THE ONE THAT YOU WANT

The premier league , or nowadays the Orion Premiership, title is the ultimate sign of season's best or most consistent team. It is a huge honour.

Ask most shinty players, though, whether they would rather a have a league title or a Camanachd Cup winners' medal - and I am willing to bet that most would go for the romance of shinty's most prized silverware...the cup.

DERBY DAY IN THE SUN

Seeing double - McMurdo x 2 in Inveraray's big derby win over Kinlochshiel - Photo: John MacTavish

The first official Orion Premiership Derby Day was blessed with fantastic sunny weather as dusty old rivalries were polished up for the new occasion.

HOT, HOT, HOT

Summer shinty?

Sunny weather on Bute last weekend - but it's only got hotter this week

It's been a long time coming, but it's here at last.

Anyone who has been a follower of my shinty-based mumblings since Shintyfan was started a couple of months back will know that I am obsessed by weather - bad, very bad, in-betweeny and (that rarest of occurences) dry, sunny weather.

CELTIC SET FOR ALL-ARGYLL FINAL

AJG Parcels Celtic Society Cup semi-finals 

Bute 3 - Inveraray 6
Aberdour 1 - Taynuilt 4

Bute's Brian Liddell clears under pressure from Chris Crawford

Next month’s AJG Parcels Celtic Cup final at Strachur will be contested by two Argyll teams after decisive victories in Saturday’s semi-finals.

You can see the key moments at Shintyfan's You Tube channel

Recent form suggested that Inveraray’s tussle with Bute would be a tight affair.


The two premier league sides had cancelled each other  out at the Winterton in a league match some weeks earlier, with a late Inveraray penalty only just splitting the teams in the end.

DERBY DAY...FOR SOME

Newtonmore Captain John MacKenzie (left) with Kingussie skipper Craig Dawson

This Saturday (May 26) sees the introduction of a new concept in shinty - Derby Day in the Orion Premiership.
The full list of fixtures is below:

KINGUSSIE V NEWTONMORE
BUTE V KYLES
KILMALLIE V FORT WILLIAM
LOVAT V GLENURQUHART
INVERARAY V KINLOCHSHIEL

Designed as an opportunity to promote the top tier of sport of shinty and the Orion Group, the May weekend of local ties will be followed by a second Derby Day in August, as the season moves into its final stages.

For further information on the Orion Group Premiership Derby Days, visit www.shinty.com or call the Camanachd Association direct on 01463 715931.

....Wait a minute.

Inveraray versus Kinlochshiel?

I've seen some pretty contrived local derbies arranged in the professional football leagues - but this is a pretty loose definition of a derby, by any measure. 

Trusty Google tells me that there are 140 road miles between these fierce local rivals.

Long-distance relationships rarely work, and I predict that this rivalry might not last beyond next weekend.

WILL CUP SEMIS DELIVER DRAMA?

Captains Robert Walker (Bute) and Scott Robertson of Inveraray have one hand on the Celtic Cup

After the shocks, thrills and spills of last weekend's MacAulay Cup ties, in which both of last year's finalists tumbled from the competition, what does this Saturday have in store?

Well, it's semi-final Saturday in shinty's oldest competition for a start - the Glasgow Celtic Society Cup, this year known as the AJG Parcels Celtic Cup.

And in the north, we should know who will contest the Co-operative MacTavish Cup final by 4.30pm the same day.

KYLES GO BACK HOME

Work under way in late March...

After months of work on their home pitch at Kames playing field, during which they have been forced to use alternative pitches for home ties, Kyles Athletic are coming home this weekend.

The famous shinty arena - used by famous Kyles teams for more than half a century - has been suffering in recent years with drainage problems as rainfall in Argyll has seemed to exceed all historic levels.

