Shinty review of the season – part two
It’s the business end of the shinty season as The Oban Times looks back on the second half of 2019.
July 2019 Mowi Premiership
Kingussie finished July with a two point lead at the top of the Premiership, although they only played one league match during the month edging out Oban Camanachd 3-2.
Mowi National Division
Fort William looked in a hurry to seal the title and they had now notched up 11 straight league wins.
Mowi North Division 1
Glengarry were two points clear of second-placed Fort William with a game in hand. However, Newtonmore were just four points off the top having played three games fewer than the leaders.
Mowi South Division 1
Aberdour were eight points clear at the top of the division despite losing 7-2 to the Inveraray seconds.
Mowi North Division 2
Lochcarron and Strathspey continued to battle it out for the title and the west coast side led by a point having played a game more.
Mowi South Division 2
Kilmory enjoyed a two point lead over Glenorchy at the summit but had played a game more. The Oban Celtic colts were third.
Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup
Caberfeidh, Newtonmore, Oban Camanachd and Kyles Athletic all reached the semi-finals at the start of the month. Newtonmore defeated Caberfeidh 7-5 in an epic semi-final at the end of the month.
Artemis Macaulay Cup
Andrew MacCuish scored twice as Oban Camanachd reached the Macaulay final with a 4-1 victory over Glasgow Mid Argyll. In the other semi-final, Ruaridh Anderson got the winner as Kingussie beat Newtonmore 2-1.
Liberty British Aluminium Balliemore Cup
Fort William’s 4-1 victory over Glenurquhart took them through to the final to face Glasgow Mid Argyll who defeated Strathglass 3-0 in their semi.
HIS Sutherland Cup
Lochside Rovers lifted the HIS Sutherland Cup, defeating the Lovat reserves 2-1 after extra time in the final. Ross Campbell put Lochside ahead, but Raymond Rennie levelled a minute later. Lewis Buchanan scored the match-winning goal seven minutes into extra time.
Mowi WCA National Division 1
League leaders Badenoch lead Skye by four points, but the islanders had two games in hand.
Young Scots star on Irish tour
Scotland’s U17s completed another successful Ireland tour. The Scots opened by beating Kildare U17 (53-5) 26-7 (0-0-7) at the 6,200 capacity St Conleth’s Park, the home of County Kildare GAA. Lachie Shaw grabbed a hat-trick, whilst Liam Borthwick and Conor Kennedy also found the net.
Next up was the annual meeting with Dublin U17 at Parnell Park the following day and Scotland U17 made it two out of two, winning (103-3) 39-6 (0-0-6).
Ross Gordon grabbed a hat-trick, whilst Duncan Matheson and Lachie Shaw both scored twice. Martin Pringle, Kieran MacPherson and Liam Borthwick scored the other Scotland goals. Lachie Shaw converted three two pointers taking his tally over the two matches to 23 points.
August 2019 Mowi Premiership
After taking five out of six points, Lovat ended the month a point clear at the top of the table although they had played more games than their nearest rivals.
Mowi National Division
Fort William clinched the league championship, and a return to the premiership, by beating Glenurquhart and, following their victory over Strathglass in their next match, they were just one win away from completing their league programme with a 100 per cent record.
Mowi North Division 1
Triumphs over Skye, Inverness and Kinlochshiel meant Glengarry maintained their title push and led the Newtonmore seconds by seven points although Newtonmore had four games in hand.
Mowi South Division 1
Table toppers Aberdour’s nearest challenges were third placed Lochside Rovers who had plenty to do as they trailed by 12 points with four games in hand.
Mowi North Division 2
Lochcarron held a three point advantage over Strathspey who had played a game fewer.
Mowi South Division 2
Kilmory were crowned league champions after Alistair MacArthur’s goal earned a 1-0 win over second placed Glenorchy in their final match.
Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup
Oban Camanachd will play Newtonmore in the Camanachd Cup Final after Daniel Cameron’s double and Andrew MacCuish’s effort secured a 3-0 victory over Kyles Athletic.
