PICTURES: Kingussie boss Iain Borthwick pays tribute to his treble winners
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Kingussie boss Iain Borthwick has paid tribute to his players after clinching the Mowi Premiership title for the third successive time at the weekend.
The result was never in doubt as the Red and Blues defeated Skye Camanachd 4-0 at the Dell.
The victory confirmed the Red and Blues as champions for the third successive time, with triumphs in 2019, 2022 and now 2023
The Mowi Premiership trophy now joins the Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup and the cottages.com MacTavish Cup in the Kingussie boardroom.
Reflecting on a good afternoon’s work from his side, manager Iain Borthwick, in his first season in charge, paid tribute to the pool of players he used over the season.
He said: “We finally have the two points we needed to win the league which is a big achievement, and everyone has worked hard.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries but the boys who’ve come in have done really well. It certainly pays off to have such a big squad, and we are so lucky to have that, especially in the league.
“We started really well against Skye and moved the ball really well. We got the first goal we wanted but it got a bit scrappy after that.
“We began the second half with all guns blazing, and I’m really pleased with them all.
“It has been a long season for the boys and credit to them, not just for the league but for winning the treble.
“They can enjoy tonight but not too much as we still have a game against Newtonmore on Saturday, so we need to get our focus back for that.
“We can enjoy lifting the league trophy after the Newtonmore game and getting that one more win would make it all the sweeter.”
Ruaridh Anderson scored the only goal of the first half on 14 minutes as the Kings laid siege on the Skye goal from the throw-up on Saturday.
The islanders resisted best they could until five minutes into the second half when Anderson scored again to make it 2-0.
James Falconer on 66 minutes and substitute Eoin Baikie with 15 minutes remaining made the final scored 4-0.
It was a last match in charge for Skye boss Kenny MacLeod who said: “It was pretty one-sided to be honest and we didn’t test Bob McGregor in their goal at all even although we had chances to.
“The lack of training since our last match, which was four weeks ago, was evident from the start. Our sharpness was gone and our stickwork was rusty.
“We made Kingussie work for their goals and a couple of them were brilliant finishes.
“Our best players were in defence. John Gillies and James Morrison played well along with young Seonaidh Macleod who put in another great performance.”
The match also brought the curtain down on Deek Cameron’s 15-year tenure as one of shinty’s outstanding referees.
Kingussie complete their season on Saturday with what is always one of the biggest games of the shinty season as they welcome neighbours Newtonmore to the Dell.
It is also ‘More’s final match and the sides will also contest the Sir Tommy MacPherson Cup.
Newtonmore have only played once since the end of August, a 3-1 victory at Glasgow Mid Argyll at the end of September, whilst Kingussie have played six times over that period, winning all but one of these games.
Calum Grant misses out again for Kingussie, but Thomas Borthwick should return.
Newtonmore captain Conor Jones missed the GMA win through suspension but is now free of that ban whilst keeper Kenny Ross should also be back.
A large crowd is expected for an encounter that rarely disappoints. Throw-up is at the earlier time of 1pm.
