Shinty teams continue preparations ahead of 2020 season
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Caberfeidh will welcome Newtonmore to Castle Leod as pre-season friendlies continue for the new shinty season, with the MacTavish Cup draw also having been made.
At Cannich, Strathglass have invited Lovat to play for the Murdo MacKenzie Memorial Cup and new Strath manager Allan MacLeod will be under no illusions about how tough a test this will be.
Inverness take on Glenurquhart at Bught Park while Beauly also face up to North Division One opposition when they journey down the Great Glen to meet Glengarry.
Despite severe storms being forecast for last weekend, a number of teams managed to get in some valuable game time on Saturday in preparation for the official start to the league season on March 7.
Camanachd Cup holders Newtonmore beat Beauly 4–0.
On target for Newtonmore at Kincraig were Iain Robinson, Drew MacDonald, David MacLean and Jamie Robinson.
Lovat and Glenurquhart fought out a 0 –0 draw at Balgate.
In Fife, Strathglass went down 4–3 to National Division new boys Aberdour at Silversands Park.
Penri Jones netted twice for Strath with Sam Cooper also finding the net.
At Bught Park, Boleskine overcame Inverness Reserves 1–0.
The draw for the cottages.com MacTavish Cup was made on Monday at Hilton Primary School in Inverness. Holders Newtonmore begin the defence of the trophy with a home tie against Beauly.
Lovat, back-to-back winners in 2013 and 2014, face up to Premiership champions Kingussie at Balgate in what looks to be tie of the round.
Kilmallie’s clash with Kinlochshiel at Canal Park is the other all-Premiership affair.
Kilmallie manager John Stewart will be hoping his team fare better in cup competitions this season, having exited all three at an early stage last year.
Caberfeidh have again landed a first-round clash with Lochaber, however this time Cabers will not enjoy the home advantage they had last year when they narrowly defeated the Spean Bridge outfit 3–2 at Castle Leod.
The other first-round tie sees newly promoted Fort William playing host to National Division title hopefuls Skye.
Glenurquhart, Inverness and Strathglass all received byes to the quarter final stages.
