Kinlochshiel will face Kyles Athletic in the final of the Artemis MacAulay Cup after they each came through hard-fought semi-finals.
The pair will meet at Oban’s Mossfield Stadium on August 18, with Shiel,winners in 2016, making their second appearance in the final while Kyles, the holders, will be aiming to put their name on the trophy for a 13th time.
Beauly’s Braeview Park was the setting for the Lovat versus Kinlochshiel clash. The weather was almost perfect while the pitch was in excellent condition despite weeks of dry weather and almost constant sunshine.
For Kinlochshiel talisman Finlay MacRae, the 1-0 victory over Lovat produced a sense of relief and elation in equal measure. He said: “The match was extremely close and we are delighted to be in the final. Credit to Lovat, they never gave up and were always dangerous on the break.
“Greg Matheson’s strike, which our keeper Scott Kennedy somehow deflected on to the post could easily have gone in. You could say it was a lucky break but we have been a bit short on luck recently.”
Lovat were contesting a fifth successive semi-final in the competition but had lost each of the previous four.
Manager Fraser Gallagher named more or less his strongest line- up, with defender Drew Howie back in the squad after three-month injury lay-off.
For Kinlochshiel, top scorer Keith MacRae was again sidelined with a knee injury while WD MacRae was unavailable. Veteran defender Paul MacRae slotted in at full-back, allowing Finlay MacRae to play in the pivotal full-centre role. Shiel started brightly with a number of dangerous attacks but Lovat’s defence proved up to the task. The game settled into an absorbing contest but with clear-cut chances few and far between.
With 64 minutes gone, MacRae found Jordan Fraser in space with a long diagonal pass. Fraser sprinted across the field before hitting a low shot from 25 yards which caught out Lovat keeper Stuart MacDonald, beating him at his left-hand post.
The Shiel defence survived a tense final quarter as Lovat mounted a strong fightback. Finlay MacRae won the man of the match award for a dominant display in the Shiel midfield.
Kyles won through in the south area section by beating Oban Camanachd 2-1 at Mossfield. In a close battle, Sandy MacKenzie scored in each half for Kyles, with a Lorne Dickie strike just after the interval keeping Oban in contention. Kyles’s George Thompson picked up the man of the match award.
Meanwhile, Newtonmore continued their impressive run as they chalked up their 10th consecutive victory with a 5-1 win over Skye in the Marine Harvest Premiership at Portree.
The result was never in doubt as the Badenoch side hit top form with a powerful first-half performance that saw them lead 5-0 at the break. The goals came from Glen MacKintosh, Michael Russell (2), Ewan Fraser and Evan Menzies. John Gillies struck a late consolation for the home side, who dropped to bottom of the table.
Also in trouble are Glenurquhart who conceded in injury time to lose 2-1 to Lochaber at Spean Bridge. Stuart Callison hit his second goal of the game in the final minute to move his side six points clear of the relegation zone.
At Strathpeffer, Caberfeidh and Kingussie shared the points, with the final score deadlocked at 3-3.
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