The 2026 Bullough Cup Final took place on Saturday the 1^st of August at The Sports Field in Taynuilt between Lochside Rovers and Kilmory.

Lochside had sealed their place in the souths junior showpiece final by getting past Uddingston, Inveraray and Kyles Athletic, whilst South 2’s Kilmory sealed their place by defeating Stirling, Strachur/ Dunoon and Bute.

The sides were led out on the day by referee for the day Ryan Stewart along side his goal judges Les Kinvig and Des McNulty and the game got under way.

The game started in a physical manner with neither team holding back in the tackle. The game flowed from end to end with neither team really creating clear cut chances in the opening 10 minutes.

Lochside were the team who created the first real goalscoring opportunity of the match which required Kilmory keeper Kieran Crystal to be quick to react. This save would be the first in a series of impressive stops from the Lochgilphead man as Lochside pushed for the opener.

The opener eventually did come for Lochside, when in the 27^th minute the ball broke to Jordan Kerr around 20 yards from goal around the penalty spot, who clinically found the back of the net to give the Oban side the advantage.

Kilmory came back into the game after the goal with the ball just not quite falling for one of their forwards after a couple of scrambles in and around the D as the Lochgilphead pushed for an equaliser before half time.

As the teams went in for half time, the score was 1-0 and the second half began in a similar fashion to the first with neither team giving each other a yard. Kilmory had territory without testing the Lochside keeper while at the other end Crystal was equal to anything Lochside threw at him.

Kilmory pushed again, with their best opportunity of the match coming in the 82^nd minute as a slip in the Lochside defence left them with in on goal two forwards against a defender and the keeper. However, some hesitation between the two allowed the impressive Lochside co-captain and full back Charlie Spreadbury to clear the danger.

Kilmory would go on to rue the fact they failed to capitalise on their best period of the game when in the 87^th minute Craig MacMillan slotted home from the edge of the area after the ball broke to him as the Kilmory defence had charged down another effort.

Ryan Stewart blew the final whistle to end a high octane final, and it was president-elect Willie MacDonald who conducted the presentation in front of the pavilion. He praised Stewart’s performance in the middle in a physical contest, as well as both sets of players for an entertaining match. With the captains lifting the trophy high in the air, it was jubilation for Lochside who once again asserted their dominance at junior level in the region.