Shinty round-up as game mourns loss of local legend

2024 Ferguson Transport & Shipping Balliemore Cup Draw

Two of the favourites have been given first round byes following the Ferguson Transport & Shipping Balliemore Cup draw.

 

This is the third year of Ferguson Transport & Shipping’s sponsorship of the Balliemore Cup after a longstanding partnership with the Camanachd Association and this year’s draw was conducted by Michael Oliver and Jill Ferguson, with Camanachd Association Operations and Events manager Astie Cameron and the association’s marketing and communications manager Aarron Duncan-MacLeod also in attendance.

 

The first round ties are regionalised with the quarter finals onwards part of an open draw.

 

In the south half of the draw, Oban Celtic start as favourites against Mowi South Division 1 side Ardnamurchan in Oban. 

 

Bute and Glasgow Mid Argyll meet at the Meadows. Both sides play in the Mowi National Division, coming from opposite directions with GMA relegated from the Premiership and Bute promoted from South Division 1 at the end of last season.

 

There is a derby between Col Glen and Inveraray at Glendaruel, whilst Aberdour welcome Kilmory. 
Holders Lochaber are not eligible for this year’s competition following their promotion to the Mowi Premiership.

 

The opening round of the northern section has paired two derby ties. 2019 winners Fort William play Glengarry at An Aird, while Strathglass make the short distance to Inverness in an all Mowi North Division 1 affair. 
There were first round byes for two of the favourites, beaten 2023 finalists Kilmallie and 2022 champions Beauly.

 

2024 HIS Sutherland Cup Draw

There are some exciting ties as the draw was made for the 2024 Highland Industrial Supplies Sutherland Cup.

 

The draw was made by HIS director Garry Mackintosh and the competition is regionalised in the early rounds.

 

Lochside Rovers assistant manager Duncan MacMillan said: “We are happy with the draw. Getting a bye in first round means that by the time the second round comes around, we’ll be a few games into our season and up to a decent speed.

 

“It’s a very interesting second round draw for us and it will be tough against whoever prevails between Kilmallie and Oban Celtic. We would relish a local derby, of course. We played Celtic last year in the Bullough Cup and it was a cracking match with not a lot between the sides. I’d anticipate a healthy crowd if we meet again.”

 

HIS director Garry Mackintosh said: “Sponsoring the Sutherland Cup fills us with immense pride at Highland Industrial Supplies. 

 

“We’re committed to backing shinty, a sport embraced by our customers throughout Scotland. We invite the entire shinty community and beyond to join us at Blairbeg Park on Saturday September 14 for what promises to be an exhilarating showcase of shinty.”

Camanachd Association president Burton Morrison added: “The Sutherland Cup is the competition which attracts entries from the largest number of teams in shinty and provides opportunities for a great number of communities to meet up and compete for a prestigious trophy, which celebrated its centenary last year.

“In recent years, with the support of Highland Industrial Supplies, the final has become one of the best attended in the game and a key date on the calendar. On behalf of the association, I accord my sincere thanks to them and wish all teams involved the best of luck in the competition.”

 

