Kingussie are out to lift their fifth successive major honour when they play inaugural winners Skye Camanachd in the cottages.com MacTavish Cup final at the Bught Park, Inverness on Saturday.
Kingussie came from two goals down to defeat Caberfeidh 5-2 in last year’s final, a trophy which proved to be the catalyst for a memorable Grand Slam season led by former boss John Gibson.
With last year’s top scorer Roddy Young injured, Kingussie manager Iain Borthwick has a choice to make regarding the full forward position.
He said: “The Bught is a big park and I have to decide who plays at full forward with both Lee Bain and Alexander Michie in contention. The rest of the side pretty much picks itself.”
Kenny MacLeod returned to Skye as second team manager in 2017 before taking the first team job in 2019. He led the side to Balliemore Cup success in 2021 and the Mowi National Division title a year later.
MacLeod has a decision to make concerning the versatile Ross MacKinnon, saying: “We didn’t risk Ross last Saturday.
“He picked up what looked like a nasty ankle injury a fortnight ago, but it looks as if a burst blood vessel was the problem, and the additional rest means he is winning his race to play in the final.
“We’ve had as normal a week as possible in the lead up to the final and I’m sure we’ll have a big support behind us on the day.”
This Saturday Kingussie firsts travel to the Bught Park in the final of the Cottages MacTavish Cup.
Throw up is at 4.00pm and will be refereed by Martin
Tickets are 17% off when purchased online at https://t.co/qSCgkfwAwo – pic.twitter.com/nVhvnZnqn7
— Kingussie Camanachd (@KCamanachd) June 7, 2023
Setback for Oban Camanachd
The Artemis Macaulay Cup, which guarantees a north versus south final, has reached the quarter-final stage with both south ties scheduled for this weekend. With a massive month ahead, Oban Camanachd have suffered what manager Gareth Evans described as a “huge blow” ahead of their tie at home to Inveraray with confirmation that Scotland under-21 defender and team captain Daniel Sloss suffered a broken finger last Saturday.
Evans said: “It’s the news we feared regarding Daniel.
“His finger is broken and, not only that, but it looks as it will need wired before it will heal. He’ll definitely miss the Inveraray match as well as Newtonmore in the league the week after and he must be considered doubtful for the Scottish Sea Farms Glasgow Celtic Society Cup final at the end of the month.
“We will have Louie McFarlane back this Saturday though although we probably won’t risk Malcolm Clark as he is just one booking away from missing the Celtic Society final.”
South under-21 player Jamie Forgrieve has left Oban Camanachd and returned to his former club Oban Celtic.
Inveraray manager Andy Watt is without a raft of players for the tie.
He said: “We have both Allan Cameron and Kieran MacKay out injured, Ally Munro and Hamish MacLellan are unavailable due to work commitments whilst both Ross MacMillan and Calum MacDonald are serving suspensions.”
The other tie is between Glasgow Mid Argyll and Kyles Athletic.
GMA will have goalscorer Ewen Fraser available again soon, once he relocates from Ireland, but he is not expected to make this tie. Innes Macdonald continues in goal for Kyles, deputising for the injured John Whyte, whilst David Zavaroni completes his two-match ban.
Newtonmore and Lovat have brought the weekend’s only Mowi Premiership meeting forward to Friday evening.
Newtonmore captain Conor Jones picked up a knock late in the game against Kingussie last week but is expected be passed fit to play.
Lovat fielded Callum Cruden in defence as cover for the injured Drew Howie last week and the revamped defensive unit kept a clean sheet against Beauly.
Boss Jamie Matheson said: “We are still without Marc MacLachlan whilst Sam Stubbs is also on holiday. However, we have Graeme MacMillan back in the squad after missing the last six weeks through injury.”
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