In a quirk of the fixture list brought about by the great Scottish summer, Newtonmore must return today to the scene of their most chastening experience of the season against the opponents who inflicted it as they bid to keep their slim chance of retaining their Marine Harvest Premiership title alive.
In spite of their forward Glen Mackintosh registering a hat-trick the champions of the past seven years were ultimately thrashed 7-4 in last month’s final of the Macaulay Cup at Oban’s Mossfield park and as a result of flooding to the home ground of Kyles Athletic, who beat them that day, their Premiership clash has now been moved up the west coast from Tighnabruich.
It would now take an extraordinary sequence of results for Newtonmore to hold onto the title and they have indicated that their main focus is now on their defence of the prestigious Camanachd Cup in which they meet Lovat in the final in a fortnight’s time.
After their defeat at Lovat last Saturday Kyles can meanwhile afford no further slip-up ahead of their likely title decider next weekend with Kinlochshiel whose draw with Newtonmore on the same day edged them to the top of the table with three matches remaining.
Kinlochshiel will meanwhile be expected to win today, guaranteeing them the advantage going into that meeting with Kyles, albeit they face potentially dangerous opponents in Glenurquhart who, in seventh place, are not yet safe from relegation and are playing the last match of their campaign.
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