Two familiar faces will not be in Newtonmore Camananchd line up this season
Whilst the Sloss brothers have been welcome additions to the ‘More squad this season, the Eilan side will also be without some familiar faces in 2025.
Martin Hall has retired whilst Iain Richardson is another who will not be available this year.
Manager Peter Ross said: “Martin Hall was a terrific youth player, and he played for me when I was manager at Strathspey.
“I brought him back into the Newtonmore second team when shinty returned after Covid and it wasn’t long before he forced himself into the first team.
“Big Iain Richardson is building an extension at his house, so he’ll probably take the season out.
“He’s a good player and we’ll miss him too.”
The final round of pre-season friendlies takes place on Saturday when Newtonmore first team welcome their Skye Camanachd counterparts to The Elian.
‘More have the opportunity to see their cup opponents first hand as they also have a trip to Portree to play the Islanders in the opening round of the newly named W D Donald MacTavish Cup, and Ross reckons the draw could have been kinder to the competition’s record winners.
He said: “That’s a really hard tie and not one we would have wanted.
“Everyone knows how strong Skye are on their home pitch and they have caused us problems in recent seasons.
“The game comes early and adds to what is already a tough start to the season.”
Skye boss Willie MacDonald remarked: “In recent times, this fixture has been close but with their new management team led by Peter Ross in place, and both Daniel Sloss and Matthew Sloss signing, they’ll be a different team.”