Striker Glen MacKintosh believes Norman MacArthur will be a hard act to follow after the outgoing Newtonmore manager celebrated winning the title in his final match on Saturday, writes Kenneth Stephen.
Newtonmore needed a point to secure their third successive championship but got two points with a 2-0 win over Glenurquhart in Drumnadrochit. Danny MacRae and Chris Sellar got the vital counters on an emotional day in which 'More were crowned champions and MacArthur stepped aside as manager.
MacKintosh reckons whoever takes over will be following a club legend. He said: "He has done a great job – he will be a hard act to follow.
MacArthur will retain a position on the club committee, with officials likely to name a new manager shortly.
n The Scots Camanachd won the round-robin tournament at the inauguaral London Shinty Festival at the weekend, writes Neil Drysdale.
In what was the Highland sport's first event to feature two English-based sides – London Camanachd and Cornwall – in the capital for more than 70 years, the Scots had to work hard to beat their London opponents 2-1, but they followed that with a 5-0 victory over Cornwall in the six-a-side matches.
However, the Truro-based ensemble fared better when they joined forces with the Scots in a 12-a-side fixture in the afternoon, which finished in a 3-3 draw. The hosts scored through Graham Love, Annan Birkett and Alan MacDonald, but Matt Mossop was in excellent form for the mixed team to ensure they finished with honours even.
athletics
Dundee's Eilish McColgan rounded off a fine season with another personal best at the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, writes Lorin McDougall.
The Olympic steeplechaser bounced back from two below-par runs in Italy and Newcastle to finish ninth in 4min 29.7sec. California's Brenda Martinez won in a time of 4:24.2 with Britain's Hannah England third and US world 1500m champion Jenny Simpson just behind McColgan in 10th. "I felt so much better today but wish I hadn't left it all to the last 400m," said the Scot. "New York has been an amazing experience."
basketball
Glasgow Rocks player-coach Sterling Davis believes Gareth Murray can finally become his chief talisman after guiding their side to their first win of the new British Basketball League season last night, writes Mark Woods.
Murray grabbed 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Scots crushed Durham Wildcats 92-82 to get off the mark at the second attempt. It was a much-improved showing from Friday's loss at Newcastle and Davis believes the performance of the Scotland captain signals a new-found maturity.
"We've been asking Gareth to be a leader for the last couple of years but it looks like he's ready now to make that next step," said the American. "He was great here and we want him to set that example every night this season. Now he looks like he believes he can do it, and that he deserves to be that guy."
Davis will now turn his attention to reinforcing his squad further during the two-week break before the Rocks' opening tie at their new Commonwealth Arena home. He will hold further talks this week with representatives of the Great Britain internationalist Kieron Achara but other names are in the frame.
curling
Scotland's world silver medallists Eve Muirhead and Tom Brewster failed to reach the Oslo Cup quarter-finals after both underperformed at the Snaroya Arena, writes Lorin McDougall.
Muirhead trounced Finland's Sanna Puustinen 8-1 in her final Group D match but then lost 5-4 in the play-offs to Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa, who had also beaten her in the round robin earlier in the day. A triple at the fourth end gave Fujisawa a 5-1 lead, and although Muirhead kept battling, she could not repair the damage.
Brewster conceded four stones at the penultimate end to lose his final pool match 8-4 to Sweden's Oskar Eriksson. That left the Aberdeen skip bottom of Group B with just one win out of four.
Eve's brother Glen bowed out in the play-offs to Latvia's Ritvars Gulbis, whom he had beaten earlier on, while Kyle Smith also missed out on a quarter-final spot after losing his last pool match to Dane Torkil Svendsgaard.
cycling
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke was the leading Briton in the men's road race at the UCI World Championships in the Netherlands yesterday, writes Colin Renton.
However, the newly crowned Tour of Britain champion had to settle for 19th place behind the Belgian Philippe Gilbert, who powered clear of the field on the final climb of the gruelling 269 kilometre event. The 30-year-old had time to celebrate as he crossed the line four seconds clear of Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen and the Spaniard Alejandro Valverde.
Britain's big-name riders were never in contention, with defending champion Mark Cavendish doing much of the early work before pulling out with 100km to race, while Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome had already abandoned by that stage.
Marianne Vos delivered victory for the host nation when she dominated Saturday's women's race over 129km, crossing the line 10 seconds ahead of Rachel Neylan (Australia), with Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) a further eight seconds down. Emma Pooley was leading Briton in 15th place.
British riders ended the week with two gold medals after Elinor Barker won the junior women's time trial and Lucy Garner successfully defended the junior women's road race title.
hockey
A hat-trick by Holly Cram was the catalyst in Western's 3-0 victory over Edinburgh University yesterday, a result that ensures the Titwood side qualify for the final of the Peregrines Cup against Grove Menzieshill in two weeks' time, writes Craig Madden.
Western struggled to find any real rhythm in the first half which finished goalless, but the arrival of former Scotland player Helen Walker to the midfield brought a sense of purpose to the home side.
Within three minutes of the restart Jenny Hendry created an opening up the right, her pass found Cram who unleashed a fierce reverse stick shot past the goalkeeper.
Cram squeezed the ball home at the near post for the second after latching on to a square pass from Fiona Bruce. Cram's third came from a reverse stick shot that flashed into the net after the goalkeeper had saved the initial shot.
Grove struggled to make their presence felt at Auchenhowie against a revitalised Western Wildcats side and only took the crucial three points after a penalty corner strike by Louise Carroll in the second half.
On Saturday, Grove put in a powerful performance to see off challengers Glynhill Kelburne 6-0, Sarah Jamieson (2), Dani Johnstone, Kat Cameron scored in the first half and Louise Carroll notched a further two from set pieces after the interval.
Wanderers finished off their campaign with a nine-goal demolition of Giffnock, there were doubles here for Amy Rowan, Heather Elder and Ashley Bunce, a result that put them temporarily at the top of the pool.
n Gordon McIntrye has been forced to withdraw from the Scotland men's squad for the first round of the World League starting next week due to work commitments, his place is taken by Russell Anderson.
motor sport
Honda's Gordon Shedden won two of yesterday's three British Touring Car Championship races at Rockingham to snatch the lead in the drivers' standings from team-mate Matt Neal.
Shedden picked up victories in races two and three after KX Momentum Racing's Jason Plato had converted his pole position into victory in race one.
Scotland's Shedden also finished third in the opening race as he racked up a healthy points haul from his Rockingham weekend.
He now leads the way in the standings on 336 points, three ahead of team-mate Neal who twice finished second to Shedden after opening with a sixth in race one.
tennis
Laura Robson was thwarted in her bid to become Britain's first WTA Tour singles champion for 24 years in a dramatic final against Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Su-wei in the final of the Guangzhou International Open in China. The 18-year-old looked set to lose in straight sets but saved five match points then went 3-0 up in the decider only for world No.53 Hsieh to fight back and win 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
n Caroline Wozniacki earned her first WTA tour title of the season with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Estonia's Kaia Kanepi in the final of the Korea Open.
