KYLES Athletic will face Inveraray in the 112th final of the Gregor Cameron Consultancy Celtic Society Cup after their 2-1 semi-final win over Oban Camanachd at Mossfield.
Oban had been looking to banish the memory of last year’s final, which they lost 4-2 to Kyles, but despite another spirited performance the outcome was the same.
The clash of the South area’s two Premiership sides was as close as the scoreline suggests and left Oban manager Iain Hay with mixed thoughts.
“Obviously I’m disappointed to lose but I am encouraged that we are closing the gap between ourselves and Kyles,” he said.
“I honestly thought we were going to force the match into extra time but we just couldn’t snatch that goal back.”
Kyles deployed frontman Roddy MacDonald in a defensive role to curb the attacking menace of Oban’s Daniel Cameron and it was a tussle to savour.
Also well matched was the full-centre battle between Kyles’ Grant Irvine and Oban’s Lorne Dickie.
A Sandy MacKenzie strike in the 15th minute put Kyles ahead at the interval and midway through the second half, Innes MacDonald doubled their advantage.
Thirteen minutes from time, Conor Howe scrambled the ball home to set up a grandstand finish but Kyles held out to take their place in the final.
In the Marine Harvest Premiership, Kingussie and Skye played out an uninspiring 0-0 draw at the Dell, although Kingussie fans will take some comfort as it halts a recent run of catastrophic defeats which not only extinguished their interest in the three major knock-out cup competitions, but put their survival hopes in the league under pressure.
Skye probably shaded the first half on possession, although scoring opportunities were few and far between with Iain Nicholson (twice) and Jordan Murchison having their attempts on goal well saved by Kingussie keeper Craig Dawson.
The second half was played at the same low-key tempo but Skye keeper Jamie Gannon had to look sharp to deal with strikes from Thomas Borthwick and Savio Genini.
A share of the points will suit both sides, although Skye manager John MacLeod will have concerns about a lack of goals from his strikers after his team’s fifth draw from six league matches.
Champions Newtonmore were well on top as they crushed Glenurquhart 4-1 at Blairbeg Park to notch up their 11th win in succession in all competitions this season.
The victory was also their third over the Glen in 2016 and displayed More’s all-round capability.
While their forward line continue to score freely, they are also excellent defensively with just four goals conceded in the league and only six overall.
On Saturday, More wasted little time in asserting themselves and a goal in the 10th minute from top scorer Evan Menzies was followed three minutes later by a strike from teenager Iain Robinson.
The home side reached the interval with no further mishaps but four minutes after the restart Norman Campbell, playing only his second match since knee surgery, smashed home Newtonmore’s third.
Conor Golabeck struck late on for the Glen before Glen MacKintosh completed the scoring with a goal in the final minute.
With a potentially tricky league match safely negotiated, More manager Paul John MacKintosh can now turn his attention to Saturday’s RBS MacTavish Cup final where his side are bidding for their 40th triumph in the competition.
Final opponents Lochaber were also in fine form as they overcame Lovat 4-2 at Spean Bridge to register their first league win of the season and haul themselves out of the bottom two.
Meanwhile, Kinlochshiel consolidated their place at the top with a 3-0 victory over bottom club Fort William.
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