Kingussie clinched one of the most keenly contested top division title races in years when they beat Kyles Athletic at Mossfield, Oban to win the Scottish Hydro Premier Division championship on Saturday 5 December 2009.
The Scottish Hydro Premier Division match was originally scheduled for Tighnabruaich, however the pitch was deemed unplayable. Dunoon was investigated as an alternative venue but it had been booked by the local football club so the match went ahead at Oban Camanachd’s Mossfield Park. Kingussie needed a win to ensure first team manager Jimmy Gow’s tenure ended on a high. Any other outcome would have left Newtonmore as champions. Kingussie had not played since they beat Newtonmore on 7 October 2009 and they were without the suspended Ally MacLeod in defence. Kyles came into the game on the back of a 5-2 win over Bute. If there were any Kingussie nerves then they were settled after just 12 minutes when Ronald Ross found the back of the net to give his side the lead. Kyles had no real answer to Ross and the Kingussie talisman took advantage of the wide open spaces on the Mossfield pitch to rack up 4 first half goals to give the King’s an unassailable 4-0 interval lead. He scored his second on 33 minutes and completed his hat-trick 2 minutes later. Ross notched his fourth on the stroke of half time to ensure Kingussie had one hand firmly on the championship. The goals dried up in the second period with Kingussie knowing that the game was won and Kyles showing nothing like the form which saw them beat the Badenoch men on 2 occasions earlier in the season. Ryan Borthwick made it 5-0 on 78 minutes and although David Martin’s goal in the last minute was a quality strike, it was little more than a consolation for Kyles. A delighted Kingussie celebrated their success and avoided ending the season trophy-less. It’s to Newtonmore’s credit that they ran them so close and losing 3 out of 4 points in the head to head battles between the team’s made ‘More’s task all the more difficult.
Inveraray and Bute were due to play at the Winterton however the pitch was deemed unplayable on the Friday evening and the game was switched to Strachur. Bute need to win to keep their top flight status hopes alive and they did that with an impressive 5-2 win. Garry MacPherson gave Inveraray the lead with a goal in the first minute. However 2 goals in 2 minutes from Hector Whitelaw after 20 and 22 minutes put Bute ahead. Robert Walker made it 3-1 after 21 minutes to give the Islanders a 2 goal half time lead. John MacCallum made it 4-1 after 69 minutes to leave Bute half way to achieving an unlikely relegation escape. They now need to beat Oban Camanachd at Mossfield next weekend to relegate Lochaber. Any other result will mean that Bute go down.