How the south shinty teams peformed last season

AS THE year draws to a close it is time to reflect on the fortunes of the south clubs in 2015.

Kyles Athletic finished runners up to Newtonmore in the Marine Harvest Premiership and also reached the final of the Camanachd Cup beating their Badenoch rivals 3-2 in the semi final at Taynuilt.

However, the Tighnabruaich men lost out 2-1 to Lovat in the final.

There was consolation for Kyles though as they retained the Gregor Cameron Consultancy Celtic Society Cup defeating Oban Camanached 3-1 in the final.

Oban Camanachd, after a remarkable run of only two defeats in 10 games cemented their place in the premiership for next season, avoiding automatic relegation and the dreaded play- off scenario.

Manager Ian Hay is positive that, with all players available, there is optimism at the club of a good season ahead.

Hay said: ‘The importance of premiership shinty in Oban cannot be overstated as it will ultimately benefit the game in general in the Oban area.

The club’s under 17s and under 14s continue to flourish. The under 17s are coached by David MacCuish, Scott Buchanan and George Easton with Stephen Sloss and Brian Logan in charge of the under 14s.

A spokesman for the club said: ‘We are pleased with the progress of all our teams and the array of talent at all levels augers well for the future.

‘The club wishes all their loyal band of supporters a happy New Year and look forward to their continued support next season.’

Oban Camanachd will take on an Oban Camanachd Veterans team in the annual New Year fixture. The match will be played at Mossfield on Saturday January 9 with a 1pm throw-up.

The numbers for last week’s Oban Camanachd Lotto drawn in Coasters were 2, 13, 18. There were no winners. The next draw was made on Monday December 28 with a jackpot of £ 300 up for grabs.

Inveraray had a poor season by their own high standards and were relegated from shinty’s top flight and will play in the National Division next season. The club were dealt another blow when veteran goalkeeper Graham ‘Toad’ MacPhersom announced his retirement from the game.

Bute won South Division One but by the narrowest of margins - on goal difference from Lochside Rovers. The islanders will now play in the National Division, having turned down the opportunity to play there last season.

Lochside also lost out in the Sutherland Cup final to Newtonmore although they won the JC Trophy and had the consolation of Gareth Evans being named South Division One Manager of the Year and the evergreen Brian MacCallum finishing top scorer in the division.

Oban Celtic may be disappointed with their third place finish behind Bute and Lochside Rovers in South Division One.

However, Daniel Madej must be congatulated on winning the South Division One Player of the Year award.

Inveraray’s second team finished in fourth spot with Kyles second team in fifth, two points ahead of Aberdour in sixth place.

Taynuilt, under the direction of David Thomson, finished seventh in the division, recovering from a slow start to finish the season well.

Glenorchy had a stop-start season finishing in eighth place. Strachur struggled in the divison finishing in ninth with Kilmory bottom of the table with three points.

Col Glen won South Division Two from Tayforth with Glasgow Mid Argyll in third place.

Bute finished fourth with Oban Lorn playing their first season in South Division Two finishing in a creditable fifth place to establish themselves in that division.

The managment team of David ‘Jocky’ Martin, Donald MacVicar, Les Kinvig and Tony Howlett will hope the team can kick- on next season.

Glenorchy were sixth, three points ahead of Ballachulish and Aberdour, who finished bottom of the table on goal difference from Ballachulish.