Kingussie look to win MacTavish Cup for fourth consecutive year as they face Lovat in the final at Bught Park in Inverness
KINGUSSIE captain Thomas Borthwick says his team are looking to continue their dominance in the MacTavish Cup by lifting it for the fourth consecutive year on Saturday.
Kingussie are set to take on Lovat in the final which returns to Bught Park in Inverness this weekend as th look to lift the first major shinty trophy this season.
Having lifted the trophy in 2022, 2023 and 2024, Kingussie are looking to emulate Newtonmore’s success between 2016 and 2019 of winning the competition four years running.
Last year, they completed a grand slam of trophies winning the Premiership, Camanachd Cup, MacTavish Cup and Macaulay Cup.
To reach the MacTavish Cup this year, Kingussie needed a penalty shoot-out to see off Beauly, before beating Skye 5-1 and Lochaber 2-0 to reach the final.
Borthwick says the aim at the club this season is to successfully defend each trophy they won last year.
He says if they can win the MacTavish Cup on Saturday, it would set a good marker for the rest of the campaign.
He said: “Preparations are going good, we are hoping to get a few more boys in training and have a good week.
“The MacTavish Cup is really important, but any trophy is important. We have won it a few years in a row and winning the MacTavish Cup is always a good benchmark to have.
“We have to be confident. We had a couple of boys missing for various events last week, but hopefully we will be firing on all cylinders for Saturday.”
Speaking about achieving another grand slam of trophies, Borthwick said: “We are taking it game by game, but who wouldn’t that?
“We are just taking it week by week and we will look to take care of Saturday and see what happens.”
Their opponents Lovat are having a difficult campaign in the Premiership this season as they find themselves second bottom and in the relegation zone.
Last weekend, they went down to a heavy 5-2 defeat against Skye in Portree. But they have still managed to reach the first major final of the campaign.
After beating Caberfeidh on penalties and Glenurquhart 3-1 in the earlier rounds, Lovat recorded a superb 2-0 victory over Fort William in the semi final to reach Saturday’s showpiece.
Borthwick says despite Lovat’s poor season in the Premiership, is well aware of the danger that their opponents present in the final.
He said: “We are expecting the same as usual. We had a hard test last year against them in the Scottish Cup final which was a great game and really tough, so we are expecting the same against them.”
The final takes place at Bught Park in Inverness with throw-up at 4:05pm. The final returns to the venue after it was relocated to Newtonmore last year due to renovation works at the ground taking place.
Borthwick says Bught Park is a special place for shinty and can’t wait to return to the venue on Saturday where he will be hoping to lift the trophy as the winning captain.
He said: “It always feels like a final when it is at the Bught and it is always a good day out.”