The full draw is:
Section 1 – first round – Saturday April 6
Kingussie v Glenurquhart
Boleskine v Inverness
Byes – Aberdeen University and Newtonmore
Section 1 - second round – Saturday May 11
Boleskine/Inverness v Kingussie/Glenurquhart
Newtonmore v Aberdeen University
Section 2 - first round – Saturday April 6
Lovat v Kinlochshiel
Caberfeidh v Lewis Camanachd
Beauly v Lewis
Bye – Skye Camanachd and Beauly
Section 2 - second round – Saturday May 11
Skye Camanachd v Caberfeidh/Lewis Camanachd
Beauly v Lovat/Kinlochshiel
Section 3 – first round – Saturday April 6
Kilmallie v Oban Celtic
SCOTS Camanachd v Lochaber
Byes – Lochside Rovers and Fort William
Section 3 - second round – Saturday May 11
Kilmallie/Oban Celtic v Lochside Rovers
Fort William v SCOTS Camanachd/Lochaber
Section 4 - first round – Saturday April 6
Inveraray v Tayforth
Strachur-Dunoon v Kyles Athletic
Byes – Bute and Glasgow Mid Argyll
Section 4 - second round – Saturday May 11
Glasgow Mid Argyll v Strachur-Dunoon/Kyles Athletic
Inveraray/Tayforth v Bute
Quarter finals – Saturday June 22
Kilmallie/Oban Celtic/ Lochside Rovers v Skye Camanachd/Caberfeidh /Lewis Camanachd
Glasgow Mid Argyll/ Strachur-Dunoon/Kyles Athletic v Newtonmore/ Aberdeen University
Beauly/Lovat/Kinlochshiel v Boleskine/Inverness/Kingussie/Glenurquhart
Inveraray/Tayforth/Bute v Fort William/SCOTS Camanachd/Lochaber
Semi finals – Saturday August 3
Inveraray/Tayforth/Bute/Fort William/SCOTS Camanachd/Lochaber v Kilmallie/Oban Celtic /Lochside Rovers/Skye Camanachd/Caberfeidh/ Lewis Camanachd
Glasgow Mid Argyll/ Strachur-Dunoon/Kyles Athletic/Newtonmore/ Aberdeen University v Beauly/Lovat/Kinlochshiel/Boleskine /Inverness/Kingussie/ Glenurquhart

 

The 2024 HIS Sutherland Cup Final takes place at Blairbeg, Drumnadrochit on Saturday September 14.
Premiership team of the season

 

Team of the year

 

Oban Camanachd boss Gareth Evans was voted manager as the Mowi Premiership supporters’ team of the year was confirmed. 

 

Team captains from all clubs in the Mowi Premiership were asked to nominate an opposition player, in each position, before the Camanachd Association put the players to a social media poll to decide who would secure a place in the team of the season.

Kingussie, Kyles Athletic, Newtonmore, Caberfeidh and Oban Camanachd were in the top five places in the Mowi Premiership last season and their players made up the whole side, with four players coming from Kyles.
Oban Camanachd’s Cameron Sutherland was voted in as keeper, polling more votes than John Whyte, Kyles Athletic, Rory McGregor, Kingussie, and Scotland goalie Stuart MacDonald, Lovat.

Rory Kennedy from Newtonmore took the full back slot. He gathered 42 per cent of the vote to see off Oban Camanachd’s Scott McKillop and Mowi national player of the year Robert Mabon,  Kingussie.
The first wing back position was a choice between Daniel Sloss, Oban Camanachd;  Kieran Macpherson,  Kingussie; Danny Kelly, Lovat; and Mark MacDonald, Kinlochshiel, and Daniel Sloss became the second Oban Camanachd player to make the team, amassing almost half of the vote.

The nominees for the second wing back position were Andrew King, Kyles Athletic;  Robert Mabon, Kingussie; Duncan Matheson,  Kinlochshiel; and John Gillies,  Skye Camanachd. King took the crown with half the vote coming his way.

 

Buckshee back was a shoot-out between Blair Morrison,  Caberfeidh; and Calum Morrison, Beauly, who has since moved to Glasgow Mid Argyll. Blair Morrison secured 78 per cent of the vote.

 

The full centre role was taken by Kyles Athletic’s Roddy Macdonald over Steven Macdonald, Newtonmore,  with Donald Nixon,  Kinlochshiel, and Cameron Bremner, Kingussie, also in contention.

 

The wing centre positions were contested between Innes Macdonald, Kyles Athletic;  Blair McFarlane, Oban Camanachd; Donald Nixon,  Kinlochshiel; Craig Ritchie, Newtonmore; Cameron Bremner, Kingussie;  Calum Morrison, Beauly; and Ross Forbes, Beauly. Innes Macdonald and Blair McFarlane polled the most votes to make up an all-south centre line.

