Kingussie triumph in Strathdearn Final

After a coin toss, The Dell was the venue for the 2026 Strathdearn Cup Final between old rivals Newtonmore and Kingussie. The two sides were already battling it out for the league title in Mowi North Division 1 and with a Tulloch Homes Camanachd Cup Final between the two sides on the horizon, this final just ramped up the tension between the neighbours. In the semi-finals Newtonmore were comfortable 8-1 winners over Skye while Kingussie knocked out holders Fort William 1-0 at An Aird.

The game started at the kind of frantic pace that you would expect a final to start, neither side giving an inch and full-bodied challenges marking the tone for the rest of the game. It was Kingussie who started the brightest and fashioned a couple of good chances with the ball flashing across the face of the goal on two occasions, but there was no one at the back post to take advantage. There was an interesting battle between two senior players in the centre of the park with Louis Munro and Fraser MacKintosh deployed to use their experience to create chances for their side. It was Munro though who not only created but finished a chance for the first goal of the game, the full-centre playing a ball forward before receiving it again and firing home beyond Cammy Mitchell in the Newtonmore goal.

The game settled into a pattern of Kingussie territory, but Newtonmore continued to look extremely threatening on the counter with Jacob Bain, James Coyle and Xander Ross working off each other when the ball made it into the final third. Kings were given the chance to double their lead from the spot after a foul in the box by Mitchell, but Sam Thain was unable to convert his penalty. His brother Toby eased that tension five minutes from half-time though as he ghosted to the back post and finished smartly to double Kingussie’s lead. The deficit would have been back to one right on the brink of half-time though, had it not been for goalkeeping heroics from Russell Menzies who made an incredible point blank save from a powerful Xander Ross shot, the stopper getting his club up to it and tipping it onto the bar.

Newtonmore tried to rally in the second half and created a few half chances; however, the Kingussie defence of MacLeod Dawson, Sam Thain, Harden Taylor-Ramsay and Cameron Bremner kept them at bay, with Sam Thain having a particularly good game against the ever-dangerous James Coyle. With Newtonmore pouring forward to try and get back into the game, there was always a chance of a sucker punch goal, and that’s precisely what happened, Captain Eoin Baikie finishing off the game with a great strike, ensuring that Kings would lift the Strathdearn for the first time since 2017.