Football - Nicolson Junior Girls win North of Scotland Cup

Holly McEwan's early goal was enough for the Nicolson junior girls team to lift the North of Scotland Cup in a fiercely contested cup final against old foes Mintlaw.

Despite Mintlaw kicking off the Niccy girls showed huge hunger and desire to scrap and win possession and launch a blistering attack.

Megan Macsween whipped the ball across the penalty area where Holly took the ball to the right hand corner of the box before unleashing a venemous drive into the top left hand corner of the net.

From Mintlaw kicking off with the ball at their feet to their keeper plucking the ball out of the net took less than 60-seconds - a whirlwind start for the yellows.

The early goal didn’t open the floodgates though as Mintlaw refused to buckle under the loss of such a n early strike.

The remainder of the first-half proved very tight with the two sides evenlly matched and tradiing spells of possession and passages of play.

In the midfield Sian Ferguson was mopping up the danger impressiveluy and made a number of key clearances for the Nicolson.

The second-half kicked off in the same manner as the first, with the Nicolson exploding out of the traps at breakneck speed and taking the game to Mintlaw.

Kayleigh Mackenzie had the opposition defence on the retreat with a series of positive forward darts in a whirlwind opening.

As the Nicolson began to take control of the match, Mintlaw became frustrated and conceded a free kick 10-yards inside their own half.

Shana Macphail placed the ball and sized up her options before taking aim at the goal. It looked to be top corner bound before a flying save from the Mintlaw keeper clawed it away.

As the minutes ebbbed by on the referees watch Mintlaw began pressing and pushing forward more and more in search for an equaliser but the Niccy back line remained composed and detmined, defending as a unit and not allowing Mintlaw to break through.

Anything which did bypass the defence was dealt with expertly and confidently by Chloe Nicolson in between the Niccy sticks.

The final whistle prompted wild celebrations for the far travelled island girls who made their way onto the ferry with the North of Scotland Cup in their grip - the third North of Scotland Cup claimed by the Nicolson Institute this year already with two cup finals yet to play.