 

Kingussie’s Ruaridh Anderson gathered almost three-quarters of the vote ahead of Skye’s William MacKinnon to clinch the buckshee forward slot. There was tough competition for the two wing forward positions with Scott Macdonald,  Kyles Athletic, and James Falconer, Kingussie, coming out on top. Daniel MacVicar,  Oban Camanachd), and Iain Robinson, Newtonmore,  just missed out with Euan McCormick, Beauly), and Fraser Heath, Lovat, also in contention.

The full forward position went to Craig Morrison, Caberfeidh, who got 65 per cent of the vote over Iain Robinson.
All that was left was the managerial position which was between Gareth Evans, Oban Camanachd; Iain Borthwick, Kingussie; and Caberfeidh and Scotland boss Garry Reid. Gareth Evans took almost half the vote to come out on top,  with Iain Borthwick in second place.

Mowi Premiership supporters’ team of the year from: Cameron Sutherland, Oban Camanachd; Rory Kennedy, Newtonmore; Daniel Sloss Oban Camanachd; Andrew King, Kyles Athletic; Blair Morrison, Caberfeidh;  Blair McFarlane, Oban Camanachd; Roddy Macdonald, Kyles Athletic; Innes Macdonald, Kyles Athletic; Ruaridh Anderson, Kingussie; Scott Macdonald, Kyles Athletic;  James Falconer, Kingussie; Craig Morrison, Caberfeidh.  Manager – Gareth Evans,  Oban Camanachd.

 

Tributes paid after loss of Kilmallie stalwart Derek Fraser

There was great sadness throughout the shinty community as news broke of the passing of one of the game’s most respected individuals, Kilmallie stalwart Derek Fraser.

 

Kilmallie reached five Camanachd Cup finals between 1956 and 1969 and Derek Fraser featured in four of them. His 1964 winner’s medal, the club’s only Scottish success, is one he always treasured. 

 

Derek Fraser’s shinty career began at Banavie Primary School. From there, he progressed to play for a Kilmallie Under 17 side which won the  1946 MacTavish Juvenile Cup, a trophy they went on to lift three years on the trot.
He was introduced to the Kilmallie senior side in the buckshee back position before going to full back when Jimmy Chisholm retired. James Burnett took over at buckshee back and went on to captain the side to its 1964 Camanachd Cup success.

 

When Derek was invited to make the draw for the Camanachd Cup quarter-finals in June 2019, he reflected on his early days as a player, saying: “We were dedicated to the game back then. We never went out on a Friday night, even when Kilmallie Shinty Club was running the local dance. We never booked holidays during the season – not that there was money for holidays back then – so the boys were always ready to play for the team every week.” 

 

Fittingly, the draw took place at the Liberty British Aluminium Smelter in Fort William where Derek Fraser worked for 43 years and the memories came flooding back of Kilmallie’s 1964 success, when they beat Inveraray 4-1 in the final at the King George V Park in Fort William.  

 

Derek said: “People outwith shinty don’t realise just how special the Camanachd Cup is. You can be the best shinty player in Scotland and still not get a Camanachd Cup winner’s medal.

 

“It was just unbelievable at the time. Kilmallie had such a good side through the 1950s and 1960s but we thought the Camanachd win might never come. We had gone close before, and indeed afterwards, without winning. 

 

“We beat Newtonmore in the semi-finals. We had some very close games with them at that time. We did well against them. However, Kyles were our jinx team. They always seemed to put one over us and I can only ever remember beating them once.” 

 

To prove the point, Kyles recorded Camanachd Cup Final wins over Kilmallie in their four other final appearances during that era in 1956, 1962, 1965 and 1969. The 1962 final took place in Inverness with the other three in Oban. 

 

“We had a good side back then. Alastair MacIntyre, who was for so long the Camanachd Association Secretary, played in goal. He was a good keeper. Of course, he didn’t have much to do with me in front of him,” laughed Fraser, a robust full back by all accounts.  

