Kingussie travelled to An Aird on Saturday 8th November for their rescheduled match knowing a draw would seal the Mowi Premiership title, and goals from Fraser Munro and Ruaridh Anderson ensured they did exactly that. The match capped off arguably the best title race in recent history, with 4 teams, namely Kingussie, Newtonmore, Oban Camanachd and Fort William all competing for the title until the final matches of the season. In the end it was the perennial winners of Iain Borthwick’s Kingussie who triumphed in Shinty’s top flight, extending a winning streak that began in 2019.

After the match Dougie Hunter from Mowi presented captain Thomas Borthwick with the trophy in front of a strong travelling Kingussie crowd, capping off a treble of trophies for ‘Tuck’ in his year skippering the side. For the Kingussie centre it was just the beginning – a short trip up the road to the Highland Cinema was next up to collect the Mowi Premiership & National Player of the Year Award, before making the journey back to the annual Kingussie Awards Night to collect the trophy for First Team Player of the Year and Player’s Player of the Year – all in all, a successful Saturday!

Saturday was the culmination of a season that started all the way back in March, as goals from Roddy Young and Eoin Baikie set Kings on their way. Their first test came at The Eilan, as the men in red and blue had to claw their way back from a 2-0 deficit to rescue a draw against rivals Newtonmore, before newly promoted Fort William did the same courtesy of a last minute strike from Lachie Shaw the following month. From this, the early signs signified a title race was emerging between several sides. With the injury list starting to stack up, wins against Caberfeidh and Skye were followed up with 1-1 draws with Kyles Athletic and Oban Camanachd either side of their W M Donald MacTavish Cup semi-final win. It was on the 19th of July where the shinty world really took notice of the possibility of a 4 way title race – Kingussie’s incredible 52 match unbeaten streak was ended at the hands of Kinlochshiel, as 14 year old Jay MacRae handed Kings their first defeat in nearly two years. Coupled with other results, this meant Kingussie dropped to 4th in the table which would have surely served as a wake up call. Kingussie showed their determination in the following game week with a strong 3-0 win over Newtonmore, and followed this up with a 5-2 win over title rivals Oban Camanachd. Results elsewhere meant Kingussie would therefore only need a point at An Aird to clinch the title – however the Shinty world would have to hold its breath as heavy rain meant the match was pushed back a week. The following week saw a big crowd flock to An Aird to watch Kingussie lift yet another league title, marking the end to a season packed with excitement and drama. All in all, a fantastic season for the neutral which many will hope can be repeated next season.

Whilst Thomas Borthwick was crowned as Mowi Player of the Season, plaudits must also go to the entire squad, which proved their depth of quality throughout the season, allowing Kingussie to triumph in the face of an injury crisis. This was marked with a number of Scotland call ups, as Ruaridh Anderson, Zander Michie, Calum Grant and Bob McGregor all received call ups to represent their country.