It may be early days but this season's Premiership is shaping up to be the most unpredictable.
Although last year's championship was not settled until the last game of the season, when Newtonmore squeezed past long-term leaders Kyles Athletic, the majority of sides had already lost interest, focused on their own struggles to avoid relegation.
This year is different. For one thing champions Newtonmore have had a shakier start than many predicted. Having lost 3-1 at home on the opening Saturday to last season's strugglers Lovat, they have also dropped points to Kyles, but what really concerns manager Norman MacArthur is that his normally reliable defence has been leaking goals.
"Last season throughout the whole campaign we only let in 14 goals; already this year we have lost 12 and we haven't played Fort William or Kingussie, two sides we have found it hard to keep out in the past."
The opening day defeat was a wake-up call, he concedes. "We did not have much in the way of pre-season warm-up games and got caught by three quick goals from Lovat youngster Greg Matheson. We were lucky it was the first game of the season; there's time to put things right but the guys know now, if they did not before, that they have to be at their best if they are to retain the title."
Newtonmore's defensive fragility is echoed along the road in Kingussie where the team who have dominated for decades have lost three of their opening six league matches. The recent return of Ronald Ross will be a boost, but manager Russell Jones will be hoping his record-breaking striker will avoid further injury if his side are to mount a credible challenge.
While last year's runners up Kyles Athletic have been unable to profit from their rivals' shaky starts, newly-promoted Kinlochshiel could prove the surprise package. Having already taken points from Kingussie and Kyles, Kinlochshiel have in internationalist Finlay MacRae arguably the best talent in the division.
MacArthur agrees that if manager Johnston Gill can conjure consistency out of a side still finding their feet at the top level then Kinlochshiel can pose a serious threat. "To win any league you have to be consistent and that's what we aim to do but what's different is that no club looks out of place in the top division this year. All the sides are capable of winning points off each other. If we want to keep our name on the trophy, we can't afford any more slip-ups."
Fort William lost their first match of the season when they went down 4-2 at home to struggling Glenurquhart in an Orion Group Premiership game at the Black Parks. Glen manager Drew MacNeil, sacked by Fort William two seasons ago, returned to haunt his old club as he guided his new charges to their best performance of the season.
Newtonmore remain top after a 4-0 home win over Inveraray and results elsewhere mean they have extended their lead to three points. Bute were reduced to 10 players after goalkeeper Kevin Queen and midfielder James Craig were both red carded leaving visitors Kingussie to stroll to a 2-0 victory.
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