Oban Camanachd and holders Glasgow Mid Argyll contest shinty’s oldest trophy in the Scottish Sea Farms Glasgow Celtic Society Challenge Cup final at Peterson Park on Saturday.
First played for in 1879, the trophy features the name of both the winning team and winning captain, including current Oban Camanachd boss Gareth Evans who skippered the side to success in 2005.
He said “We have a young squad this year and with the exception of Scott Mckillop, Daniel Cameron, Malcolm Clark and Daniel Madej, the others are all aged under 25.
“This means this group can go on and dominate this competition for the next four or five years.
“We think we are the top side in the south but I’m sure GMA will have something to say about that.
“Our expectations are that Celtic Society Cup success is a minimum requirement each season.”
Evans is without captain Daniel Sloss who has a broken finger, suffered against GMA at the same venue in a league match earlier this month, while fellow defender Louie McFarlane has a suspected fractured foot.”
Evans added: “Both Daniel and Louie will be part of our matchday squad regardless as we are allowed to name five substitutes but can only use three.”
MacRae accepts role of underdogs
Glasgow Mid Argyll have home advantage and manager Alan MacRae, twice a MacTavish Cup winner as Lovat manager, led the side to last year’s success.
He said: “It’s a big ask to defeat an Oban side who have comprehensively beaten us in our last few games and are an experienced, well drilled team, capable of beating anyone on their day.
“For us to have a chance, we will have to play at our very best and a bit more.
“We’ll also need a little bit of luck thrown in too, but we’ll work hard and look to play to our strengths, and, with a little belief, you just never know.”
GMA’s Calum McLay missed last year’s final but plays this time around.
Ewen Fraser has re-joined the club after a spell working in Ireland whilst Ruairidh Ralston, Matthew Young, Jamie Macleod, Rory McDermid and Cailean Macleod are all newcomers to the squad.
Meet Glasgow Mid Argyll one of our finalists on Saturday, cup specialists this year? #shinty #ScottishSeaFarms pic.twitter.com/wTz21Ycytn
— GlasgowCelticSociety (@GlasgowCelticSo) June 21, 2023
Both north Artemis Macaulay Cup quarter-finals take place on Saturday with Kinlochshiel welcoming Lovat.
Scotland forward John MacRae has yet to play for Shiel this season as he recovers from a back injury.
Manager Willie MacRae said: “John has been quietly doing a bit of training in the background and he has been striking the ball without any problems, so he’ll play 15-20 minutes for our second team at Beauly on Saturday which is great news.”
Lovat boss Jamie Matheson is getting near to a fully fit squad.
He said: “Drew Howie is still recovering from his dislocated shoulder and is hoping to be back in a few weeks but, other than that, we are ready to go.”
Familiar foes meet again
The other tie is the fourth Badenoch derby of the season between Newtonmore and Kingussie which takes place at the Eilan.
While Kingussie won the first two encounters, Newtonmore will take encouragement from the recent draw between the sides.
More are without Craig Macleod who injured his shoulder playing football but are hopeful that Michael Russell can return.
Co-manager Norman MacArthur said: “It’s a make-or-break game for us.
“The recent defeat to Lovat in the league was disappointing and leaves us needing favours from others.
“We’ve not been able to field the same side that drew with Kingussie since, but we’ll try to repeat the good things we did that day.”
Alexander Michie, Fraser Munro, Lee Bain, Savio Genini and Cameron Bremner all return for Kingussie after missing last week’s win over Beauly but Roddy Young is out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury.
Boss Iain Borthwick said: “Any game against Newtonmore is a big game but when you add in that it’s the Macaulay quarter-finals, then it is huge.”
Promotion hopefuls Glenurquhart and Fort William both have the chance to climb the Mowi National Division when they meet at Blairbeg.
The division’s bottom two sides, Strathglass and Oban Celtic, clash in a relegation battle at Cannich.
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