Once again it resulted in the less than exciting prospect of a live televised match being played in front of acres of green space and a crowd that could be numbered in tens.

The match was in direct contrast to the previous week's MacTavish thriller played out in front of a large and vociferous crowd by two teams at the top of their game – Newtonmore and Kingussie.

In the new look format, Premier League champions, Kingussie, faced Camanachd Cup holders Fort William in a semi-final played in two 15-minute halves.

Glenurquhart, standing in for Newtonmore, took on the Macaulay and Glasgow Celtic Society Cup winners, Inveraray, in the other semi-final.

Glenurquhart progressed 1-0 on penalties while a Kevin Thain goal was enough to beat the Fort.

In the end, the final of the Clash of the Camans was a largely aimless drudgery played by two makeshift sides with little motivation for a trophy that looked as though it might have been made by a year two woodwork student.

Certainly, Glenurquhart were delighted to have become the trophy's first winners, and even more pleased to have beaten Kingussie 2-0 in the final to do so.

But the sides were short of regular players, with the most notable absence being Ronald Ross.

Glenurquhart scored once in each half, through Neil Reid and Billy Urquhart.

Kingussie did force a handful of saves out of MacLeod in the Glen goal in a period of pressure mid way through the second half, but this was in no sense an advertisement for shinty and simply did not work.

In the other matches played on the day, Skye Camanachd won through in their junior semi-final, beating Lochside Rovers 3-0 thanks to a double from Ali MacLennan and one from Alan Palmer, whilet Fort William beat Kilmallie by the same margin.

Two from Victor Smith and one from Daniel Stewart did the damage.

In the junior final – certainly the best of the afternoon's games – Skye won through narrowly 3-2 against Fort William. One from Sorley MacDonald and a double from Dugald Rankin were enough to counter goals from Josh McGhee and Victor Smith.

In the ladies match, this year's cup finalists Glengarry and Tir Conaill Harps fought out a dress rehearsal with Glengarry running out 2-1 winners.

DAVE FALLOWS was left unimpressed by Clash of the Camans Opinion Dave Fallows WHEN THE format for the Clash of the Camans was conceived, Newtonmore, as runners-up in the Macaulay, were invited to take part, but declined, feeling that they did not need this game in the middle of the season.

In the end, the lack of commitment from regular players in all the participating teams demonstrates that 'More were not alone in that view.

Quite how this problem is going to be solved is the $64,000 question. Many formats have been tried; all have dismally failed. Perhaps it is time to lay the whole idea to rest.

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