Lovat and Glen set for Bught drama
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THE scene is set for a repeat of last year’s thrill-a-minute RBS MacTavish Cup final when rivals Lovat and Glenurquhart meet up again on Saturday at the Bught Park.
The expansive playing surface with precious silverware is at stake in addition to the accolade of being acknowledged as official North of Scotland senior champions.
The villages of Kiltarlity and Drumnadrochit will appear deserted when the action starts with legions of neutrals also making their way to Inverness to take in what is shaping up to be another superb spectacle.
Few will forget the excitement of last year’s final when Lovat came out on top by the narrowest of margins, winning a penalty shoot-out to get their hands on the trophy for the first time in 60 years.
To reach this final Lovat began with an 11-0 demolition of North Division Two outfit Boleskine followed by a 5-2 win over 2010 finalists and National Division title contenders Kilmallie at Canal Park.
Lovat then came up against Premiership opposition for the first time in the semi-finals withKinlochshiel being swept aside 4-0 at Balgate after their initial clash was abandoned through deteriorating pitch conditions at Kirkton the previous Saturday.
Glen were 1-0 winners over North Division One table-toppers Skye in the opening round and this set up a meeting with National Division side Caberfeidh at Drumnadrochit.
A 2-0 success over Cabers led to a repeat of last year’s semi-final against Newtonmore. After 90 minutes the teams were level at 1-1 and with no further scoring in extra-time, Glen advanced to the final by winning a penalty shoot-out 2-1.
The one meeting between the teams this season came in early May when Glen prevented Lovat from extending their league and cup winning sequence to 10 matches with a 2-1 victory at Blairbeg Park over their neighbours from over the hill.
Since that defeat, Lovat made their exit from the Camanachd Cup at Kingussie and also dropped a valuable point in the Premiership by conceding a last-minute equaliser at Inveraray. Their other two matches resulted in impressive cup wins over Kinlochshiel and Fort William respectively.
Glen will be led in to battle by co-managers Billy MacLean and Dave Menzies who were in charge of Glen when they were defeated by Kingussie in the 2008 final, while Allan MacRae is familiar with being a cup-winning boss having managed Lovat reserves when they won the Sutherland Cup in 2010, following that up by masterminding Lovat’s MacTavish Cup triumph last year.
After the morale-boosting win over Lovat, Glen have played three league matches defeating Lochaber twice and losing narrowly to Kyles Athletic at Tighnabruaich in addition to that sensational semi-final win over Newtonmore.
With the match being broadcast live on television by BBC Alba, there is a later than usual throw-up time of 4.05pm.
A full undercard precedes the main match at the Bught on Saturday.
At 1pm, Kingussie and Newtonmore battle it out in the final of the RBS MacTavish Juvenile Cup, while at the same time on the pitch adjoining the stadium pitch, Portree and Kyles Athletic meet in the final of the Tulloch Primary Schools Trophy.
Various other games take place on Saturday with many of these having early throw-ups to enable players and supporters to attend the MacTavish Cup final in Inverness.
