Argyll teams gear up for the new shinty season
WITH the new shinty season kicking off on Saturday March 3, the Argyllshire Advertiser spoke to club representatives about their hopes for the season, and the players worth keeping an eye on.
Kilmory Camanachd Club
Lochgilphead-based Kilmory recently won a friendly pre-season game after triumphing over Strathspey 5-2.
What are the club’s specific goals for this season?
The main goal of this season would be to keep our position in the South League Division 1, to avoid relegation and to get a reasonable position within the league table. We hope to consolidate on the good work we’ve made in the past couple of years. We’ve lost a few players so our main goal would be to remain in the division.
Which players do you think would be the ones to watch?
We’ve got some exciting new young players coming through. Andrew Innes and Aaron Robertson are both young boys, and this will be their first year in the first team, so they are worth watching. We’ve also got a lot of experienced players in the team such as David McAlister, Duncan MacBrayne and Bruce Johnston, and I think if they can all compete to their best, then we should stay in the South Division 1.
Bute Shinty Club What are the club’s specific goals for this season?
Our goal this season is to build on last season’s results and continue to introduce young players into our senior teams. Most of the first-team squad will be under 20 years of age. We would like to be back in the National League for season 2020 with a side capable of competing and remaining in that division.
What would constitute success this season?
We would consider it to be a successful 2018 season if our first team finished in the top three of South Division 1 and our second team mid table in Division 2, with both teams having good cup runs.
Which players do you think would be the ones to watch?
We do not like to pick out individual players, but two of our younger members are worthy of mention. Andrew McLachlan broke through into the first team last season, even though he only turned 15 in December 2017. Also the very promising 14-year-old Marcus Plank, who will be a regular in our second team.
We look forward to the season with new management in place for both senior teams with John MacCallum and Iain McDonald running the first team and James Craig taking over second team duties.
Kyles Athletic Shinty Club What are the club’s specific goals for this season?
Both teams are eagerly awaiting the start of the season. James, ably assisted by Kenny, is always looking to push the first team on to greater things. The demands on a tight first-team squad are huge but this season will be no different to those of the past in that we’ll take every game as it comes and always look to improve.
The second team face a similar challenge squad-wise as the senior team. A small squad will test new coach Fraser Williamson to the full. Fraser takes over this year after Peter Mobeck stepped down. With a good mix of youth and experience, Fraser will hope to push them on to greater things.
What would constitute success this season?
We have no set goals for the season. If we improve on last season, the coming campaign will be considered a success. The Kyles committee will do their best to support all the coaches on and off the field.
Strachur Shinty Club What are the club’s specific goals?
The Strachur team had a good season last year after a oneyear break from senior shinty. Coming back into South Division 2, the Currachs came a close second to Inveraray in the league and hope to go one better this year. We also reached the final of the Bullough Cup, losing out to an experienced Inveraray side.
What would constitute success this season?
The player pool has been strengthened with a few new and returning players. With plenty of hard work from the team, the club hopes to secure league promotion.
Which players do you think would be the ones to watch?
It’s really a team effort. Ollie Adrian was the 2017 league player of the year and is a great prospect but this counts for nothing without a strong team led by manager Ross MacDonald. Looking to the future, we have some promising youngsters coming through, largely due to the work of youth coach Ally Mirrlees.
Inveraray Shinty Club What are the club’s specific goals?
Inveraray’s aim, as always, is to be successful on the pitch in the coming season. While our primary aim for the first team is to regain Premiership status, we appreciate this may be hard with such a young squad. We will also be aiming to achieve a cup win this year realising that the Balliemore Cup may be the most likely in this category.
What would constitute success this season?
We would hope that our second team continues to improve and bring along the younger players – that is our main focus. If we can do this by staying in the SD1, then all the better, but our focus is to prepare youngsters for the first team and whatever success that brings all the better.
Which players do you think would be the ones to watch?
We have a number of players to watch out for but wouldn’t like to single them out. The important thing for us is how the teams grow together throughout the season. We genuinely feel that if we keep the boys playing together, with so many years in front of them we have a fantastic future in front of us.
Col Glen Shinty Club What are the club’s specific goals?
Our main goal for the coming season is finish above our previous season’s league position and hopefully finish at the top end of the table. Our league position last season really wasn’t a good reflection of our how well we performed throughout the campaign and we want to show the rest of the league what we’re about with big performances every Saturday.
What would constitute success this season?
An achievable minimum for success this year would be a top five finish in the league. And obviously everyone wants silverware, so a good run in either of the cups would be a target for us also.
Which players do you think would be the ones to watch?
We are fortunate enough to have an excellent pool of very talented young players who are developing rapidly in their shinty ability, so all the U17 lads will be ones to watch. We would peg young Finan Kennedy as a possible young player of the season candidate.