This Sunday’s Mowi league playoff between Badenoch and Lochaber represents the filling in a Badenoch vs Lochaber sandwich, the trilogy will define both team’s season with the league title and Valerie Fraser Camanachd Cup trophies up for grabs in consecutive weeks, but how did we get here?
After months of action, Badenoch and Lochaber could not be separated in the league standings, each finishing on 20 points.
Badenoch’s campaign has been defined by free-scoring dominance. Convincing wins over Kinlochshiel (6-0), Glenurquhart (7-0) and Skye (11-2) underlined their attacking firepower. Their consistency saw them meet most challenges, with every team defeated home and away in the league bar one, and it is those losses to Lochaber – 3-2 in Spean Bridge and 2-1 in the return that proved decisive.
Lochaber, meanwhile, have built their charge on resilience. They edged out Badenoch twice by the narrowest of margins and showed steel in crucial moments. Their form wobbled at times – defeats to Skye and Kinlochshiel cancelling out their wins over the champions – but they recovered in style, finishing the season with six consecutive wins, capped by that crucial triumph against Badenoch last weekend.
Now, with everything on the line, the question is whether Badenoch’s scoring power can finally unpick Lochaber’s resilience, or if Lochaber’s momentum and head-to-head edge will carry them to glory.
Sunday’s playoff promises a contest worthy of the season that led to it – two teams, level on points, locked in rivalry, with nothing left to separate them but the final whistle.
