Oban Camanachd and Glasgow Mid Argyll face off in the Glasgow Celtic Society Cup Final this Saturday at Peterson Park, Yoker, Glasgow. The MacQuisten Final commences at 12:30pm with the main event throwing up at 4pm.
Read the below stats to get you warmed up for the big fixture!
GMA are scoring an average of 2 goals per game and conceding an average of 3.69 goals per game.
Oban Camanachd are scoring an average of 2.72 goals per game and conceding an average of 0.9 goals per game.
Dangerous throughout
It is hard to pinpoint a dangerous period for Oban Camanachd's attack as they are fairly potent through out the game, with this peaking in the final 15 (7). They score just as many 1st half goals as 2nd so GMA will have to be on their guard at all times.
Growing into the half?
While all things are fairly even for Oban Camanachd in the scoring front, there are two clear periods of defensive success, the middle thirds of each half. After 11 games, they are yet to conceded in these periods which is very impressive. However, they will be wary that 60% of the goals they have conceded have come within the final 15 minutes of games though including costly dropped points at home to Newtonmore and Lovat.
One last push
The stats show that GMA are at their most dangerous in the final 15 minutes of games with just under half (45%) of their goals coming in this period. Given what we just saw about Oban Camanachd conceding late goals, this will undoubtedly be a targeted period for Alan MacRae's men.
Sluggish starters?
GMA concede a fair amount more of their goals in the 1st half than they do in the 2nd half (ratio 5:3), something that is not the case for the vast majority of sides in shinty. If they are able to keep it tight for the first half, they will put themselves in the best possible position to retain the Glasgow Celtic Society Cup.
McLay shows the way
Calum McLay is comfortably GMA's top scorer this year having scored over a third of his sides goals this campaign. John McNulty and Cailean MacLeod have been supplementing the attack. It only takes one goal though, as GMA showed against Kyles last year.
Clark clicks
Malcolm Clark leads the scoring for Oban Camanachd in a season which looks set to see a different top scorer for the 4th consecutive year. Replacing the goals of Andrew MacCuish has been a long term bug bearer for Camanachd, but with the chasing pack (MacVicar, MacFarlane, MacCuish, Sloss) having an average age of 20, the future of forwards looks bright for the red and blacks.
Oban Camanachd Road to the Final
W/O vs Oban Celtic
0-4 vs Inveraray
GMA Road to the Final
9-0 vs Ardnamurchan
5-5(p) vs Kyles Athletic
GMA Manager
Alan MacRae
“We are preparing for the final with a few extra sessions this week- as it has been a struggle to get everyone together due to work commitments, but all the boys are putting in the work and will be ready and prepared to go on Saturday.
We are expecting a difficult game against an Oban team who are young, quick and well disciplined. We haven’t laid a glove on them in our last few matches, so we will need to be at our best and be up for the challenge.
It would be a huge achievement for us to retain the cup, and massive for shinty in Glasgow however it will take enormous effort, grit and us playing at our very best to have the chance of achieving our goal.”
Oban Camanachd Manager
Gareth Evans
“We’ll prepare as usual for the final as I think it’s vital to play the game and not the occasion this Saturday. Alan will have GMA well organised on their own pitch so we’re under no illusion it’s going to be a tough game. Obviously it would mean a lot to the everyone connected to Oban Camanachd to take the trophy back to Oban but to achieve that the players have showcase their skill and hard work on the day.”
Want more?
Check out this week’s Half-Swing Shinty Podcast to make sure you are up to speed on the weekend’s action – out Thursday night!
SURVEY
If you are involved with a shinty club, please take 10 minutes to fill out a survey on the impact of shinty on local communities, this is part of vital work the Camanachd Association are undertaking with UHI.
https://uhi.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/impact-of-shinty-on-local-communities-live