POSITIVE CHAT WITH OFFICIALS INVITED

The Camanachd Association, in partnership with the Camanachd Referees Association, would like to invite coaches, managers and match officials to attend one of the following:

Development Forums
1. Monday May 28 at Dalmally Community Hall, 7.30pm – 9.30pm
2. Monday June 11 at Craigmonie Centre, Drumnadrochit, 7.30pm – 9.30pm

The association would like to develop a clearer understanding, through positive discussions, of the following:

OLD SHINTY PHOTOS - CAN YOU HELP?

Bute Shinty Club would be very interested in hearing from anyone who can shed any light on the old shinty photos below.

If you can help identify the teams, years, players or trophies pictured - or anything else to do with the photographs - let us know.

There is a bit of a clue as to the date of photo 3. See if you can spot it.

...and is that not a hardy-looking bunch of lads in photo 4?

If you have any old shinty photos you think would be of interest, with or without accompanying tales, please contact Shintyfan by clicking here, and we'll see what we can do to help.

Photo 1

LOCHABER DERBY AS SCOTTISH CUP DRAW MADE

Michael Russell MSP with pupils from Rockfield and St
Columba's Primary School at today's cup draw

The draw for the second round of the Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup was made on Monday May 14 by Argyll and Bute Council leader-elect, Roddy McCuish assisted by Argyll and Bute MSP Michael Russell.

The second round brings in the ten Orion Premiership sides along with the six teams who won through in the first round.

TOP TEAMS DUMPED FROM MACAULAY

There will be less silverware to polish in the Tighnabruaich trophy cabinet over the next year, and any talk of a grand slam around Newtonmore can be forgotten.

Last season's top two teams in shinty, and also the 2011 finalists in the Artemis MacAulay Cup, were unceremoniously ousted from this year's competition at the weekend.

RECIPE FOR A GOOD SHINTY PLAYER

You might have read my post on the reasons why I think Newtonmore will be tough to beat this season, and why their players are so effective.

But what makes a good shinty player - or a good sports player in general?

Start 'em young - is that the answer?

MACAULAY STILL STIRS THE BLOOD

The fantastic MacAulay Cup moves centre stage this weekend, and the draw has thrown up some interesting ties, a wee bit of potential for shocks and a break from league duty for some.

The MacAulay, or nowadays the Artemis MacAulay Cup is a good old-fashioned cup competition. South and north teams are kept apart until the final, and this is a throwback to the old-style Camanachd Cup before it was opened up in 1983.

STICK ONE ON YOUR OPPONENT - DON'T GET SENT OFF

Don't be naughty boys and girls.

An easy ready reckoner to keep in your pocket during a game.

Better still, stick it on your opponent's shinty helmet, or alternatively their forehead, if naked in the headwear department.

That way it will be easier to refer to if you need to pause, reflect and carefully consider the consequences of any action you might have been contemplating on the field of play.

Either that or just play shinty...

Any bad boys and girls out there might want to cut out and keep - just in case.

CUP ROMANCE, NO WELLIES...AND SNOW

I asked the question in an earlier post, and I'll ask it again.

Can anyone stop Newtonmore this season?

Saturday was a good day for Norman MacArthur's men, as they consolidated their position at the top of shinty.

Inveraray's McMurdo goes down under Bute pressure - Photo by John MacTavish

It might be May, but snowflakes were spotted in some parts of Scotland, encouraged by an icy north-easterly breeze, but last Saturday was a great day for shinty in most parts.

BORN IN THE USA. SHINTY TO THE CORE

Sun disrupts play in Northern California

A fascinating and wide-ranging interview with Michael Bentley, one of the founding fathers of shinty in the United States. 
In the article, Michael outlines the challenges involved in developing shinty in a huge country with no shinty tradition; the couthy beginnings to his shinty odyssey and the strong bonds of friendship forged over the years with many shinty people in Scotland.
And how he would love to take the USA to a shinty world cup...

'POSITIVE THINGS' AT SHINTY'S AGM

Last week's Camanachd Association AGM was all about accentuating the positive in a challenging financial climate.
The Ben Nevis Hotel in Fort William was the venue for the 2012 Annual General Meeting, held on Friday April 27.