Glasgow Celtic Society Cup will be pride of place in Tighnabruaich
It took penalties to separate the holders Oban Camanachd and Kyles Athletic at Taynuilt, but alas, Kyles prevailed, winning the competition for the first time since 2017.
In a match that was hampered somewhat by the conditions chances were few and far between. However, it was Kyles who took the lead on the 35th Minute. A shy from Robbie MacLeod was pushed to the edge of the D by Conor Kennedy where Roddy MacDonald was able to strike at goal, Camanachd keeper Cammy Sutherland got a stick to it but not enough to keep it out of the net.
The lead was short-lived however as 7 minutes later Oban equalised. The ball was dug out from centre by Gary Lord who found semi-final goal scorer Andrew “Papa” MacCuish on the wing, MacCuish skinned, then out strengthened his man before pushing it beyond another and squaring the ball for Malcolm Clark for what will be one of the easiest goals of his career – unmarked he fired it beyond John Whyte to level the scores going into the break.
Chances were at a premium in the second half too although Oban had some nice play down the right wing which led to a couple of half chances, both were fired wide of Whyte’s right hand post, the second going agonisingly close for Malcolm Clark. Connor Howe could’ve won it for Oban right at the death had it not been for a good save at close proximity from Whyte. The final whistle probably came at the wrong time for Camanachd who were starting to put some sustained pressure on the Kyles goal but both sides had agreed to go straight to penalties in the event of a draw at full-time due to the deteriorating weather conditions.
The dreaded penalty shoot-out ensued, it was a case of 4 great penalties (Scott MacMillan and Daniel Cameron for Oban & Robbie MacLeod and Callum Millar for Kyles) followed by 2 that the takers would like to forget. Firstly, Daniel MacVicar’s low driven shot was saved by the feet of Whyte before Luke Thornton hit one of the unluckiest penalty’s you are ever likely to see, the ball moving no more than a yard from the spot. Whyte couldn’t keep out a low penalty from Garry Lord despite getting something on it before his opposite number completed the same trick with Ross MacRae’s strike. Thus, it was sudden death at 3-3, two 2019 MOWI Scotland Internationals stepped up, MacCuish aimed for the keepers left and struck wide of the post while MacDonald did the same but the net rippled, after which he as Kyles Athletic Captain was presented with the Glasgow Celtic Society Cup.
The match referee was Iain Kennedy.