Clean Sweep for UHI Shinty at the 2026 Littlejohn Vase
The UHI shinty teams had an incredible day at the 2026 Littlejohn Vase in St Andrews, bringing home two gold medals and making it a clean sweep for the university. Since 2024, thanks to the support of Kishorn Port and Dry Dock Ltd and the coordination of HISA, UHI has entered both a men’s and women’s team into the Littlejohn Vase- the biggest shinty tournament in the university calendar. The men’s team won the trophy in 2024 and successfully defended it in 2025, and this year they made it three wins in a row. The women’s team has also been climbing the podium each year- bronze in 2024, silver in 2025, and finally gold in 2026.
The sun was shining on the day, and the teams arrived in St Andrews in good spirits. Captained by Rachel Cruickshank, the women secured the win against St Andrews, Aberdeen and Glasgow, before a draw with Edinburgh and an unfortunate loss to Strathclyde in the round robin. However, the team had enough points to put them into a nail-biting final against Strathclyde, where the match ended with a 1-1 draw. After having narrowly missed out on the win due to unlucky penalties the past two years, it was announced that the final would go to penalties yet again. The women kept their cool and finally secured a much-deserved win, with UHI Perth’s Lucy Brown top goal scorer of the day.
Led by captain Sergio Thompson, the men were victorious against Aberdeen, Strathclyde, St Andrews and Glasgow in the round robin, with a draw against Edinburgh. Their impressive performances secured them a place in the final against Strathclyde.
In the final, UHI continued their strong form and defeated Strathclyde to retain the Littlejohn Vase for the third year in a row. It was another fantastic team performance, with Jay McCrae finishing as the tournament’s top goal scorer for the men’s team, helping to seal a memorable day for UHI shinty. With both teams taking home gold, the 2026 Littlejohn Vase will go down as a historic clean sweep for UHI, highlighting the strength, dedication and growing success of shinty across the university network.