THE 2017 Marine Harvest Premiership title race is developing into one of the least predictable since the sport first embraced a national set-up in 1996.
As the league programme reaches the halfway point, three teams – Kyles Athletic, Kinlochshiel and defending champions Newtonmore – are in contention for the title while the relegation battle is also heading for a nailbiting conclusion.
Two teams will go down at the end of season from the 10-team Premiership and currently Lochaber, Kilmallie and Glasgow Mid Argyll are in danger with Glenurquhart’s position, three points above the bottom three, anything but secure.
Kyles and Kinlochshiel are both attempting to become only the fourth club to win the Premiership, with only Fort William in 2006 the sole team able to break the dominance of Kingussie and Newtonmore, who have won 19 titles between them.
For Shiel manager Johnson Gill, whose side won 2-1 at home to Lovat on Saturday, the dream of winning the Premiership is very much alive with his side trailing leaders Kyles by only two points.
“It is steady as she goes as far as we are concerned,” he said. “I think every game will be tough but at least our destiny is in our own hands.
“We have come through a difficult time with injury and suspension and we are still in contention.
“Thankfully we are slowly getting back to fielding our strongest line-up.
“At the start of the season, we went six games unbeaten and then started losing players. On Saturday, we were still short of five first-choice players so the result against Lovat was very pleasing.”
Shiel’s long absentee list has affected their progress in the cups rather than in the league campaign with the Wester Ross side out of all of the knock-out competitions at a relatively early stage.
But Gill, ever the optimist, can see positives where others might see failure.
“It was disappointing at the time but what it means now is that we are free to concentrate fully on trying to win the league,” he said. “Also, I have had to bring in younger players much earlier than I would have liked.
“Lads like Duncan Matheson, Duncan MacRae and Johnny MacAskill have been dropped in at the deep end and have done really well and have gained some great experience .
On Saturday Gill’s onfield commander Finlay MacRae and his brother John were at a family wedding while Jordan Fraser, Oliver MacRae and Gordie MacDonald were sidelined through injury.
However, in a highly entertaining 2-1 victory, goals from Fraser MacVicar and Keith MacRae put Shiel in command at the interval.
Ryan Ferguson’s goal for Lovat at the start of the second half had Shiel on the defensive but they regrouped and held out for a deserved win.
In Glasgow, Kyles also picked up both points with a 2-1 win over Mid Argyll.
All the goals came in the first half with the Whyte brothers, Gordon and Thomas, on target for Kyles and Finlay MacMillan responding for the home side.
Newtonmore, who are six points behind Kyles, kept up their pursuit of an eighth successive title with a 2-0 home win over Glenurquhart while Oban Camanachd consolidated their mid-table placing with a 3-0 win over Lochaber at Spean Bridge.
In other matches, the finalists in the intermediate and junior knock-out competitions were decided with Fort William through to meet Caberfeidh in the Balliemore Cup final while at the sport’s junior level Kingussie will face Lochside Rovers in the final of the Aberdein Considine Sutherland Cup.
Fort William overcame Inveraray 3--1 to reach their first Balliemore Cup final while Kingussie ended Newtonmore’s bid for a three-in-a-row run of Sutherland Cup triumphs when they won a memorable game at the Dell 6-4.
Oban’s Lochside Rovers surged into the final by beating Glenurquhart 5-0 at the Jubilee Park in Ballachulish.
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