Strathdearn Cup
Fort William and Newtonmore beat Kilmallie and Glenurquhart respectively to reach the Strathdearn Cup Final.
Bullough Cup
Lochside Rovers lifted their second trophy of the season after defeating Glasgow Mid Argyll 4-1 in the Bullough Cup Final. Lewis Buchanan scored twice, either side of efforts from Michael MacQueen and Craig MacDougall.
Mowi WCA National Division 1
Skye only trailed leaders Badenoch by a couple of points with a game in hand and a title play-off between the sides looked inevitable.
Lochaber are junior Macaulay Champions
Lochaber High School won the inaugural Artemis Macaulay Junior Cup, defeating Oban High School 4-0 in the final at Ganavan. Ben MacKinnon scored twice, with Robbie Rydings and Craig MacDonald getting the others.
September 2019 Mowi Premiership
Kingussie now need just two wins from their final three matches to be sure of a first premiership title for 10 years. Just a week after losing 5-1 to Newtonmore in the Camanachd Cup Final, Oban Camanachd beat Newtonmore by the same scoreline in the league at the Eilan.
Mowi National Division
Glasgow Mid Argyll now needed a draw at Skye in their next fixture to join champions Fort William in the premiership next season. Oban Celtic finished the season strongly, taking five out of six points from their final three matches.
Mowi North Division 1
Glengarry held a five point lead at the top of the table, despite losing 3-2 against Skye. However 2018 champions Newtonmore have five games in hand.
Mowi South Division 1
Aberdour’s 3-0 victory at Lochside Rovers secured the league championship. The Fife side now had to wait on the outcome of North 1 to discover whether they had to play-off for a place in next season’s National Division.
Mowi North Division 2
Lochcarron were crowned North Division 2 champions after defeating second placed Strathspey Camanachd 7-5 in a thrilling match at Battery Park.
Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup
Newtonmore raised the Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup for the fourth successive season, beating Oban Camanachd 5-1 in the rescheduled final in Fort William.
Atrocious weather conditions brought the previous weekend’s final to a premature end but the replay was played in the sunshine. Newtonmore’s Drew MacDonald scored the only goal of the first half but efforts early in the second half from Jamie Robinson and Glen MacKintosh had Newtonmore 3-0 ahead. David Lafferty countered but Evan Menzies and another from Glen MacKintosh meant it was Newtonmore’s skipper Evan Menzies who raised the famous trophy. Oban Camanachd had periods of pressure in the game and Newtonmore defender Rory Kennedy collected the coveted Albert Smith Medal as man of the match.
Strathdearn Cup
Scott Knox scored twice, either side of goals from Grant Disher and Alan Knox, as Fort William beat Newtonmore 4-0 at Spean Bridge to win the Strathdearn Cup.
Mowi WCA National Division 1
It was still neck-and-neck between Badenoch and Skye in the title race.
Mowi WCA Valerie Fraser Camanachd Cup
2017 winners Skye Camanachd won back the Mowi Valerie Fraser Camanachd Cup with an 8-6 victory over holders Badenoch at a sunny Dell.
Player of the match Lorna MacRae and Abby MacLean both scored four times for Skye and captain Ilana Paterson stepped forward to be presented with the Valerie Fraser Camanachd Cup by Jayne MacKay from sponsors Mowi.
Mowi WCA Challenge Cup
Lovat are Mowi Challenge Cup winners, defeating Inverness 7-1 at the Dell.
WCA North Double
The North came out on top in the Women’s Camanachd Association senior and U21 representative matches, sponsored by the Macaulay Association, which took place at Mossfield.
North U21 lift Caol Cup
All the goals came in the first half as North U21 beat South U21 3-0 in the annual Caol Cup clash at the Jubilee, Ballachulish. Duncan Matheson scored twice and Roddy Young got the other. The North were managed
by Kilmallie’s Mark MacPherson who said: ‘I enjoyed being involved and it was an absolute pleasure to take these boys. They showed a great attitude and were a credit to their clubs. Kinlochshiel U14s win MacMaster Cup
Archie MacRae scored five times as Kinlochshiel U14 beat Oban Camanachd U14 7-1 in the Kenneth MacMaster Cup Final. Camanachd Association Cup
Skye Camanachd beat Newtonmore 5-2 in the inaugural National Final of the Camanachd Association Cup at the Lochaber High School all-weather pitch.
