Lochaber derby one of the highlights of an exciting Cottages.com MacTavish Cup draw
Camanachd Association Chieftain, John MacKenzie MBE. with the Cottages.com MacTavish Cup. (John captained Newtonmore to MacTavish Cup glory in 1968). Image: Neil G Paterson
Cottages.com MacTavish Cup Round 1 Draw.
This afternoon the drawn for the 1st Round of the Cottages.com MacTavish Cup took place. In attendance was Derek Keir, CA CEO & John MacKenzie MBE., CA Chieftain. As the Cottages.com MacTavish is already a regionalised competition we held an open draw. Please see the draw in full below:
Cottages.com MacTavish Cup 1st Round
To be played on 3rd July 2021
Fort William v Kilmallie
3 times winners, Fort William who most recently won the competition in 2007 welcome Kilmallie to An Aird for a derby match. Kilmallie have won the trophy on 4 occasions, all 4 coming in a hugely succesful spell between1959-1969.
Kingussie v Skye
Mowi Premiership Champions Kingussie will host Skye. The red & blue half of Badenoch are 27 time champions of the MacTavish Cup including an impressive 8 in a row from 88-95. Skye were the inaugural winners of the MacTavish in 1898 and will be hoping they can secure their 2nd title in 2021.
Lovat v Glenurquhart
2019 finalists Glenurquhart will travel to Lovat as they bid to go one further than last time. Lovat last won the Cottages.com MacTavish Cup in 2014 defeating Glen 5-1 in the final.
Newtonmore v Inverness
The current Cottages.com MacTavish Cup holders Newtonmore will play Inverness at The Eilan. Newtonmore are the all-time record holders and will be looking to win a 5th title in a row this year. Inverness have won the trophy 3 times and their home, Bught Park, will again be the venue for the 2021 final.
Kinlochshiel v Lochaber
2018 Finalists ‘Shiel have never won the Cottages.com MacTavish Cup, but everyone up at Balmacara will be determined to change that. They welcome 2016 finalists Lochaber who are also yet to win the competition but former club Spean Bridge did win the competition 3 times in the 1920’s & 30’s
Byes: Beauly, Caberfeidh & Strathglass.
Steven MacKenzie, Camanachd Association President, said:
“The drawing of the 1st Round of the Cottages.com MacTavish Cup gives our member clubs yet another thing to look forward to as we move ever closer to the return of competitive shinty. Looking over the draw I think that the Lochaber derby with Fort William welcoming Kilmallie to An Aird will be a hard fought match and I look forward to keeping an eye on Glenurquhart’s trip to Kiltarlity to take on Lovat.”
Derek Keir, Camanachd Association CEO, said:
“The cup draws always bring with them tremendous excitement and this year that excitement is enhanced as it represents the return to competitive shinty for adults from 5th June. The support we receive from cottages.com allows us to run an amazing competition that so many communities are involved in and we deeply appreciate cottages.com for their continued support to help provide opportunities and protect our historic game.”
Camanachd Mark Whitehouse, Regional Sales Director at cottages.com, said:
“We’re particularly proud to be sponsoring the MacTavish Cup this year and doing our bit to get such an important event back on track following last year’s enforced break due to Covid. Shinty has huge cultural significance in this part of the world and we know how much people are looking forward to once again playing and watching the game they love. We can’t wait for the matches to get underway and are really looking forward to witnessing the fantastic community spirit the game generates in what promises to be a brilliant season ahead.”