GMA prevailed 1-0 winners against Kyles Athletic at a blustery Peterson Park to lift the trophy for the first time in 42 years.

Peterson Park was in sublime condition to welcome the return of the Glasgow Celtic Society Cup Final for the first time in some years and although the conditions were a little on the windy side the match started very end to end. Kyles however, probably had the better of the opening 15, putting some early pressure on the GMA backline and forcing a great early save from Oates with his feet.

GMA however, soon showed that they can also be dangerous as a long ball dropped at the feet of Brian Slattery, Slattery ‘dummied’ the ball before pulling it across to John McNulty who cracked a backhand shot past John Whyte and into the far corner – a truly delightful finish.

From there however, Kyles really started to apply some pressure and had the vast majority of the territory for the remainder of the half. They came within a couple of inches of scoring when Somhairle Thomson danced away from his marker, round another Kyles defender and struck a sweet shot from distance which had GMA keeper Jonathan Oates scrambling, the shot just clipping off the post much to his relief.

The rest of the 1st half came and went and the 2nd started much the same, Kyles with a lot of the territory and pressure but without seriously worrying the GMA defence, Roddy MacDonald and Andy King were both noticeable absences as Kyles appeared slightly toothless in the final third.

However, as the game moved closer towards the end it seemed like the Tighnabruaich outfit found yet another gear and really began to pen in GMA.  Connor Kennedy went the closest to levelling the score after some neat dribbling and a drilled shot across Oates goal required a great save from the GMA stopper.

In the end time just ran out for Kyles as GMA continued with the mantra that got them promotion to the MOWI Premiership in 2019, a well drilled committed defence, with that bit of quality up front to nick a goal and get the win. Ryan Harrison was nominated as BBC ALBA’s Man of the Match and it is really hard to argue with that, his performance exemplified GMA’s fighting spirit and they will now reap the rewards.