: “It was a tough physical game and conditions with the wind and grass pitch was a leveller.

“We took the lead against the run of play and perhaps Royal Academy were the better team in the first half.

“The second half could have gone either way with chances end to end for both teams.

“Unfortunately one team has to lose. We won on penalties in the semi final and you can’t win them all.

“IRA probably deserved it overall but penalties is always a lottery.”

“But it is a fantastic achievement to get to this stage as you don’t get to cup finals very often.

“We won the trophy last year and good or bad, these are the games they will remember.”

Seven of the players in the Dingwall Academy team are set to represent North of Scotland Select who will play Paisley in the National Trophy Final on Wednesday, April 23 at Spain Park in Aberdeen.

Dingwall Academy are scheduled to face Charleston Academy in the Under-14 North of Scotland Cup next month.

In February, Dingwall won the North of Scotland Senior Girls Cup when they defeated Millburn Academy 8-0 in the final.

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