Iain Borthwick was confirmed as Kingussie manager for another season at the club’s annual general meeting and he got quickly down to business with the new shinty season just six weeks away.
The Kings won three of the four major honours last season and there is mixed news on the player front with attacker Dylan Borthwick back in the fold, but defender Kieran Macpherson has intimated that he will move to Canada in May.
Iain Borthwick said: “We had a squad meeting at the end of the year, and I was delighted to see Dylan come along.
“He is a natural forward, and a great striker of the ball off both sides.
“If you give Dylan a chance, he will usually take it.
“We’ll give him time to get back to full fitness though as he hasn’t played since towards the end of the 2022 season.”
However, Kingussie will be without a key defender as Iain Borthwick explained: “Kieran Macpherson has made his mind up to move to Canada.
“He’ll probably still be available to play until around May time so we could use him until then.
“If Kieran settles in over there, he could be gone for the rest of the year or maybe even longer so it’s a blow as he has made a huge contribution over recent seasons.”
The 2022 Mowi National player of the year Roddy Young is getting closer to a return to the Kingussie side following his ruptured ACL and torn meniscus injury, suffered last May.
An operation and a period of rehabilitation followed and Young, a development officer with the Camanachd Association, said: “I’m back running on the treadmill and I’m probably just a couple weeks away from being out on the pitch.
“I’m currently working on my strength training program and, realistically, I hope to be back playing for Kingussie before the end of June.”
Manager Iain Borthwick added: “Roddy is getting on really well and his return will be a huge boost. There were close games last season when we really missed Roddy and I found myself thinking of the difference he would have made.
“He’s an exceptional player and you are talking about the game’s top scorer with 30-odd goals in 2022, shinty’s then national player of the year, and he makes that difference in front of goal when you are trying to see teams off.
“The good thing is we don’t need to push for Roddy’s return.
“With the likes of Dylan Borthwick back, and Thomas Borthwick now firing on all cylinders, we have different options compared to where we were this time last season. Ruaraidh Anderson is Mr Dependable as ever whilst Savio Genini is looking fit and sharp.
“So, that all means Roddy will get the time he needs, and we can break him in gently without forcing anything. We may even give him a couple of second team games when he’s ready, just to ease him in at his own pace.”
Change of heart at Badenoch
Women’s Camanachd Association three-in-a-row Mowi National Division champions Badenoch have been boosted by the news that manager Scott Campbell and his assistant Iain Robinson will stay on to lead the side for next season.
Both had decided to bring their six-year term in charge to a close at the end of last year but have had a change of heart.
Meanwhile, tributes have been paid following the sad passing of Glengarry stalwart Ewen Cameron.
A club statement said: “Ewen’s involvement with Glengarry goes back decades, a dedicated manager of the men’s team for over 30 years and pivotal to the success of our women’s team, being their only manager over a 26-year period.” He will be sorely missed.
