Oban Camanachd have suffered a major blow with the news that James MacMillan, their captain in the Camanachd Cup final, has gone to Australia and will miss next season.
The 24-year-old bricklayer is an under-21 international and manager Ian Hay said: “James is spending a year Down Under in a combined work and holiday visit.
“It’s a real setback for us as he is noted for his pace on the pitch, which helped our defence signi-ficantly. James enjoyed a fine season as skipper and was set to kick on from there.
“While James will be a big miss, it could give an opportunity to 17-year-old Ross Macmillan, who broke into the first team this year, was a substitute in the Caman-achd final and was chosen for the Scotland under-21 squad. Ross has made rapid progress and now has the chance to step up and command a regular place in the defence.”
In another setback to the Mossfield men, winger David Lafferty is set to miss at least the early part of the new season.
Hay said: “David broke his kneecap against Lovat and has been out of action for 10 weeks. The injury is a severe setback to the lad and he is pondering whether he will play again, although he has not yet made a decision.
“We hope that once he’s fitter he’ll return to us but he will be unavailable for the first part of the Premiership campaign.”
Former Taynuilt attacker Willie Neilson has committed to remain with Oban this year and Hay is considering promoting a couple of younger lads from Lochside Rovers into the first team.
They start their pre-season tomorrow with an over-30s v under-30s match at Mossfield and then begin training on Monday.
Meanwhile, Oban have arranged a pre-season friendly against Inveraray at Mossfield Park on February 4 and will visit Kyles Athletic on February 11.
