The Shinty Preview – Saturday 11 September 2010. | |
10 September 2010 The Strathdearn Cup Final and the race for the Scottish Hydro Premier Division title and Marine Harvest North Division 1 are the main events on Saturday 11 September 2010. The Strathdearn Cup Final between Glenurquhart and Lovat takes place at Braeview Park, Beauly. Lovat came out on top when the sides played in the Aberdein Sutherland Cup after withstanding sustained Glenurquhart pressure in the first half. Throw up is at 4pm and Evan MacRae is the match referee. The battle for the Scottish Hydro Premier Division title looks like it will go down to the wire. Newtonmore play their penultimate league fixture when they travel to the Winterton to play Inveraray. Only ‘More’s title rivals Fort William have beaten Inveraray on their home patch this season and this will be a stiff test for Norman MacArthur’s side before they meet Fort William at An Aird in what could well become a winner takes all final day show down. Fort William are also on their travels as they visit Mossfield to play relegation threatened Oban Camanachd. The Fort may be tempted to include speedy forward Bryan Simpson – after injury - for part of the game to assess his chances of taking part in next weekend’s Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup Final. A Fort William win coupled with a Bute victory over Glenurquhart will see the Oban Side relegated. This match throws up at 5pm. There is also a crucial match at Blairbeg where Glenurquhart play Bute. A home win will confirm the Glen’s top flight spot next season. The Glen players and officials have been working to get their pitch ready for shinty action again after the recent Highland Games. Kingussie’s defeat to Newtonmore last weekend looks to have put paid to the champions’ title chances and their focus will now be on next weekend’s Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup Final. Before then they play Lovat at Balgate and it will be interesting to see whether manager Stevie Borthwick rests some of his star players or whether he plays them to get last week’s defeat against Newtonmore out of their system. Lee Bain is missing for Kingussie but Ronald Ross should return after his threat of suspension next weekend has passed. This match throws up at the earlier time of 1pm to allow the Lovat players to watch their junior side in the Strathdearn Cup Final at near-by Beauly. Marine Harvest North Division 1 leaders Lochaber are at home to bottom side Strathglass. The sides met at Cannich last weekend with Michael Delaney’s side running out 2-1 winners thanks to a Shaun Nicolson double. Anything short of a win for Strathglass will see them finish bottom of the table. However it is not yet clear if the bottom side will face relegation. Marine Harvest North Division 2 is likely to be won by either Glengarry or Glenurquhart and neither have confirmed if they wish to be promoted. Even if one of the sides did make the step up, the Camanachd Association may opt to increase Marine Harvest North Division 1 to a 10 team league or even keep it at 9 teams if a north club is not relegated from the Scottish Hydro Premier Division. . Kilmallie sit just a single point behind the leaders and they play Beauly at Canal Parks. The sides met at Braeview Park last week with Scottish international John Stewart bagging a hat-trick for the second successive weekend. Kilmallie should be too strong this weekend too. There should be a close match in Portree where Skye Camanachd welcome Caberfeidh. Skye manager Aonghas MacDonald will keep faith with the youngsters who have shown so much promise in recent weeks but he is boosted by the return of his brother Gilleasbuig MacDonald to the starting line up. The sides drew 2-2 at Castle Leod earlier in the season and Cabers won 1-0 in Portree last season whilst the Islanders won by the same score in Strathpeffer. There is a west coast derby at Kirkton where Kinlochshiel play Lochcarron. The pair drew 3-3 at Battery Park last month when Lochcarron recovered after trailing 3-1. The outcome from this one could go a long way towards deciding who finishes third in the table this season. There is one match in Marine Harvest South Division 1 as Kilmory host Taynuilt in both sides final games of the season. In Marine Harvest North Division 2, Kilmallie meet Kingussie at Canal Parks. This game throws up at the earlier time of 12 noon. Kilmallie need to win to prevent relegation whilst a home victory would see Beauly return to Marine Harvest North Division 3 after just one season. Lochaber can take the Marine Harvest North Division 3 title race to a play-off if they beat Boleskine at Spean Bridge. Billy Wotherspoon warms up for the Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup Final by refereeing this one. Third place Caberfeidh play fourth place Lochbroom at Castle Leod. |