 

“Our forwards were Ronald Ferguson, Hugh “Shep” MacIntyre, Iain MacKintosh and my brother Charlie at full forward.” 

 

Indeed Charlie Fraser, who went on to be a shinty referee, was prominent amongst the scorers in the 1964 Camanachd Cup Final and would have been a good shout for man of the match had such an accolade existed back then. 

 

“There was a meal at the Imperial Hotel in Fort William afterwards,” remembered Derek. “Walter Cameron was there. He was the Camanachd Association President at the time. He was also head teacher at Banavie and did so much for the game of shinty.”    

 

Derek Fraser’s standing in the game was recognised in 1972, when the shinty/hurling international between Scotland and Ireland was resurrected, as he was named captain for the Bught Park clash. 

 

“It was a great experience,” recalled Derek. “I was very proud to captain the Scotland team. We lost out that day, but it was our first outing, so we were new to the rules and Scotland have come on a ton since then.” It was one of two international caps he gained.

 

Following a shinty career during which he fulfilled all his on-field ambitions, Derek Fraser stayed involved with the game. He was chairman of the Camanachd Association Referees Association and enjoyed his role on the association’s disciplinary committee. “I think it’s good to have former players on the disciplinary committee. I knew all the tricks of the trade so I could spot the players that were spinning stories,” he chuckled. 

 

A Kilmallie club tribute read: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the recent death of Derek Fraser in the Belford Hospital at the age of 90.

 

“Derek’s lifelong love of shinty began in his primary years at Banavie school where, under the tutelage of his shinty enthusiast head master Walter Cameron, he first learned the grit, passion and discipline of our game.

 

“Cup success first came for Derek in his teens, winning the MacTavish Juvenile Cup in Beauly. Throughout the late 1950s and the 1960s, Kilmallie went on to consistently field a strong team with Derek being a key player.

 

“He missed the 1956 Camanachd Cup final, the first that Kilmallie reached, as he was on National Service. Further Scottish final appearances followed and after falling at the last hurdle to Kyles in 1962, Derek and his teammates were to get their hands on this most coveted silverware by winning the Camanachd Cup in 1964, triumphing over Inverary at the George V Field in Fort William in a day that was never to be forgotten. 

 

“Derek was selected as Scotland captain for the international match against Ireland at the Bught Park in 1972, demonstrating the respect in which he was held throughout the shinty community.

 

“Derek was undoubtedly a strong, tough and determined player but he was a fair one at that, evidenced as he was only booked once throughout his shinty career, although Derek would still say the yellow card he received playing at Claggan Park was awarded erroneously. 

 

“After retiring from playing, Derek continued to serve the sport he loved by sitting on the Camanachd Association executive committee and then as chairman of the referees’ committee for a number of years. Derek continued to take a keen interest in his own club and could be seen at Canal Parks until his health deteriorated during the most recent years. His passion for the sport and his candid but heartfelt counsel to those following in his footsteps was appreciated and well received. The respect that the shinty community across Scotland continued to hold for Derek was evident as the many visitors to Canal Parks in later years would continue to ask how he was doing. 

“Derek was a hard worker and a family man. Derek and his wife Elma were deeply affected by the loss of their daughter Maureen in 2018. Derek was later, in the spring of 2022, to be bereft of his beloved wife and partner in life Elma.

 

 

“After becoming unwell towards the end of January, Derek was transferred to the Belford Hospital and sadly died there after a short admission. 

 

“The old boys are indeed leaving us, leaving one by one. In Derek we have lost a true Kilmallie legend and lost one who could still teach us so much about the game, of skill, determination, discipline, passion, service and sheer hard work. We as a club are poorer for Derek’s passing and as a club, we share in his loss. 

 

“To his daughter Rhona, grandson Fraser and great grandson Ruaridh and to his wider family, neighbours and friends we share our heartfelt sympathies at this hardest of times.”

Derek’s funeral took place at Duncansburgh Church, Fort William, on Monday.