National Division Move Confirmed For Strathglass | |
15 December 2016 The Camanachd Association has approved a request from Strathglass to play in the Marine Harvest National Division this coming season. Strathglass finished second in Marine Harvest North Division 1 last term, behind champions Newtonmore seconds. Indeed Strathglass were the only non-reserve team to compete in the league and had they finished in top spot, the Cannich club would have been eligible for a play-off against South winners Oban Celtic to see who would replace Ballachulish in shinty’s second tier. However they made a special application to the Camanachd Association to move up a division. The game’s governing body consulted the other participating clubs and, with no dissenting voices, the move has been given the green light. The Marine Harvest National Division will now become a nine-team league next season – six of whom will be based in the North – as Bute, Inveraray and Oban Celtic join Beauly, Caberfeidh, Fort William, Inverness, Skye Camanachd and Strathglass. Strathglass’ addition to shinty’s second tier will also give Camanachd Association Operations & Events Manager Astie Cameron more flexibility with next season’s fixture scheduling. Teams are able to nominate one free-Saturday during the season where they have no fixture and where any National Division side opts to do this, there will still be a league fixture for the remaining eight teams. A further sign of the progress made at Cannich sees Strathglass also reintroduce their second team in Marine Harvest North Division 2 following increased activity at youth level over the last couple of years. This will be the first time since the 2013 shinty season that the Strathglass seconds have featured in the league. They finished eighth in a ten team league that year. However, perhaps significantly, they were docked three points for being unable to raise a team for three of their league fixtures. |