This was a new 10-a-side competition in the primary school age shinty calendar.
October 2019 Mowi Premiership
Kingussie sealed the Mowi Premiership title for the first time since 2009, only suffering one defeat and three draws in the process, after they beat Kilmallie 4-1 at Canal Parks.
It also turned out to be a good season for Kilmallie who retained their Premiership place after promotion from the National Division at the end of 2018.
Mowi National Division
Glasgow Mid Argyll secured the division’s second promotion spot when they beat fellow contenders Skye Camanachd 3-1 in Portree.
Mowi North Division 1
Glengarry beat challengers Newtonmore, who now had to win all their remaining matches to take the title although they could afford to drop one point and still take the trophy on goal difference.
Mowi South Division 1
Ballachulish won their final two matches to finish second in the division.
GMA Raise Mòd Cup
Glasgow Mid Argyll raised the Mòd Cup with a 3-1 penalty shoot-out victory over Bute following their 0-0 draw at Glasgow Green
Scotland Ladies lose
Scotland Ladies lost 14-10 in a close encounter with Munster Ladies in
their shinty/camogie clash at the WIT Arena in Waterford. Sarah Corrigall chipped in with a goal and a point for the Scots whilst Kirsty Deans found the net twice. Rebecca Noonan notched a goal and a point late on to give the Irish victory.
Badenoch are champs
Badenoch were confirmed Mowi WCA National Division 1 winners after they beat Skye Camanachd 8-1 in their title play-off match at the Balgate. Mowi WCA national player of the year Kirsty Deans scored seven.
North take honours
North U17 defeated the South U17 5-0 in their representative match at An Aird. Ross MacKinnon scored twice for the North with Ross Gordon, Max Campbell and Sorley Thomson getting the others.
North U14 retained the Fraser MacPhee trophy, winning 5-1 against South U14.
Taighan Macleod’s brace gave the North a 2-0 lead before Oban Camanachd’s Kyle MacFarlane pulled a goal back. Calum MacIver Archie MacRae and Finlay MacLennan rounded off the 5-1 win.
November 2019 Scotland Win In Ireland
Scotland retained the Mowi Quaich following a thumping 26-4 triumph over Ireland at the GAA National Games Development Centre in Abbotstown, Dublin.
Paul Divilly and Danny Cullen gave Ireland an early 2-0 lead but Scotland took control from the moment Daniel Cameron’s point and Kevin Bartlett’s two-pointer turned the contest their way. Craig Morrison and Andrew MacCuish added Scotland goals and despite Cillian Kiely’s point, the Scots led 9-3 at half-time.
Another from Craig Morrison and strikes from Roddy MacDonald and Kevin Bartlett took Scotland’s goals count to five.
Steven Macdonald, on his return from injury, chipped in with six points and substitute Savio Genini bagged two more with Ryan Mullaney giving the Irish, who didn’t field any top tier players, small consolation.
Scotland skipper Stuart MacDonald was presented with the Mowi Quaich.
Young Scots lose out
A strong second half display gave Ireland U21 a 32-14 victory over Scotland U21 in their Mowi Quaich clash at the GAA National Games Development Centre in Abbotstown, Dublin on Saturday November 2.
The Scots led 13-12 at half-time but four-goal Mark Kehoe inspired the Irish to victory.
The final count saw Scotland player of the match Ruaridh Anderson score two goals with Daniel MacVicar and Innes Blackhall getting the others. Findlay MacDonald and Lachie Shaw added points.
Mowi Premiership
After winning 2-0 at Kinlochshiel in their penultimate league match, with Andrew MacCuish and Garry Lord scoring, Oban Camanachd finished second in the Mowi Premiership after being awarded the points when Lochaber were unable to fulfil their fixture at Spean Bridge.
