ABERDOUR Shinty Club have sealed their first major senior trophy after winning a thrilling South of Scotland Plate final against Strachur last Saturday.

The West Fifers recovered from a 2-0 deficit after only 19 minutes to triumph 3-2 thanks to a Michael Lightbody doubled sandwiched between an Angus Thorburn strike.

Coach Lisa Norman revealed a half-time pep talk inspired her players to glory as they stared down the barrel of their second dose of cup heartache in three weeks having already lost to Ballachulish in the Balliemore Cup semi-finals.

Despite starting the match well, 'Dour suffered a shock just 11 minutes into the match at Peterson Park in Yoker as Strachur's Rhys Campbell netted the opener before Duncan MacNicol doubled the advantage just eight minutes later.

The nervous West Fife side struggled to compose themselves on the game and had their goalkeeper to thank for keeping out a penalty after a Strachur player had been tripped inside the box.

But Aberdour were a different proposition in the second period and within 10 minutes of the restart, Lightbody turned and send the ball into the top corner before a "classic" Thorburn strike levelled matters.

With their tails up, Lightbody scored an impressed third goal on 59 minutes which proved enough to bring the trophy home to Silver Sands and a delighted Norman told Press Sport, "It was a brilliant game and a fantastic result for us. Everybody was buzzing and it was just a really good day for the club. We've always been underdogs and teams have often said 'it's only Aberdour' before raising their game because they didn't want to lose to us. Now it's different; the players have proven that we are somebody and I've told them that we are the equal of any club in the country. There are teams out there who haven't won anything for longer than 14 years so it marks a presence for us in the world of shinty.

"Their two goals were against the run of play but we dropped off a bit after that, so we had a good chat at half-time and changed a couple of things. In the early stages the occasion got the better of them but credit to them, they settled down after half-time and looked as good as they have been all season. It means a lot to win a piece of silverware and there were good teams left in it. Strachur themselves are a quality team with some good players so it made for an exciting game, so it is a milestone for the club. It should stand us in good stead for challenging for the league. At the start I hadn't looked at that, but we're in a position now where it's not unachievable." 'Dour continued their league campaign on Saturday against Oban Celtic, and recorded a 2-1 win. A full report will feature in this Thursday's Press Sport.