Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

SHINTY SPOTLIGHT: 10 questions for Newtonmore full-back Rory Kennedy

Newtonmore's Rory Kennedy, right, in action against Kingussie.
Newtonmore's Rory Kennedy, right, in action against Kingussie.

Newtonmore full-back Rory Kennedy gladly went under our Shinty Spotlight this week.

The 30-year-old reveals the highs and lows he’s experienced in the sport over his 14 years at the Premiership club.

What is your earliest shinty memory?

We used to go to our primary school on Monday nights and John Russell and Kenneth Mackintosh, two legends in the game, used to take us for training.

They made it such a great environment for us to start playing the game. Plenty of guys came through under their guidance over the years, that’s for sure.

Who was senior debut against and what was the result?

It was against Oban Camanachd at The Eilan.

The first team were short that day because David Cheyne was getting married and I played for the second team just before and, because they were short, I got a game for the first team as well. I think we won 2-1.

What is your best moment in shinty so far?

It was definitely being the Camanachd Cup-winning captain in 2017. That is the peak of shinty.

It was at the Bught against Lovat and we won 3-2.

We were struggling with injuries and with player numbers and went into the final maybe as the underdogs, which made the win all the sweeter.

Rory Kennedy, who captained Newtonmore to victory in the 2017 Camanachd Cup final.

And the worst?

My worst moment was probably the same year in the Macaulay Cup final. I was injured the week before and couldn’t play.

I was the captain and we got a bit of a battering as Kyles won 7-4.

It was a tough watch from the sidelines, not being able to help.

What is the worst injury you have suffered?

I broke my hand and one of my fingers in the 2013 Scottish Cup semi-final.

That put me out for more than a year and I had three operations on it.

Who is the joker in the team?

It would be between Steven MacDonald and Conor Jones – they’re always up to something.

What is your favourite away ground?

The Dell in Kingussie. The surface alone is absolutely fantastic.

With all the work that has been done there, it really is a great venue for shinty.

Who is the rival player you would have loved in your team and why?

Blair Morrison from Caberfeidh.

He is a top, top player and has got everything you need in the modern game.

What is the favourite goal scored by you or a team-mate?

I’ve not scored many in my career, so my favourite goal was scored by Glen Mackintosh up at Kinlochshiel one day.

The ball was played out from defence, he took a touch around his marker, spun round the opposite way and took it around the goalkeeper before slotting it away.

It was an amazing goal, but it also took us 4-1 up, I think, and topped off a complete performance.

Describe the sport in three words?

Committed, fast and respectful.

Conversation