Lochaber and Inveraray were relegated from the top flight.
Mowi North Division 1
The Newtonmore second team only dropped one point in their run-in to take Mowi North Division 1 on goal difference over Glengarry.
The outcome also meant Mowi South 1 winners Aberdour stepped up to the Mowi National Division next season as the Newtonmore colts weren’t eligible to take part in the play-off match.
Skye win London Shield
Skye Camanachd U17 lifted the Mowi London Shield for the second successive season with a 4-0 victory over Newtonmore U17 at Pairc nan Laoch, Portree.
Taylor Matheson grabbed a hattrick and Cameron MacKay got the other.
John Angus Gillies from sponsors Mowi was on hand to present the London Shield to Skye skipper Murphy Henderson.
The Douglas Mackintosh Memorial Medal for the man of the match went to Skye’s Ross Gordon.
Oban Camanachd youths win
Oban Camanachd U14 were 4-3 winners in their South U14 9-a-side league play-off match against Bute U14 at Strachurmore. Innes Jackson, Ewan Campbell, twice, and Louis MacFarlane cancelled out Rory MacDonald’s double and Ronnie McMillian’s effort.
Annual Mowi shinty awards
There were reasons to celebrate for Oban Camanachd’s Daniel Sloss and Fort William and Glengarry shinty clubs at the Mowi Conference and Awards Ceremony hosted by sponsors Mowi in the Kingsmills Hotel, Inverness.
Daniel Sloss has long since cemented his place in the Oban Camanachd first team. He was part of a side which has lifted this year’s Scottish Sea Farms Glasgow Celtic Society Cup and were runners up in the Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup and the Artemis Macaulay Cup. He represented Scotland U17 in their summer Ireland tour and was also part of Alan MacRae’s Scotland U21 squad which faced their Irish counterparts.
Fort William had five reasons to celebrate. They were named Mowi club of the year and were the first recipients of the Gary Innes award for youth club of the year. Added to that, after winning the Liberty British Aluminium Balliemore Cup and completing their Mowi National Division season with a 100 per cent record, the manager of the year accolade went to bosses Victor Smith and Adam Robertson, whilst the player of the year in the same
division was given to Arran MacPhee who was impressive throughout. Finally, the Mowi North Division 1 player of the year prize went to outstanding Fort William second team keeper Stuart Disher.
Glengarry pulled off a hattrick of successes as manager Ewen Cameron collected this year’s Mowi North Division 1 manager of the year award. Elaine Cameron was crowned WCA Mowi Development coach of the year and Mowi youth coach of the year.
New Camanachd Association Chieftain
The much-respected John MacKenzie from
Newtonmore was elected Camanachd Association Chieftain at a well-attended annual general meeting in Fort William.
Richard Gall from Fort William became the new Camanachd Association vice chieftain.
Roddie MacCuish from Oban was amongst three additions to the Camanachd Association Board, with Ross Brown and Burton Morrison also installed, whilst Youth Director Willie MacDonald from Fort William was re-elected for a second term.
2020 Artemis Macaulay Cup - Draw
The 2020 Artemis Macaulay
Cup draw was made following the Camanachd Association’s AGM. Oban Camanachd and Oban Celtic were both given home draws against lower league opposition. Oban Camanachd will be confident of progressing against Bute whilst Oban Celtic start as favourites against Ballachulish. If both Oban sides progress, they will meet in the quarterfinals.
There is also an eye-catching first round meeting at An Aird between newly promoted Fort William and Kinlochshiel, who have lifted the trophy twice in the last four years.
There is also the prospect of a Badenoch derby between Newtonmore and Kingussie in the quarter-finals although first round opponents Lochaber, who welcome Newtonmore, and Kilmallie, who host holders Kingussie, will have other ideas.
The Artemis Macaulay Cup Final takes place at Mossfield, Oban on Saturday August 22 2020.
Stephen Sloss stays on
Oban Camanachd confirmed that Stephen Sloss continues as their first team manager. Kenny Wotherspoon also remains in place as his assistant.