Kingussie aiming to make it four Macaulay Cup wins in a row
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Kingussie can take another step closer to a second consecutive Grand Slam when they meet Oban Camanachd in the Artemis Macaulay Cup final at Mossfield, Oban on Saturday.
The Red and Blues are bidding for a fourth successive Macaulay success after taking the trophy in 2022, 2021 and 2019, and they are record winners having lifted the cup on no fewer than 28 occasions.
With Fraser Munro and Roddy Young already out, Kingussie have no new injury concerns and boss Iain Borthwick said: “We’ll basically have the same squad as last week.
"Lee Bain got a good 60-odd minutes in without any problems and Calum Grant played the second half at full centre, so he got a good run out too.
“It looks as if this week has come too quickly for Tuck (Thomas Borthwick) though."
He feels good enough to try training this week and once he has couple of sessions under his belt, he should hopefully be able to get some game time.
“The boys will be pushed both mentally and physically this week and should be in the right frame of mind come the final.”
Oban Camanachd boss Gareth Evans said: “The Macaulay Cup has always been an important competition to Oban Camanachd and was a target for us at the start of the season.
“Kingussie are Grand Slam winners, and they are a top team, but they are there to be got at and if we play like we did last Saturday, then we have a chance.
“The way our centre line is playing at the moment is a big plus for us, especially on the bigger pitches.”
Ross Macmillan is ineligible for the Oban side having played just 15 minutes for Inveraray earlier in the competition so Evan MacLellan will come back into the squad.
Evans will watch the final from the stand as he serves the final game of his three-game suspension from the touchline.
The competition is run by the Macaulay Association and brings together the top eight teams from the north and top eight from the south in a separate knock-out format and thus is the only shinty competition to guarantee final between a north and south team.
Newtonmore were the trophy’s inaugural winners back in 1947, when they beat Ballachulish 4-1 in the final.
This is a repeat of last year’s final which Kingussie won 3-2.
Throw up is at 2.05pm and will be broadcast live on BBC ALBA.
Willie MacDonald from Fort William referees the final for the first time.
Meantime, four Kingussie stalwarts are getting on their bikes to cycle to Oban to cheer their side on.
Russell Jones, John Gibson, Andrew Dunn and Scott McIntyre, the latter who is Kingussie captain James Falconer’s uncle, have fulfilled a number of roles within the club and they all set off from Kingussie at the crack of dawn on
Friday with the aim of reaching Taynuilt that same evening where they will replenish their liquid levels before making for Mossfield on Saturday morning for the final.
